A series for the season

Greg Goff has done this before, at least.

With Purdue baseball on the cusp of its most important series all year, and sitting on two different bubbles with a chance to win the Big Ten and play in the NCAA Tournament, Goff’s team knows what a sweep or even a series win against first-place Illinois would do.

“I’m pretty juiced up about it,” said the starter of Thursday’s series opener, graduate pitcher Jordan Morales. "I mean, it's pretty awesome to play for a championship here at Alexander against the No. 1 team right now.”

It would, for Goff, feel a lot like the time his Louisiana Tech team came into the final weekend of the season against a powerhouse Rice squad and finished the weekend with a sweep. That put Goff’s Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament.

Illinois has been a surprise team, like Purdue, with both teams missing the cut for the Big Ten’s top six in the coaches’ preseason poll before battling for a championship this season. The Illini’s lineup has been among the conference’s most fearsome.

“They play for the big inning,” Goff said of the Illini. “They want to hit the ball over the fence.”

“I gotta pay attention to where I'm locating my pitches,” Morales said.

But there’s a fine line between trying to hit spots in the strike zone for damage control and overthinking. The lefty hurler said that at the end of the day, throwing hard strikes needs to be at the forefront when it’s game time.

Morales has been Purdue’s best pitcher all season, a 5-foot-9 fireballer who transferred from Penn State in 2023. He got the job done last week against Michigan, going seven-plus scoreless innings in a 4-0 win in the series opener. But Michigan scored 15 runs the next two days to push the Boilers’ title and NCAA Tournament hopes nearly off a ledge.

“Just got to keep a level head,” reliever Avery Cook said. “Like coach Goff always says, we're 0-0 at the beginning of every week. It's tough to do that. But at the same time, it's necessary.”

The series finale, scheduled for either Friday night or Saturday afternoon pending incoming weather, will also be several members of the squad’s last game at Alexander Field, with senior night in the plans.

“It’s really emotional,” Goff said, a knot forming in his throat. “In today's world of transfer portal and advisors getting into the hands of players, it's very transitional. For guys to come back and believe in what we were doing is pretty awesome.”

The series begins with a doubleheader Thursday, with games at 4 and 8 p.m. at Alexander Field. The final game will either be at 8 p.m. Friday or 3 p.m. Saturday. The final two games will broadcast on Big Ten Network.