GBI Express

Steelyard. Regional games are played June 1-4. tions. Although the Boilers thought they'd compete for a conference title, along with Nebraska and Michigan State, the pre-conference schedule was daunting. Yet, Purdue was 14-3 before it started Big Ten play. And the Boilermakers have been excellent in midweek action, with a per- fect 10-0 record, including wins against fellow NCAA-qualifying teams Louisville and Indiana State. By being a sure thing for the NCAA tournament, Purdue has exceeded its own expecta- "With the schedule, I wasn't so sure we'd win 35," Schreiber said. "I thought if we played like we were capable, then possibility. But baseball is baseball and you're going to have some games where you hit the ball right at people and things don't go your way. … I think we thought that if we could win 38 games, breaking the school record, we'd be in position for post- season, but it was going to be a tall task." The following are our thoughts now. • Kyle Charters: "Purdue's baseball team has made so many unbelievable comebacks this sea- son, that it was more shocking when their rally Saturday at Iowa came up short. The Boilers can be excellent when they're focused, and with every game now of utmost importance, one would think they'd be ready to go." • Stacy Clardie: "Danny Hope is confident Dwayne Beckford, Antavian Edison and O.J. Ross -- Tournament coming off perhaps its worst weekend of the season, losing their last two games to the Hawkeyes, a sub-200 RPI that finished seventh in the 11-team Big Ten. It dropped them to only 7-6 overall since a thrilling 14-inning comeback win over Michigan State April 28. But the Boilers think "You like to play for something," Perkins said. "I felt like we had already accomplished a lot, winning the Big Ten. You've got to keep that focus and playing for something again, play- ing in the tournament, it brings a lot more focus to the team and gets us ready." The Boilers will be a targeted team in Columbus. During the regular season, Purdue took two of three games from four of the other teams to qualify for the tournament (it didn't play Indiana). Undoubtedly, those opponents would like to knock off the Boilermakers, who domi- nated the league for much of the season and earned some national exposure in doing so. Then, in the NCAAs, Purdue knows it might have some doubters. The Big Ten isn't known as a power baseball conference, and hasn't had a team in the College World Series since Michi- gan in 1984. "All year, everyone has been waiting 'When is Purdue going to fall apart?'" Perkins said. "And we never did. We lasted the whole season, and have been very consistent. And some might say 'Well, this is when Purdue is going to fall apart.' But we're out there to prove them wrong." j Once the title was secured, Purdue let off the gas a bit. The Boilers head to the Big Ten all starters who have had issues off the field -- will play in 2012. That's huge news for the Boilermakers, whose thinnest positions are at linebacker and receiver. The important task now: Keeping them from having setbacks." • Alan Karpick: "Purdue's baseball season is testament that good things happen to people that wait. Coach Doug Schreiber has built a solid program that was waiting to get over the hump. No we will see how long the ride will be." • Brian Neubert: "It's been an interesting spring on the basketball recruiting front, as Purdue's roster for next season has still yet to be finalized. A couple targets for late signatures have no come and gone, with Julius Mays' stunning decision to go live the rock star life at Kentucky being a blow to a Boilermaker team that could have used him more. We'll see about Illinois State transfer Nic Moore." it." "Congrats to the Purdue baseball team on being big ten champs!!! Wish I could have been there to see Former Boilermaker Robbie Hummel (@Rob- bieHummel) on May 12, following Purdue's svic- tory over Michigan which gave it a share of the Big Ten conference title At the risk of putting the cart way ahead of the horse here, it has been a long, long time since a Big Ten team has made the College World Series. Michigan was the last conference school* to make it to Omaha, and that was 27 years ago. Here's the list (number of CWS appearances in parenthesis) league school's most recent appearance. LONG DRY SPELL FOR BIG TEN of the Iowa (1) Michigan (7) Michigan State (1) Minnesota (5) Ohio State (4) Wisconsin (1) 1972 1984 1954 1977 1967 1950 Note: Before joining the Big Ten, Penn State made the CWS five times, but not since 1973. Nebras- ka has made all three of its CWS appearances in the 21st Century, with the most recent in 2005. GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • volume 23, express 1 • 2

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