A burgeoning Big Ten baseball blog circle has been kind enough to accept me this year as a Purdue representative. Since I am one of the few if not only places that talks about Purdue baseball I was glad to sign up. They recently sent me the first RPI of the season as we are now three weeks in for most teams. The news is not good. Purdue's 1-6 start has them rated #285...

...out of 295 Division I teams.

I think we can safely say that an NCAA Tournament bid is out of reach without a dynamic turnaround in conference play. Truth be told, Purdue hasn't played anyone against a weak schedule and they have been terrible in doing so. They have made a ton of errors and when they haven't, the offense has stagnated. Here are the season results so far.

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We interrupt this Robbie Hummel news-fest with some other Purdue news to distract us, at least for a few minutes. I do want to thank all the fans of other schools that have stopped by lately wishing us well without Robbie. You guys are what being fans is all about. That is true class. It is amazing to see the Big Ten community rallying around us and even saying we deserve the Big Ten title because of our play before this. 

Even though I can look out my window and still see a 6 foot high snow pile, baseball season starts today for Purdue. Most of college baseball started on last week's uniform start date, but Purdue waited until this week with the second annual Big Ten/Big East baseball Challenge. The event is going on in the St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida area and features all ten Big Ten baseball programs (Wisconsin does not have a team) against the Big East.

From most of the previews I have seen, Ohio State and Minnesota are the heavy favorites in the Big Ten this year, with Purdue being on the fringe of one of the six Big Ten Tournament slots. The early results have backed those projections up, too. Ohio State is off to a 3-0 start after winning last week's North Florida Tournament. The Buckeyes are even ranked 21^st in the ESPN poll. Indiana may have had the best win of the early season as the Hoosiers took one of four at #23 San Diego. Illinois and Penn State are the only other conference teams that have yet to play a game, but both had games cancelled due to weather last week. Illinois even had scheduled an absurd pair of home games because of the usual balmy weather that Champaign is known for in late February.

Purdue will be facing Villanova today at 1pm, Cincinnati tomorrow at 1pm, and Rutgers Sunday at 10am. The Boilers have also added an extra game to the schedule, as they will face West Virginia on Monday now. That game is not officially part of the Challenge, but it is a good addition.

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I am looking outside my window and all I see are piles of snow. It is hardly baseball weather, but we're actually only two weeks away from the beginning of the college baseball season. College baseball is helping me keep my sanity at the moment, as it is only 62 days until I leave for Florida for our annual weeklong trip to South Florida for some Hurricanes baseball and sun.The Hurricanes start their season next week, while Purdue must wait until February 26th.

Collegiate baseball is one of the fastest growing sports in terms of popularity and TV coverage. The Big Ten has recognized this by moving its annual tournament to a nice Triple-A stadium over in Columbus. We're even emerging somewhat by having three teams make the NCAA's a year ago. It has still been over 25 years since a Big Ten squad made the CWS, but we're getting there as a conference.

Purdue, however, is still far away. If Miami is one of the gold standards of the sport, Purdue is a mid-major at best. We have one NCAA Tournament appearance ever (23 years ago), we went two and done in that appearance, and we have a Cubs-like streak of 101 years without a conference championship. We have come close to breaking those streaks in the past decade. In 2001 the Boilers started the season by upsetting #1 Rice. They then lost the Big Ten by a half game and probably would have made the NCAA Tournament had we one at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament. In 2008 we were the Big Ten Tournament runner-up, failing to take the automatic bid against Michigan in the championship game.

The 2010 season looks to be somewhat promising. We've made consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearances and we return all three weekend starters from a team that finished 25-26.

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As per release from the Big Ten today:

Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference, Huntington Park and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission announced today that Columbus, Ohio, will be home to the Big Ten Baseball Tournament for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons. The Big Ten played its first neutral-site tournament since 1994 at Columbus' Huntington Park in 2009 and will return to the ballpark in 2011 and 2012. Due to a facility conflict, the 2010 tournament will be held at Ohio State's Bill Davis Stadium.

"The Big Ten Conference is excited to return to the city of Columbus for its upcoming baseball tournaments," Big Ten Conference Commissioner James E. Delany said. "Last year's event provided a fantastic experience for our coaches, student-athletes and fans, and we look forward to growing the event in the next three years."

