Boilers face Big Ten competitor at Metrodome

The Boilermakers will need to take advantage of this weekend’s series to advance in Big Ten standings.
The Purdue baseball team (17-18, 5-6 Big Ten) enters today’s game fifth in the Big Ten standings. The Boilermaker’s weekend opponent, Minnesota (24-12, 7-4), sits just above them.
After defeating Butler 18-4 Wednesday, the team gained confidence going into the Big Ten series. With the Big Ten tightly stacked this season, coach Doug Schreiber believes his team has a chance to beat anyone in the conference.
“Confidence should be a little bit higher,” Schreiber said. “We just have to play well on Friday. It all comes down to who plays better on that given day.”
However, the Boilermakers will have to get past tough pitching from the Golden Gophers, who hold a conference-best 4.64 team ERA.
The series brings an interesting change in atmosphere for the Boilermakers. The teams will be playing in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, something that will force the Boilermakers to change their game a little.
“It’s going to be different playing in a dome,” Schreiber said. “Especially with the type of ceiling that they have. It might be tough for the guys to get used to it, so that will be the biggest difference. I mean, they have the same field turf inside there that we have, so that won’t be too big of a difference. I think seeing fly balls is going to be tough.”
The Metrodome is also used by the Minnesota football team as well as the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and MLB’s Minnesota Twins. Although the players relish the chance to play in such a prestigious venue, they understand the importance of winning.
“It’s going to be nice to play in a major league park, but we have to take it like any other game,” sophomore David Blount said. “We have to play hard and play our game.”
The Boilermakers will face Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 3 p.m. Saturday. The teams will wrap up the series at 2 p.m. Sunday. All games are in Minneapolis, Minn. Friday’s game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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