After a year away, Purdue softball is back in the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers missed last year's event as one of the bottom two teams in the conference, but this year a top 12 finish has Purdue back in the Big Ten Tournament, which will be played in Iowa City starting on Wednesday.

A rough weekend agaisnt Michigan State dropped Purdue to ninth place, but Purdue's 11-12 record in the BIg Ten means Purdue will face Indiana in the 8/9 game on Wednesday at Noon ET. Purdue split the season series with the Hoosiers, losing game 1 of a doubleheader 5-1 before winning the nightcap 6-5 back on April 17th.

Purdue was swept at home this past weekend by Michigan State, losing three very close games 3-0, 1-0, and 2-1. Purdue's lone run of the weekend came in the fourth inning of Sunday's game, and the Boilers left two on base in the seventh inning.

The Big Ten was so tight that the weekend sweep was the difference between a ninth place finish and a third place finish. Should Purdue advance they would play conference regular season champion Northwestern. The Wildcats were 19-3, but Purdue was one of the three teams to beat them, beating them 2-1 on April 20th before losing 7-3 in 9 innings the next day.

Purdue will not be going to the NCAA Tournament without winning the Big Ten Tournament and hte automatic bid, but given that they were one of the few teams that played Northwestern tough, anything can happen. The first year of the Meg Frezzotti era has seen dramatic improvement. Purdue is just 25-26 overall, but this is up after last year's 23-30 record and 13th place finish in the Big Ten at 6-17. The Boilers also won eight straight conference games at one point.

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