Favorite Athlete: Robinson Cano
In His MP3 Player: Hootie and the Blowfish
Last Concert He Attended: Kenney Chesney
Favorite Actor & Actress: Sheldon Cooper & Jennifer Aniston
Favorite Month: October
Favorite Holiday: Halloween
Favorite Food: Tacos
Favorite Purdue Building: Ford Dining Hall
Favorite Big City: Singapore
Unique Travel Locale: Dang Kwele, Thialand
Country He'd Most Like to Visit: Ireland
Favorite Outdoor Activity: Golf
Another Sport He Enjoys Playing: Golf
Furry Friend: Bo, Golden Retriever
Photo Gallery Thru 2011 | 2012 Photo GalleryMLB Draft
Selected in the 29th Round by the San Diego Padres in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
2012 Season
First Team All-Big Ten... Academic All-Big Ten... two-time Big Ten Player of the Week... Charles started at second base in all 57 games in which he played... established a new Purdue all-time record for runs scored... led the team in batting average for the second year in a row... finished his career with more walks (86) than strikeouts (84)... hit safely in every game of the Big Ten/Big East Challenge, East Carolina Tournament and Big Ten Tournament as well as every game of the Murray State, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan State and Michigan series... had multiple hits in all three games of the Michigan State series, including some heroics in the extra-inning game two win, to win Big Ten Player of the Week... in that MSU win, knocked in Purdue's first run of the game with a single in the eighth inning and then delivered a game-tying two-out, two-run single in the ninth to send it to extras... also made a great diving catch over the tarp along the right field fence line in game one of the Michigan State series... had five straight multi-hit games early in the season en route to beginning the year 18-for-31 (.581)... recorded his 200th career hit and 100th career RBI during an 8-for-12 showing at the East Carolina Tournament, winning Big Ten Player of the Week honors... had four hits and three RBI in Purdue's record 30-hit day in game two of the Murray State series... reached base safely in 19 consecutive games from late March through the end of April... had two hits, an RBI double and two sacrifice bunts in the Big Ten title clincher against Michigan... recorded three hits in the series-opening win at Iowa that clinched the title outright... finished his career ranked among the Purdue all-time leaders in games played, batting average, hits, runs scored, RBI, doubles, triples, total bases, hit by pitch and stolen bases.
2011 Season
Distinguished Big Ten Scholar... Academic All-Big Ten... Charles started all 57 games at second base, the only player to start every game... led the team in batting average (.351), doubles (17), sac flies (7) and sac bunts (7)... tallied all seven of his sac bunts in conference play to share the league lead... helped turn 32 of Purdue's 44 double plays, a team-high total... batted second in 53 of the 57 games... walked (10) more than he struck out (6) in Big Ten play while leading the team in doubles (9) and runs scored (22)... reached base safely 40 percent of the time when leading off an inning... batted a team-best .383 with two outs and .325 with runners in scoring position... posted four-hit games in the season opener and finale as well as the midweek win at IPFW... batted .371 in February... posted a career-long 15-game hitting streak from April 23 through May 20, hitting safely in 13 straight Big Ten games during that stretch... finished the year having reached base safely in 19 consecutive games after hitting safely in all three Big Ten Tournament games... went 11-for-30 with four doubles and eight runs scored during the early-season eight-game win streak... led the team with 16 RBIs in March... consistent at the plate during the nine-game road stretch in April, going 14-for-33 with six walks and 10 runs scored... finishing April batting .361 with eight extra-base hits, nine walks and 18 runs scored... led the team with 15 extra-base hits in true road games... led the team with a .389 average and 17 RBIs in midweek action... struck out only once in 81 plate appearances at home... led the team with a .400 average in May, striking out only once in 66 plate appearances in the final month of the season... hit safely in all every game of the Morehead State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee Tech, Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State and Illinois series... scored a run in all three game of the Tennessee-Martin series... Big East/Big Ten