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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 74 Purdue might have to score. Al- though its bullpen looks deep, the weekend rotation, outside of No. 1 Gavin Downs (3-6, 4.26 ERA last sea- son), is unproven. Senior Brett Haan was a little up, but more down, in his first season at Purdue in '14, with an ERA near 9.00. But a five-inning score- less start vs. Penn State in the middle of the Big Ten gives hope. The same can be said for sophomore Matt Fraw- ley, who showed to have great stuff as a rookie but was erratic, too. His ERA was near 12.00 in 13 appearances out of the 'pen. Connor Podkul, who might have been counted on for weekend starts, is now a student assistant after contin- ued elbow troubles forced early retire- ment. "(But) we feel like we have some depth and some options," Schreiber said. "Hopefully we don't have to do to some of those options and that means our guys are getting the jobs done." The bullpen looks to have the po- tential to be solid, perhaps one of the strengths. There, RHPs Matt Gibbs and Joe Eichmann anchor after good junior seasons. Wood, a lefty who's inconsistent as a starter during his career, will get late-inning work, as will Ghiselli. And once freshman Mike Kornacker gets healthy, the big 6-foot- 3, 215-pounder could have a similar assignment. And unlike last season, when Tim McElroy was Purdue's only lefty bull- pen option, it has more southpaws now. "Our bullpen is going to be much better. We won't have to rely on start- ers going as deep," Schreiber said, "(which) helps them to know it's not going to be totally on their shoulders as well." Purdue has a lot of room for im- provement, however. Its pitching was last in the Big Ten last season, with an ERA of 6.00, more than a run worse than the next-to-last. And Jor- dan Minch, the Friday night starter a year ago who opted to sign with the Cubs' farm system, and Podkul, who had showed signs of returning to form late last season, are departed. And the replacements, particu- larly in the rotation, are largely un- knowns. "It's really open, but that's good because I think that's going to make everybody else better," said Downs, who had a 3-6 record in a breakout season in 2013 and will get the ball on Fridays now. "You know you have to put your best effort forward if you want to get a spot, if you want to play. It'll bring out the best in the guy next to you too." It helps too that Purdue feels its defense could be among the best in the Big Ten. Johnson and right-field- er Jeff Evak cover ground quickly, and Cody Strong can be above av- erage in left, after switching from second base. The arrival of freshman Jordan Shipley improves the infield, as the smooth-fielding shortstop al- lows veteran Brandon Krieg to slide over to third. "That left side of the infield will ri- val any left side in the conference for sure," Schreiber said. Purdue, however, needs the pieces to come together much better than the last couple seasons. If they do, the Boilermakers could turn all those one-run losses last season — Purdue was only 5-12 in such games — into victories. And perhaps move back up the Big Ten chart. Outsiders don't expect it. By most, Purdue's picked in the lower half of the conference, an afterthought to league favorites Maryland and Ne- braska. The Boilermakers are putting in the work in an effort to exceed those expectations, a charge Schreiber put to his players repeatedly. "He did mention that a lot," Wood said. "And to not be complacent. His big message was that things had to change. This can't continue any more. We have to put a stop to it." j