ON DECK
(3) Houston will face (2) Purdue at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday in an elimination game. The winner of that game will face (1) North Carolina at 5 p.m. CT Sunday.
Purdue will throw Ryan Beard (5-3, 4.26 ERA) in the first game today against Houston. Beard has performed well of late, but the junior college transfer will be making the biggest start of his Boilermaker career. The good news is that Houston is out of American Athletic Conference Pitchers of the Year since Aaron Fletcher threw a complete game against us on Friday and Trey Cumbie lasted 7 innings against North Carolina. The bad news is that their bullpen is fully rested. We will likely see Ryan Randel (5-4, 4.54 ERA), but their bullpen has pitched just two innings so far, while ours has thrown 11.
Note: If I was the Coogs, I’d save Randel and pitch Hurdsman in this game. Same thing as the first game, need to get to Purdue early and keep them off the basepaths as much as possible. Don’t want to fall behind and be down after 7.
why would u take Randel out. Bullpen been weak all year. I tried to say Fri nite don’t get all puffy feeling against Purdue. Not easy beat same team back/back. Horrible coaching decision to take Randel out. Not a man in bullpen been consistent all year.