GBI Express

volume 23, eX 1 • august 29, 2012 Inside | Baseball Championship 1-10 | Football 11–13 Recruiting 13–14 | Women's Basketball 20-21 Title Time A hundred-and-three years is a long time. KCharters@GoldandBlack.com BY KYLE CHARTERS 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, when they did so way back in 1909. That drought has ended with the No. 13 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 Lam- bert Field. Then, they took the title all to them- selves with a 11-8 win at Iowa on Thursday in the final regular-season weekend of the year. "We've been reminded for sure," 14th-year coach Doug Schreiber said of Purdue's long title-less 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 any more." It's been that kind of season for the Boilermakers, a magical run that they hope continues into the weeks After Championship, Purdue looking ahead to post-season tour- to come. Purdue is the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts 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 champion- ship to Michigan. 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 a picture with the trophy (right). Tom Campbell THE NUMBERS 5 team from 1906 to 1998, the year before Doug Schreiber arrived as head coach. 12.9 35.7 the most by a Big Ten team since Ohio State and Minnesota both won more than 40 in the 2009 season. 41 '09 title with a 7-2 conference record; this season, Purdue finished 17-7, one game up on second-place Indiana. 1909 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 the country pri- or to the weekend — will get them an at-large berth, and could have them as a host school in the first weekend, with games played at Gary's championship, it was the last for the Boilermakers. They won the Prior to this season's Steelyard. Regional games are played June 1-4. By being a sure thing for the NCAA tour- nament, Purdue has exceeded its own expec- tations. Although the Boilers thought they'd compete for a conference title, along with Ne- braska and Michigan State, the pre-conference schedule was daunting. Yet, Purdue was 14-3 before it started Big Ten play. And the Boiler- makers have been excellent in midweek ac- tion, with a perfect 10-0 record, including wins against fellow NCAA-qualifying teams Louis- ville and Indiana State. "With the schedule, I wasn't so sure we'd win 35," Schreiber said. "I thought if we played GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • volume 23, express 1 • 1 Consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearances (top six in the regular-season standings), the longest active streak in the conference. The percentage of Big Ten regular- season podium finishes (first, second or third) for the baseball Victories for the Boilermakers this season, the most in school history, beating out the 37 victories by Purdue last year. It's The percentage of Purdue's podium finishes in Schreiber's 14 seasons at Purdue.

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