Congratulations to the Purdue Boilermakers on their Big Ten Tournament Championship. On Saturday, they won a hard-fought victory against the Indiana Hoosiers in the final to claim the tourney title. It was Purdue’s first Big Ten Tournament championship.
In all the years I’ve followed Big Ten Baseball, I haven’t seen a team dominate the entire season like Purdue did in 2012. They started the season by winning fourteen of their first fifteen games against their non-conference opponents. Big Ten teams didn’t have any better luck. Purdue won the Big Ten title easily with a 17-7 mark.
Now, after breezing through the Big Ten Tournament, the Boilermakers are off to the NCAA Regionals with an automatic bid. There is a downside to the story for Purdue, though. A dugout-clearing brawl during Saturday’s game will leave them without the services of Eric Charles for one game of the Regionals. Charles, who was involved in the altercation, was suspended for a game.
Fortunately for the Big Ten, Purdue won’t be the only representative in the Regionals. Michigan State will also fly the flag of the conference. The Spartans who finished the season in fifth place at 13-11 and an overall 37-21 record will go on to the Regionals.
Purdue will be host in round one of the regionals and will play Valparaiso. As for Michigan State, they take on Pepperdine. Both games take place June 1.
Good luck to both teams!