STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (May 13, 2003) - The Penn State baseball team clinched a spot in the upcoming Big Ten playoffs after Indiana completed a doubleheader sweep of Purdue Monday afternoon in Bloomington, Ind.

The Nittany Lions put themselves in the driver's seat for a berth in the playoffs after taking three of four games versus Illinois this past weekend at Beaver Field. They will make their fifth appearance, and the first since 2001, in the conference's postseason tournament, which will be held May 21-24 in either Minneapolis, Minn. or Columbus, Ohio. The tournament winner is granted the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

Penn State, which is 23-24 overall and 15-13 in the Big Ten, has an all-time record of 6-8 in the tournament and a 4-4 mark against teams that have already clinched or are still alive for a playoff berth heading into this weekend.

The Nittany Lions will wrap up their home schedule with a 3:00 p.m. contest versus Villanova today (May 13) at Beaver Field. The game will be broadcast live by ESPN Radio WMAJ 1450 AM and a link to the broadcast will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Minnesota sits atop the Big Ten standings and will play host to the Buckeyes in a four-game set this weekend. The Golden Gophers need one win this weekend to clinch their second straight regular season conference title.