Normally a 12th place league finish would not have a lot of hope for the postseason, but thanks to home field advantage, Purdue might be able to return to the NCAA softball tournament for the first time since 2009 and only the third time ever. in just her second season in West Lafayette coach Magali Frezzotti has Purdue at 30-22 with a bubbly RPI of 45. More importantly, Purdue has pulled a couple of upsets to reach the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

A 3-0 sweep of Illinois a few weeks ago allowed Purdue to grab the final spot in this year's Big Ten Tournament. That was a benefit, as the Boilers were announced as the tournament host before the season started as the league rotates the conference tournament around the league.

Purdue is now the first 12 seed into the semis after beating Northwestern 4-2 and thrashing No. 22 Ohio State 14-6. The win over the Buckeyes avenged an Ohio State sweep just two weeks ago.

It was also a quality win over an NCAA team, as Ohio State is 43-12-1 and solidly in the field.

Tonight Purdue will play 8 seed Michigan at 7:30pm on BTN, as the Wolverines upset top seeded Oregon last night. Purdue took advantage of five errors by the Buckeyes to comeback from down 4-0 after three innings.

It is hard to say where Purdue is on the NCAA Bubble right now. Yes, there is bracketology for this sort of thing, and Purdue was not near the Bubble entering the week, but wins over Northwestern and Ohio State are wins over projected tournament teams. Tonight's game vs. Michigan is huge, as the Wolverines are probably one of the teams Purdue is battling for a final spot. They have an RPI of 43 while Purdue is at 45.

Should Purdue win tonight it would face UCLA or Nebraska in the final tomorrow with an automatic bid on the line. Purdue did take a game from Nebraska earlier in the year in Lincoln. Purdue was swept by UCLA, who is ranked No. 10 at 48-9, but the last two games were close. The Bruins one those 2-1 and 7-5.

A win tonight definitely gets Purdue close the tournament, but would it be enough?

Boiler Upload is an affiliate partner with Homefield Apparel, a premium collegiate apparel brand based in Indianapolis. They feature licensed vintage designs for over 150 different colleges and universities from the Colorado School of Mines all the way to most of the Big Ten. This, of course, includes Purdue. I can speak from experience that their Purdue line is fabulous, including the awesome 1967 Rose Bowl retro tee. Visit Homefield and use code BOILERUPLOAD for a discount on their unique designs.