"We are thrilled that Columbus, Bill Davis Stadium and Huntington Park will host the Big Ten Baseball Tournament through 2012," Greater Columbus Sports Commission Executive Director Linda Shetina Logan said. "Our community thanks the Big Ten Conference, its schools and coaches for making this commitment to Columbus, and we will work to build an atmosphere for this tournament similar to the College World Series."

The 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament drew more than 12,000 fans, marking the tournament's highest total attendance in the past decade. Indiana took home the program's second tournament title, earning the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

"We were proud to host the Big Ten Baseball Tournament in 2009 and look forward to its return to Huntington Park in 2011 and 2012," said Columbus Clippers General Manager Ken Schnacke, who also manages Huntington Park. "And we look forward to partnering with the Big Ten and the Columbus Sports Commission to grow the tournament every year."

Prior to 2009, the Big Ten Baseball Tournament had been played at the site of the regular-season champion or the champion from a pre-selected division since its inception in 1981, with the exception of 1993 and 1994, when the tournament was held in Battle Creek, Mich. From 1981-99, the tournament field consisted of the conference's top four teams. In 2000, the field expanded to include six squads. The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is a double-elimination event with the top two seeds earning first-round byes.

It has been awhile since there has been some baseball news here, but the Big Ten recently announced the pairings for the 2010 Big Ten/Big East baseball challenge. This event will kickoff the 2010 baseball season for both conferences. Purdue will face Villanova, Cincinnati, and Rutgers. This event drew rave reviews last year in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area. It also drew plenty of attention to the two traditionally poor baseball conferences. I think this paid off with Ohio State, Minnesota, and Indiana all receiving invites to the NCAA Tournament. Here is the full Purdue schedule, with all games played in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area down in Florida:

February 26, 2010: 1:00 pm  Naimoli Complex  Villanova vs. Purdue

February 27, 2010: 1:00 pm  Jack Russell Stadium  Purdue vs. Cincinnati

February 28, 2010: 10:00 am Jack Russell Stadium  Purdue vs. Rutgers

The Major League Baseball Draft has been going on since yesterday. normally, this means very little for Purdue. We have a pretty weak baseball history. Last year was a good year with six players drafted, but things have dropped off a bit this year. While Josh Lindblom was a second round pick last season, no one from Purdue was picked on the first day.

Day 2 was different, as slugger Dan Black was picked in the 14th round by the Chicago White Sox and leadoff hitter Brandon Haveman went in the 23rd round to the Seattle Mariners. As a junior, Black has the option of returning next year if he wants to improve his position. Haveman, as a senior, is gone. In losing Haveman, Purdue lost the Big Ten batting champion, as .422 for the season and .464 in conference games. As Purdue's official site says, no one in the 120+ year history of Purdue baseball had a higher career average than Haveman.

Don't be surprised if you see Haveman close to home later this summer. The Mariners' single-A affiliate is the Clinton LumberKings of the MIdwest League. That league has local teams in Ft. Wayne and South Bend.

UPDATE: Left handed starting pitcher Matt Jansen was picked in today's 43rd round by the San Francisco Giants. As a junior, he does have the option of returning next year. Since he was a 43rd round selection I would expect him to return.

Before getting into the baseball update I have one final piece on the Robert Marve news. Alert Reader Justin sent me Tim Cary's Bleacher Report article on the Robert Marve transfer yesterday. Tim has a sunnier vision of Marve, prefering to look at the second chance opportunity that Purdue is giving him. Ultimately, that is what this situation is. We're either going to see how good Marve can be with his head on straight or we will see how much of a disciplinarian Coach Hope is when he gets in trouble again.

Tim's point about Purdue being featured on College Football Live is a very good one as well. This could be the first step towards something larger, though I refuse to believe that 2009 is just a throwaway year and we're going to finish last in the Big Ten. There is not one all-powerful world beating team (even Jimmy Montana and Notre Dame) on our schedule that makes me quiver in fear. I am still on record as saying we will shock people by winning in Autzen Stadium the second week of the season. Who care about the receivers if we have four good running backs and do something Purdue hasn't done in over a decade by committing to the run.

I guess I am one of very few trying to drum up optimism for 2009, while everyone else is running ahead for 2010.

