Feb. 27, 2012 

Welcome from “The Jungle”

While most of the southern schools were enjoying the first round of mid-week games, the Boilermaker Dream Team was busy with a short week of practice while a trip to the warm Carolina shore for the Keith LeClair Classic hosted by East Carolina laid on their minds. Unfortunately, after Vasco de Gama led them from Indy to Atlanta to Raleigh to Greenville, we were disappointed to encounter the wrath of Mother Nature once again. A severe thunderstorm on Friday canceled the day’s action that featured Western Carolina v. Maryland and East Carolina v. Purdue for a round of doubleheaders on Saturday in the colder-than-expected weather.

The hostile environment of Lewis Field, led by a group of crazed fans behind the outfield fence known as “The Jungle”, left us in an atmosphere normally found in summer leagues rather than the Big Ten. Pitchers and the outfielders took the greatest verbal abuse with countless “meat”, “turn around when I’m talking to you” and a host of other references to the Boiler’s player bio’s. Sunday proved to be “The Jungle’s” most creative day when the Gunter to Collins to Sudbury pitching change (Numbers 35-37-39 respectively) evoked an allusion to the North Carolina Powerball. The next drawing is February 29, with a value of $40 million for all the Greenvillians who want to buy their tickets now.

Saturday featured doubleheader action for us as we beat the first Top 25 opponent East Carolina University. Before “The Jungle” could muster up a witty remark to account for such a travesty, we went ahead and supplied “The Jungle” with all the ammo they would need in a 10 run-rule loss to Maryland. Thank goodness none of them stuck around. Sunday, or “Hit Day” as it is quickly sweeping the nation, saw us bash our way to a 5-1 record so far this season.

Two things came to light on and off the field of play this past weekend. Firstly, Charles and Spillner combined to go 15-24 at the plate, leading “The Jungle” to believe they were using the N64 cheat code; C Left – C Left – C Right – C Right – C Right – C Right – C Left – C Left (made popular by Ken Griffey Jr. Major League Baseball). Secondly, if Honey Baked Ham is not already a corporate sponsor of Boilermaker Baseball, it will be shortly. Every college baseball team has their favorite lunch/between-game food. For some it’s Jimmy Johns, others it’s Subway, for us… Honey Baked Ham. This year we have had Honey Baked Ham twelve times, but who’s counting, and it has led lines to be drawn between those who pledge alliance to their particular sandwich. The first weekend saw Cold War relations between Ham and Turkey only to be thrown off by the late bloomer in Roast Beef this weekend. We will keep you posted on any new developments.

We are now headed to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport with five hours to kill, hoping to finish homework and surf the Twitter world. But of course, the 19th-century airport came equipped with an $8 charge for Wi-Fi leaving the student-athletes debating whether they should take the “F” or dig into their pockets and splurge. Has that $2,000 spending allowance been approved by the NCAA yet? Another week comes to an end with a week full of cold tubs, stem machines, and PFP’s.

Thanks for reading,

David Miller and Cal Gunter

(photos courtesy of Purdue Media Relations Office)