GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 4 76
Tom Campbell
Aggressive
Approach
Wasikowski brings winning attitude to Purdue
BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
M
ark Wasikowski was upside down.
It was 25 years ago in the championship
game of the College World Series when he
found himself in such a precarious position, ending up
there briefly after he charged home and slammed into
the catcher blocking the plate.
It wasn't unusual; Wasikowski played with an aggres-
sion and intensity that served him well then — his Pep-
perdine Waves beat Cal-State Fullerton that spring day in
Omaha to win the 1992 national title — and now, as he
starts his first season as the head coach at Purdue.
"I would be very disappointed if you told me Waz is very
laid back, and that he stands in the middle of the field
during practice sipping iced tea," said legendary coach
Andy Lopez, who coached Wasikowski at Pepperdine,
then hired him as an assistant at Florida and Arizona.
"No. In fact, I probably would get on a flight tomorrow and
get up there to have a talk with him."
No worries.
Wasikowski seems just as likely now to bowl over a
catcher as he was back then. And boy, would he hammer
guys if they stood between him and the plate.
In the '92 Series, he did so a couple times, but the most
noteworthy, even if it wasn't the most violent, came in
the championship game, a play that would serve as the
impetus for a rule change. With two outs in the first in-
ning, Wasikowski, who had singled home a run, danced
off second base, then took off on a teammate's hit in the
hole between shortstop and third.
Wasikowski started to run through the stop sign at
third, then hesitated before restarting toward Fullerton
catcher Jason Moler as the ball trickled away from the
diving shortstop.
"There were no slide rules then," Wasikowski said. "As
