Purdue's spring sports are wrapping a nice finish to an otherwise dismal athletic year.
After a pretty dismal fall and winter sports season the Purdue spring sports are saving the day even without the women's golf team making another run for a National Title. The Boilers on the respective spring teams have been fairly successful by comparison and will close out the academic year strong:
Women's Tennis
The women's tennis team has made its third straight NCAA Tournament and will face Georgia Tech in the NCAA Tournament at Vanderbilt on Friday. Georgia Tech is rated 19th in the final national poll, and Purdue would face the winner between No. 10 Vanderbilt and Murray State. Purdue is ranked 39th nationally.
Men's Tennis
The men's team is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years and will head to Lexington, Kentucky to face No. 21 Clemson. The winner will face either No. 13 Kentucky or Denver. Purdue is ranked 40th nationally in the final poll, but has a shot as they pushed No. 1 ranked Ohio State before losing 4-3 on April 13th.
Men's Golf
The men's golf team was in the hunt for the Big Ten title as it led the four-round match at the halfway point. They ultimately finished fifth after they were tied for second going into the final round. Adam Schenk and Austin Eoff were both named as second team all-Big Ten honorees and Purdue will go to the NCAA Central Regional in Sugar Grove, Illinois next weekend. The NCAA championships will be held May 27-30 in Kansas if Purdue qualifies.
Softball
Softball needs a very strong showing at the Big Ten Tournament in Evanston this weekend as it enters with a 26-27-1 record and on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament. After upsetting No. 4 Michigan and looking very strong the Boilers finished the season by losing 6 of 7. Purdue still has wins over Texas, Michigan, and Minnesota, and has the No. 6 seed in Evanston. They will open tomorrow at noon against Indiana before facing Minnesota if they win.
Women's Golf
For the first time in it seems like ages the women's golf team did not make the NCAA Tournament. This is a huge dropoff after Purdue finished in the top 5 at the NCAA Championships five times since 2007, one of which was the 2010 National title. Also, Purdue was runner-up in 2007 and 2011. Aurora Kan still qualified for the individual regional, however.
Track & Field
Purdue is the host institution for this year's Big Ten outdoor Track & Field meet, which will take place next weekend at the Rankin Track.
Baseball
After getting swept by a red hot Indiana team that is battling to be a national seed Purdue is 12-32 overall and 5-13 in the Big Ten. This year eight of the 11 Big Ten baseball programs will qualify for the Big Ten tournament, but Purdue is tied for last in the win column with Northwestern and Penn State. Purdue also lost their series with Penn State and needs to pass Ohio State (8-10) Michigan State (8-10) and Iowa (8-10) just to get to eighth place. Purdue lost their series with Michigan State and Ohio State, so it does not have the tiebreaker there.
Yes, it is entirely possible Purdue can finish dead last in the Big Ten in football, men's basketball, and baseball in the same year.