The Purdue Boilermakers, Indiana St. Sycamores, and Louisville Cardinals all continued their quest to reach the 2012 NCAA baseball tournament this week, and each got a series of big wins to stay on pace. For Purdue, the Boilermakers continue to be in the running for a national seed, and a 3-1 week set up a huge showdown next weekend when Purdue travels to UCLA for a three game set between two team ranked in the top 10 of the RPI.
Purdue won a nice midweek game at No. 69 Illinois State before taking two of three at home against second place Michigan State in the Big Ten. Barrett Serrato had a grand slam in Friday’s 6-2 win and a two-out, two-RBI single by Eric Charles int he bottom of the ninth tied Saturday’s game before Cameron Perkins won it 4-3 in the 14th.
Indiana State played out of the Missouri Valley Conference for the second straight weekend and took two of three from Nebraska-Omaha in Terre Haute to move to 33-11 overall. The Trees also won a midweek game 6-4 over Illinois to have a 3-1 week. Playing lowly rated Nebraska-Omaha (and losing a game) had a detrimental effect on ISU’s RPI, as it fell to 56, but the Trees are still a half game behind Missouri State in the conference race.
Louisville gained ground in the Big East by taking two of three from Connecticut. Louisville won 5-0 on Friday and 14-6 on Saturday before falling 7-4 on Sunday. The Cards also picked up a big midweek win over in-state rival Kentucky 10-2, and the Wildcats are ranked No. 3 int he nation in most polls.
Finally, the Indiana Hoosiers took a big step towards being one of the six teams to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana swept Michigan 8-1, 11-8, and 11-5 to move to 22-23 overall and an important 9-6 in conference play. The Hooisers are now tied for second in the Big Ten with Minnesota, three and a half games behind Purdue.
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