OMAHA, Neb. (Interstat) — The seed Purdue Boilermakers face the seed Michigan State Spartans in the opening round of the Big Ten Baseball Championship on Tuesday evening at Charles Schwab Field.

Purdue (34-18) enters as the higher seed, having won two of three games against Michigan State during the regular-season series in late March. The Boilermakers took the first two games of that set, 11-4 and 16-13, before the Spartans salvaged a 4-3 victory in the finale. Michigan State (22-31) arrives in Omaha after splitting a four-game set at Ohio State and taking two of three from Illinois State at home last week.

The weather forecast for first pitch called for conditions to be determined.

A player to watch for Michigan State is right fielder Parker Picot, who has been a power threat in the middle of the Spartans’ order. Picot went 2 for 5 with two home runs and five RBI in Michigan State’s 18-8 win over Illinois State on Saturday. Over his last 10 games, he has recorded six multi-hit performances and four home runs, though he did go 0 for 5 in a loss to Illinois State on May 15.

Purdue counters with first baseman Aaron Manias, who has been productive at the plate despite the team’s recent struggles. Manias went 2 for 2 with a home run and two RBI in the Boilermakers’ 15-9 loss at Iowa on Saturday. He has hit safely in five of his last six games and has a .390 on-base percentage over that stretch.

Purdue has lost three straight games, all at Iowa, while Michigan State has won three of its last four.

Interstat’s game simulator is projecting a tight final score of Purdue 7, Michigan State 6.