Baseball stays alive

The good news is that Purdue's baseball team will not leave Columbus empty-handed now. The Boilers eliminated Michigan State 12-9 yesterday behind Brandon Haveman's four hit, three RBI performance. Dan Black added a monstrous two run home run in the third as Purdue scored at least one run in every inning except the seventh. Drew Wurdack got the win in four and a third innings of relief, which unfortunately taxed a bullpen that will need to throw a lot of innings over the next few days if Purdue is to win the tournament.

Purdue returns to the diamond today at noon to face Minnesota, who swept the Boilers in three close games in Minneapolis earlier this year. The Gophers will be playing just their second game of the tournament after getting pounded by Indiana last night, and probably need a win to keep their fleeting dreams of hosting an NCAA regional alive.

Should Purdue win and eliminate the Gophers the Boilers must turn right around and face Illinois, who lost to Ohio State last night. Indiana and Ohio State will meet int he winner's bracket final for tonight's third game. If Purdue wins both potential games today it would face the loser of tonight's Indiana-Ohio State contest tomorrow in another elimination game.

It is highly unlikely that Purdue is going to get that far, but after watching yesterday's game they certainly can hit the ball well enough to keep moving on. They are not likely going to be facing anyone's ace the rest of the way now, so if they can keep the bats hot you just never know what can happen. Should they somehow survive to Sunday's winner-take-all contest (Needing to beat the four best teams in the conference individually in two days) their worst case scenario would be facing Indiana's rested Eric Arnett again.

On a final note, I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. Remember those who served this weekend just as I do every year. I thank all three of my grandfathers (yes, I have three thanks to divorce and remarriage in my family) for serving in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to keep this country safe. It's because of people like them that I have the freedom to do stuff like this wonderful site.

In what is one of the final events of the academic year, the baseball team is in Columbus today to open up the Big Ten Tournament. Up for grabs is an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament starting next Friday. Purdue has never won the event, and has only made the tournament once in 1987. Purdue is the only team in the Big Ten (including Wisconsin's disbanded program) to have never won an NCAA Tournament game.

Purdue is the sixth and final seed in the tournament, so little is expected of them in this event. They open play today at 3:30 again #3 seed Indiana. All the games of the tournament will be carried live on Big Ten Network, so if you don't have anything else to do this afternoon feel free to stop by and add a comment or two during the game. I'll be here for the first half before heading out to cover a high school game in the Indy area.

John over at Crimson Quarry has a good look at both Indiana and Purdue's history in the Big Ten Tournament. As he mentions, it has been the playground of Minnesota, Ohio State, and Michigan. We don't have to worry about Michigan since they didn't make the field, but Ohio State and Minnesota are heavy favorites. Both are expected to get at large bids to the NCAA Tournament, while Illinois has a chance at one with a strong showing. Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan State will only go to the NCAA's if they win the tournament.

Purdue has a pretty good chance in today's opener. The Boilers were the only team to win a conference series against Indiana, taking two of three in West Lafayette a few weeks ago. Baseball America lists the Hoosiers as a dark horse candidate to win the conference tournament and calls them the field's most talented team. Purdue will likely face Eric Arnett (11-1) on the mound in today's opener. Arnett is one of the Big Ten's best pitchers and he pitched a complete game 7-6 victory against Purdue earlier in the year. He was named the Big Ten's co-pitcher of the year with Ohio State's Alex Wimmers this week. The Boilers got to him for five runs in the seventh in that contest, but Jerrud Sabourin had a two out solo home run in the eighth to provide the deciding score.

Purdue is lead by first team All-Big Ten leadoff man Brandon Haveman. The senior outfielder won the Big Ten regular season batting title with a .412 average at the top of Purdue's lineup. John Cummins, a third-team All-Big Ten member, is also batting better than .400 on the year, while Dan Black is one of the conference's most feared sluggers with 14 home runs. Purdue will counter on the mound with Matt Bischoff, who has a 4-4 record and has been a hard-luck loser in several games.

Should Purdue win, they will face #1 seed Ohio State at 7pm tomorrow night. A loss would send them to a noon game on Thursday against the loser of today's Illinois-Michigan State contest. Purdue did win conference series this year against the Spartans, Hoosiers, and Illini, but were swept by Ohio State and Minnesota.