A Comprehensive History of Purdue University Baseball

The Purdue Boilermakers baseball team represents Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, as a varsity intercollegiate athletic program. Since the 1906 season, the program has been a member of the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. Alexander Field, located on Purdue's campus, serves as the team's home venue. The team's head coach is Greg Goff, who took over in the 2020 season.

Early Years and Program Development

The Purdue University baseball program started in 1888. The team played without a head coach until 1892, when W. M. Phillips assumed the role. In the same year, the program began playing at Stuart Field, a newly dedicated home venue. The first game at Stuart was against Butler on April 16, 1892. After Phillips' two-year tenure as head coach (1892-1893), the program played without a head coach until 1900, when W. H. Fox assumed the position for two seasons (1900-1901).

The program then had several different head coaches until Hugh Nicol began a nine-year tenure in 1906. Nicol's first season was also the program's first as a member of the Big Nine Conference (renamed the Big Ten Conference following the 1917 season, when Michigan rejoined the conference after a 12-season hiatus). Nicol left the head coaching position following the 1914 season, and B. P. Pattison took over.

Conference Struggles and New Home Venues

In 1916, Pattison's final season, Purdue had an 8-4 record in Big Ten games. However, Purdue had generally struggled in Big Ten games since joining the conference and continued to do so. The Boilermakers had a winning conference record only 11 times from 1917 to 1978. In that span, the team opened two new home venues. On April 6, 1940, the team defeated Wabash College 7-4 in its first game at Ross-Ade Field, later renamed Lambert Field.

The Alexander Era

In 1978, Dave Alexander became the program's head coach. When the Big Ten split into two, five-team divisions in 1981, the team finished 2nd behind Michigan, Purdue's best conference finish since 1928. As a result of the second-place finish, the team qualified for the inaugural Big Ten Tournament, which was also the program's first postseason appearance. The team finished the tournament with a 1-2 record. Purdue qualified for two more conference tournaments in the 1980s (1986, 1987) and reached its first NCAA tournament in 1987. Alexander stepped down from the head coaching position following the 1991 season as the program's all-time wins leader with 407.

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The Green Era

Alexander was replaced by Steve Green. During Green's tenure, the team qualified for three Big Ten Tournaments (1993, 1995, 1997). However, after a 2-9 start to the 1998 season, Green struck a player in an altercation following a loss to Evansville. Green resigned.

The Schreiber Era

Prior to the 1999 season, Purdue hired Doug Schreiber as its permanent head coach. In 2012, Purdue had its most successful season. On April 15, Schreiber won his 407th and 408th games in a doubleheader sweep of Illinois, passing Dave Alexander as the program's winningest head coach. The team, after winning both the regular season conference championship and the Big Ten tournament, was given a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament and hosted a regional.

The Goff Era

In 2019, Purdue hired Greg Goff to be their latest head coach.

Home Venues Through the Years

From 1892 to 1939, the team played at Stuart Field on the university's campus. The Boilermakers played at Old Lambert Field from 1940 to 1964. At the beginning of its use, Old Lambert Field was known as Ross-Ade Field (named for David E. Ross and George Ade). The program played at Lambert Field from prior to the 1965 season until the end of the 2012 season. Named for former Purdue baseball and men's basketball coach Ward Lambert, the venue had a capacity of 1,100 spectators. It was torn down in summer 2012. In 2013, the program began playing at Alexander Field.

Coaching Leaders

The program's most successful coach was head coach Doug Schreiber, who had 485 victories at the school. Other notable coaches include W. M. Phillips, W. H. Fox, Hugh Nicol, B. P. Pattison, C. S. Pattison, and Dave Alexander.

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