WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - - Former Boilermaker shortstop Mike Duursma will join the throng of athletes en route to the Beijing Olympic Games in August. A two-year letterwinner for Purdue, Duursma, a native of Heilco in the Netherlands, has been named one of 24 players to be selected to the Dutch baseball team for the 29th Olympiad in China.
"I know that making the Olympic squad has been one of Mike's goals," Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber said. "I'm very proud of him and his continual effort to improve. We know that he's there representing the Netherlands, but it is a good feeling that he'll be there as a Boilermaker as well."
A slick fielding infielder, Duursma transferred to Purdue to play for Schreiber after a two-year career at Cypress Community College. He started and played in 113 consecutive games for the Boilermakers during the 2000 and 2001 seasons and was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection after his senior year.
A .283 hitter (99 for 350) with the Boilermakers, he finished his career at Purdue with 18 doubles, four triples and a pair of home runs. He scored 59 runs, finished with 49 RBIs and went 11 for 18 in stolen base attempts in West Lafayette.
The Netherlands national baseball squad has been one of the most successful teams in Europe by winning 20 of the 27 European Baseball Championships dating back to 1954, including five consecutive titles, and placing second the seven other times.
The Netherlands, one of eight nations to qualify a team for the Olympics, will open play against Chinese Taipei on August 13 before taking on the United States a day later. The other five nations in the field are Canada, China, Cuba, Japan and Korea. The medal games will be made up of the top four teams from seven round-robin contests with the semifinals to be played on August 22 and the medal games on August 23.
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