April 15, 2012,

I had the true pleasure of covering a record-setting day Sunday at Lambert Field, the home of Purdue Baseball. Thanks to the Boilermakers doubleheader sweep of Illinois, Doug Schreiber became the all-time winningest coach in Boilermaker baseball history, passing the previous record held by the legendary Dave Alexander, who Schreiber played for when Schreiber was a hard-nosed Boilermakers second baseman in the 1980s.

What’s interesting is that although Schreiber has been affiliated with Boilermaker baseball for a long time, first as a player and now as a head coach, he’s one of the more under-publicized and under-appreciated coaches in this area. And that’s OK with the man affectionately known as “Schreibs”. The Boilermakers leader practices a “we”, team-first approach on a daily basis. And this season’s team, ranked 18th in the country, might be Schreiber’s best yet. Thanks to this weekend’s three-game sweep of the Illini, the Boilers are 10-2 in the Big Ten and 28-5 overall. They haven’t won a Big Ten title since 1909—-yes, 1909—but have put themselves in position to end the 103-year drought. And they’re in very good standing as far as earning the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament bid (Purdue baseball’s only NCAA Tournament appearance came in 1987).

I was reminded of two things Sunday. One, Doug Schreiber is a darn good coach with three very capable assistants in Jeff Duncan, Tristan McIntyre, and Payton Bieker. And, two, the 2012 Purdue baseball team is worth keeping a close eye on. They play hard and play baseball the right way, team first. Just the way “Schreibs” practices it.

Congratulations, Doug Schreiber.

Blog to you soon,

Mike