After Ricardo Allen became the first in our list yesterday, GoldandBlack.com's countdown of the top 10 athletes of the past year rolls on. Today, we turn our attention to the baseball diamond, with our No. 9 pick.

Bio: A smooth-fielding, free-swinging corner infielder on the baseball team.

Summary: Indianapolis native Cameron Perkins came to Purdue as part of what Doug Schreiber has called his best recruiting class of his dozen-plus years as the Boilermakers' coach.

He might leave as one of the program's best position players ever.

Perkins, a smooth-fielding corner infielder, is near the top of almost every major statistical category in the Big Ten, with a batting average of .351 (ninth), a slugging percentage of .559 (fifth), 78 hits (fifth), 53 RBI (fourth), eight home runs (fifth) and 124 total bases (third). One of the most athletic Boilers as well, Perkins had 11 steals in 14 attempts, and sports a .966 fielding percentage.

Perkins, a free-swinger who hits third in the Boilermakers' loaded lineup, helped Purdue to finish either first or second as a team in nearly every offensive category. The Boilers, who hit .312 as a team and had a .405 on-base percentage, scored 399 runs in 54 games (66 more than Michigan State, which was second in the Big Ten), an average of 7.4 runs per game.

The Boilers, who finished third in the Big Ten, a game back of first place in the regular-season, will have Perkins in uniform for at least another year. He's not a draft-eligible player until following his junior season, when, depending on his draft position, he might decide to forgo his final year.

Analysis: Perkins is an absolutely joy to watch on the diamond, because he can dazzle both at the plate and in the field. At third, where he started the season before shifting to first due to injuries there, he can easily range into the hole and is so long and athletic that few balls get by. And at the plate, while he might frustrate at times with his unwillingness to take pitches, he's capable of driving home runs with each swing.

Countdown

No. 10: Ricardo Allen

No. 9: Cameron Perkins

No. 8: Wednesday

No. 7: Thursday

No. 6: Friday

No. 5: Monday

No. 4: July 19

No. 3: July 20

No. 2: July 21

No. 1: July 22

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