After a 9-7 defeat at the hands of Belmont on Tuesday, the Hilltopper Baseball team will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend with a home series against their first power five opponent this season, Purdue.

The Boilermakers come into this weekend's series at a modest 6-5 record on the season. Purdue recently dropped their mid-week matchup to in-state rival Indiana 17-2.

WKU and Purdue have met just nine times in baseball, with the Hilltoppers taking their most recent matchup 5-0 at Nick Denes Field in March of 2008. The Boilermakers lead the overall series slightly 5-4 making this weekend's series mean that much more for each squad.

The first game of the series will take place at 3pm CT Friday, with the following matchup coming Saturday at 1pm CT. The Hilltoppers will conclude this weekend's series with a 1pm CT start time on Sunday.

Purdue comes into their series with WKU reeling as of recently, dropping their last four games. Three of those four losses came at the Cambria College Classic in Minneapolis, MN where the Boilermakers lost to Duke, NC State and North Carolina.

Purdue's performance at the plate has been suspect as of recent, however the Boilermakers currently have two players hitting over .300 on the season with Zac Fascia leading the way at .314.

An area the Hilltoppers may be able to take advantage of over the weekend is Purdue's pitching. The Boilermakers staff currently holds a 5.57 team ERA along with 84 strikeouts in 95.1 innings pitched.

Starting pitchers for all three games this weekend have been announced.

Friday RHP Michael Darrell-Hicks will take the mound for WKU while RHP Bo Hofstra will handle starting duties for Purdue. Saturday RHP Sean Bergeron will get things going for WKU as RHP Cory Brooks gets the nod for Purdue. Sunday will conclude the series with a matchup of LHP Dalton Shoemake for WKU and RHP Jett Jackson for Purdue.

Above all the Hilltoppers will look to keep solid defense a continuity in this weekend's series. WKU comes in at 16th in the nation with a team fielding percentage of .985 which ranks first in C-USA.

Catch your Hilltopper Baseball team at Nick Denes Field Friday at 3pm CT for first pitch action as they take on Purdue. Listen to the series all weekend long on ESPN 102.7 FM or online at espnradio1027.com.