Boilermakings for 3/23

I am still coming down from the high of moving on to the Sweet 16.  This week will be full of look-aheads to UConn as I have already lined up a pair of Husky bloggers to talk about our matchup Thursday night. Until then, however, we can take a quick break to look at some other Boilermakings.

• Women's basketball wins 12^th straight first round game - While it's not quite as good as Tennessee's streak that went down last night, the Purdue women have now won at least one game in 12 straight NCAA Tournaments. The Boilers had a very balanced game with four players reaching double figures in a 65-52 win over UNC-Charlotte. Purdue is starting to play some very good basketball and they are looking like the dark horse Final Four team some expected at the beginning of the season. North Carolina looms tonight. The Tar Heels eliminated Purdue in the 2006 Sweet 16 and 2007 Elite 8, both in tough games. I'll probably throw up an open thread for the 7pm tipoff.
• Baseball has 2-0 weekend - The Purdue baseballers inched closer to an overall .500 record with a successful weekend at Tennessee-Martin. Dan Black had 2 home runs in an 11-7 Friday victory over Tennessee-martin. Purdue then topped division 1 newcomer Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 10-3 on Sunday behind the pitching of Matt Jansen. Black added his 8^th homer of the season in the game as Purdue now sits at 8-9 on the year. Purdue finally has its home opener tomorrow afternoon against IPFW. Big Ten play starts this weekend with a 3 game series at Northwestern.
• Women's softball in first place - Sure, they've only played a pair of Big Ten games, but Purdue's women's softball team continued its solid play with a home sweep of Wisconsin this weekend. Suzie Rzegocki struck out nine in a 5-0 Saturday win over the Badgers. That was Purdue's home opener as well. She returned to the circle on Sunday to pitch five more shutout innings in a 6-0 blanking. Purdue now stands at 15-8, 2-0 in Big Ten play with a couple of nice non-conference wins over UCLA and Texas A&M. They have also won four straight overall. The record is even better when you consider Purdue has just 11 home games scheduled this year, 10 of them in conference play.
• Jake Patacsil places fifth in NCAA meet - The 149 pound senior was the highest finisher for Purdue at this weekend NCAA championship meet. He earned All-American honors and is now third on Purdue's all-time wins list.
• Ball State upsets Tennessee - It really has nothing to do with Purdue, but I have to salute Ball State's women's team for being the first team to ever beat Tennessee before the sweet 16 in NCAA play. Before last night Tennessee had never received lower than a #4 seed and had made the sweet 16 in all 27 NCAA women's tournaments. Last night Ball State not only beat them, they crushed them. I am proud to say that fellow KHS alum Audrey McDonald played a large role in this upset. McDonald had 18 points for the Cards, 16 of them in the second half as she nailed the lid shut from the foul line. This not your average upset. This is a Ball State team in its first tournament appearance taking down one of the greatest dynasties in all of sports. Just a very impressive win for a solid team.