The Indiana Hoosiers had a surprisingly good weekend on the diamond, sweeping visiting Nebraska in a critical Big Ten series to move into second place in the Big Ten. Purdue continues to lead the league at 14-4 in conference play, but the Hoosiers sit three games back at 11-7 after beating Nebraska 7-5 and 9-6 on Sunday in a doubleheader. The Hoosiers fell 13-2 on Friday, but the series win moves them to 24-24 overall and, as the No. 2 seed, they would receive a bye in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Penn State (10-8), Michigan State (10-8) and Minnesota (10-8) are in third, with Ohio State (11-10) sitting in sixth. Nebraska (9-9) suffered a huge blow by losing to IU. Ohio State is the off team in conference play next week.
Purdue was out of conference this week, and they traveled out to Los Angeles to play UCLA in a series that had national significance. The Boilermakers dropped both games of a double header on Saturday 5-1 and 3-2 to drop a series for the first time this year, but they had a surprise for the No. 15 Bruins on Sunday. UCLA led 10-5 with one out in the ninth when Purdue exploded for 10 runs to salvage a critical road victory over one of the highest-rated RPI teams in the country:
Sunday's comeback cannot be overrated enough. Down to their last two outs, Purdue scored 10-runs, including eight with two outs and getting down to their last strike a couple of times before their improbable hit parade. At one point seven straight players delivered base hits to score a run. With UCLA being at No. 3 in the RPI, Purdue got a very valuable resume-win, and as long as they don't stumble too much in the last nine games (all against sub-200 teams), they will host a regional.
Purdue moved to 34-9 on the season, and with four more wins they will set a new mark for wins in a single season. Sunday's win also broke a three game losing streak and likely clinched a hosting spot for an NCAA regional.
In Big East play the Louisville Cardinals took two of three from West Virginia, but a 4-3 loss on Saturday dropped Louisville to 14-7 in the league and 33-15 overall. They trail St John's by two games in the Big East and are tied with Connecticut.
In the Missouri Valley Conference the Indiana St. Sycamores used 1-0 and 6-3 wins over Wichita State to take a half game lead over Missouri State, but an 8-2 Sunday loss dropped the Trees a half game behind MSU. Indiana State and Missouri State will play in the final series of the regular season in two weeks.
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