Purdue baseball's 'blue collar' team defies expectations

WEST LAFAYETTE — Greg Goff is perched in the corner, atop the bench of Alexander Field 's home dugout, head buried in his hands. The Purdue baseball head coach is visibly frustrated after his team just spent four hours trying to give more than 2,200 fans a Boilermaker victory to celebrate. Miami's two runs in the top of the 11th assured that didn't happen, but these disappointments have been few and far between.

Everything up to that point exemplified why Purdue sits where it does in a season many outside the Boilermaker clubhouse never saw coming. Goff had to turn his roster over yet again this season, then lost four of his most relied upon contributors to injuries. And as devastating as that 11-inning loss was on Tuesday night, it was just the 11th in 36 games for Purdue, which is the Big Ten's surprise team so far.

"Just having the mindset of proving everyone else wrong has been huge and just going out there and playing for something," pitcher Trevor Kester-Johnson said. What Goff deals with is a stark contrast from the world he came from nine years ago when he first arrived in West Lafayette. Goff coached at Alabama in a conference where many baseball programs have College World Series expectations.

At Purdue, baseball isn't high on the athletic department's pecking order. To compete, roster construction creativity is a must. In recent years, any individual breakout season almost assures that player is transferring from Purdue to a bigger name — and bigger budgeted — program.