Boilers Begin Play at Big Ten Tournament for Fifth Straight Season Thursday

May 23, 2012

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 15 Purdue baseball may be making its fifth consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearance and 10th during Doug Schreiber's14-year tenure as head coach, but as the No. 1 seed for the first time, it will be somewhat of a new experience for the Boilermakers.

As the regular-season champion, Purdue (41-12, 17-7 Big Ten) is the last of the six Big Ten Tournament qualifiers to take the field this week at Huntington Park in Downtown Columbus. The Boilermakers will play Nebraska (34-21, 14-10), Michigan State (35-19, 13-11) or Ohio State (31-25, 11-13) at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Wednesday's Penn State-Ohio State game will determine the matchup. If sixth-seeded OSU wins, Purdue would draw the Buckeyes. If third-seeded PSU is the victor, Purdue gets the Nebraska-Michigan State winner.

Every Big Ten Tournament game will once again be televised live by the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten Tournament is being held at Huntington Park, the home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers of the International League (Cleveland Indians affiliate), for the third time in the last four years. The 2010 tournament was also held in Columbus but played at Ohio State's Bill Davis Stadium. The Boilermakers will practice at Huntington Park Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. following the completion of the Penn State-Ohio State game.

Next year, the Big Ten Tournament moves to Target Field in Minneapolis and TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha will host the 2014 event.

Purdue's five straight Big Ten Tournament appearances represent the longest active streak in the league as well as the longest in program history. No other league rival has made more than two consecutive appearances currently. The Boilers are 6-8 at the tourney the last four years and 15-30 all-time.

As a first-year member of the conference, Nebraska is making its first appearance at the annual May event. Prior to winning two-of-three against the Huskers in Lincoln the weekend of April 20-22, Purdue had not played Nebraska since 1907. The Boilermakers also won two-of-three against Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State this year.

Purdue played Michigan State in the 2009 and 2011 Big Ten Tournaments, but has not squared off against Ohio State at the event since 2006.