What is Purdue Baseball's Bubble Status After Sweeping Indiana?
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A weekend sweep of Indiana has helped Purdue's cause to make the NCAA Tournament. After winning all three games against the Hoosiers, the Boilermakers are on the right side of the tournament bubble, according to two separate projections.
The Tennessean's Aria Gerson has Purdue as one of the "Last Four In" teams in this year's NCAA Tournament. She has the Boilermakers traveling to the Hattiesburg Regional, where it would be in a bracket with Southern Miss, Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana.
Baseball America also has Greg Goff's team sneaking into this year's tournament. Although Purdue is labeled as a team with "work left to do," the outlet has the Boilermakers playing in the Athens Regional, along with Georgia, Missouri State and UConn.
Not every projection has Purdue listed in the field, though. USA Today has the Boilermakers on the outside looking in, listing them as one of the "First Four Out" teams this year.
After canceling a weekday game with Ball State, Purdue has just one Big Ten series remaining on its schedule. The Boilermakers will head to Des Moines to play Iowa for a three-game series. If they win or sweep the series, they'll only help their postseason cause.
Purdue heads into that final series of the regular season with a 35-15 record and an 18-9 mark in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers are currently tied with Oregon for fourth in the standings. If they earn a top-four seed, they will not begin Big Ten Tournament play until Friday, May 22.
When did Purdue last make the NCAA Baseball Tournament?
NCAA Tournament appearances for Purdue have been scarce in its history. The Boilermakers have reached the postseason just three times in their history, with the most recent visit coming in 2018.
Purdue also made trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1987 and 2012. The 2012 season was Purdue's most successful, winning both the Big Ten regular season and the Big Ten Tournament.
In their three NCAA Tournament appearances, Purdue has never made it out of the regional round. The Boilermakers were eliminated with an 0-2 record in 1987 and posted 1-2 records in both 2012 and 2018. Overall, the program owns a 2-6 postseason record.
The Boilermakers have made a lot of noise in the Big Ten this season and it has put them in position to reach the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time in program history.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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