The Authority on Purdue Athletics
volume 22, EX 30 • MAY 21, 2012
In this issue:
Title Time
Big Ten champion Boilermakers looking ahead to postseason tourneys
A
GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com
Inside The
Numbers
5
12.9
35.7
BY KYLE CHARTERS
KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
hundred-and-three years is a
long time.
The sinking of the Titanic was
more recent, as was the invention
of the television.
In the Purdue sports world,
however, the span signified the
years since the Boilermaker baseball team last won a Big Ten title,
last doing so way back in 1909.
That drought ended with
the No. 18 Boilermakers winning
the championship outright. They
clinched a share on May 12, pounding Michigan 14-3 in one of the last
games ever to be played at Lambert
Field. Then, they took the crown all
to themselves with an 11-8 win at
Iowa on Thursday in the final weekend of the regular season.
"We've been reminded for
sure," 14th-year coach Doug Schreiber said of Purdue's long titleless run, which had nearly come to
an end with three second-place finishes since 2001. "But it's special.
And I've always told people, 'We've
been close; we've been close.' But I
don't have to say that anymore."
It's been that kind of season for
the Boilermakers, a magical run that
they hope continues in the weeks to
come. Purdue is the No. 1 seed in the
Big Ten Tournament, which starts
• Pages 1-10: Baseball update/analysis
• Pages 11-13: Football notes/NFL Boilers
• Pages 14-15: Recruiting updates
Purdue's run of consecutive Big
Ten Tournament appearances
(the top six in the regular-season standings make it), the longest
active streak in the conference.
The percentage of
seasons between
1906-1998 in
which Purdue placed in the top
three in the Big Ten standings.
The percentage
of seasons under Coach Doug
Schreiber since his hiring in 1999
in which Purdue's finished in the
league's top three.
Victories for the Boilermakers this season, the
most in school history,
beating out last year's total of 37.
It's the most by a Big Ten team
since Ohio State and Minnesota
both won more than 40 during the
2009 season.
Purdue's last
championship
baseball season.
They won the 1909 title with a 7-2
conference record; this season,
Purdue finished 17-7, one game up
on second-place Indiana.
41
Wednesday in Huntington Park
in Columbus, Ohio. The Boilers
have never won a tourney title,
although they've been close; in
2008, they lost in the championship to Michigan.
A tourney win would
mean an automatic bid to the
NCAA Baseball Championship. But the Boilers' résumé
— they have a 41-12 record
and an RPI that was ninth in
1909
Tom Campbell
Moments after the final out was
recorded against Michigan May 12, the
Boilermakers leaped into a dogpile to
celebrate their first Big Ten championship
in 103 years. Afterward, they posed for
pictures.
Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 22, express 30 • 1
