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Despite their upward trajectory last season, at the beginning of this baseball season, Purdue wasn’t considered to finish within the Top 6 of the conference rankings. In fact, some picked them to finish 11th.
Today, Purdue finally silenced the doubters, as they officially finished 2nd in the conference and will be the #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. They had to wait overnight to clinch the spot as their game against Michigan was delayed in the 8th inning because of rain:
#BOILERS WIN!! Ross Learnard closes out a 6-3 series-clinching victory vs. Michigan. #Purdue's 4-run rally in the 7th Friday was big. Single-season record 14th save for Learnard.
— Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 19, 2018
12th Consecutive Win at Home!! #Boilermakers clinch 2nd place in Big Ten & No. 2 seed in B1G Tourney pic.twitter.com/lFJADz10Zt
I will admit, I’m not much of a baseball guy. Normally, Travis and Kyle take care of baseball coverage, so I can’t chime in too much other than our hitting and pitching was better than Michigan’s. In the process of tonight/today’s win, Ross Learnard recorded his 14th save of the season, a new school record:
Congrats to Ross Learnard on his dynamite senior season. What a weapon he has been in the bullpen for the #Boilermakers. Great start to Senior Day at Alexander. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/dnbJLk1QlW
— Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 19, 2018
Travis has written extensively that while Purdue may be having a good season, it may not be enough (just yet) to secure an NCAA bid, as schools south of the Mason-Dixon Line tend to dominate the landscape. Nevertheless, this is still an impressive feat for Purdue, as they came just a foot away from winning the conference. They will have a chance to build their NCAA resume in the Big Ten Tournament next week with the chance of an auto-bid.