Challenge (Feb. 18-20): 5-for-14 weekend was highlighted by four-hit effort in season-opening win against Connecticut... at Morehead State (Feb. 26-27): recorded four extra-base hits during 8-for-21 weekend, scoring five times... at Tennessee-Martin (March 11-13): homered twice for first collegiate multi-homer game in series finale, capping 4-for-12 weekend in which he scored five times; scored the game-winning run in the ninth inning of game two... at Tennessee Tech (March 18-20): 5-for-12 weekend was highlighted by three-hit, two-RBI effort in rubber game win... Bradley (March 25-27): delivered a three-run double in the home win... at Minnesota (April 1-2): doubled and tripled as the leadoff man in the game two win... at Butler (April 6): posted second career four-RBI effort, singling home a pair in the second and eighth innings... Michigan (April 8-10): reached base safely seven times in the series, scoring three times in the series-opening win... at IPFW (April 13): doubled twice and scored twice as part of a four-hit effort... at Penn State (April 15-17): recorded four hits and drew four walks, reaching base safely seven times in the Sunday doubleheader... at Illinois-Chicago (April 20): doubled home a pair and reached base safely three times in the midweek win... at Northwestern (April 23-24): scored five times and executed three sac bunts in the series victory, highlighted by a three-hit effort in the rubber game... Indiana (April 30-May 1): 5-for-13 series was highlighted by a three-hit game in the series finale, scoring four times... at Michigan State (May 6-8): recorded two hits in the series opener and finale, finishing the weekend 5-for-13 with two doubles and two sac bunts... Illinois (May 13-15): doubled, tripled and scored three times in the series while putting the ball in play every time he came to the plate... Illinois-Chicago (May 17): recorded sac flies in back-to-back innings... at Big Ten Tournament (May 25-27): led the way with a 6-for-12 showing, homering against Michigan State and recording four hits in the loss to Minnesota; did not strike out in the tourney... Big Ten Rankings: second in sac flies; fifth in doubles; sixth in hits and triples; seventh in batting average, runs scored, total bases and hit by pitch; and eighth in slugging percentage... Purdue Single-Season Rankings: sixth in hits, eighth in at-bats and ninth in doubles... Purdue All-Time Rankings: sixth in hit by pitch and 15th in triples... National Rankings: 25th in sacrifice flies.
2010 Season
Academic All-Big Ten ... Charles played in 52 games and started 49 times, all at second base ... was part of a team-high 31 double plays turned by Purdue ... led the team in sacrifice flies (8) and sac bunts (6) ... one of two Purdue players with more walks (22) than strikeouts (21)... averaged only one strikeout per every 10.8 plate appearances ... batted .309 with a team-high six doubles and eight stolen bases in Big Ten play ... recorded seven of his 14 total sacrifices in Big Ten play ... ranked second on the team with 11 multi-RBI games ... batted .328 with 15 runs scored at home ... recorded 22 of his 25 RBIs in true road games ... batted .367 two doubles and seven RBIs on the spring break trip ... batted .383 with a team-high 19 RBIs in March ... hit safely in each of the first 10 games to open the season ... had multiple hits in six straight games from March 5-14, going 13-for-26 with 11 RBIs during that stretch ... hit safely in every game of the Big East/Big Ten Challenge and Evansville Tournament as well as weekend series against Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State ... Big East/Big Ten Challenge (Feb. 26-March 1): went 4-for-14 with three walks and four RBIs, driving in a pair of runs against Cincinnati and West Virginia ... at Southern Illinois (March 5-7): had two hits in all three games of the series to finish the set 6-for-14 with seven RBIs; recording a season-high four RBIs in the series-opening win ... at Evansville Tournament (March 12-14): led the way with a 7-for-12 effort, driving in a pair of runs against Morehead State and Evansville ... at Ohio (March 19-20): reached base safely in seven times in the series, going 4-for-11 with four runs scored; walked and scored in all three games of the sweep ... IPFW (March 23): homered as part of a three-hit effort, scoring three times in the home-opening win ... at Michigan (April 9-11): went 4-for-10 with five walks, reaching base safely four times in the series-opening win ... Penn State (April 16-18): led the way with a 7-for-13 effort and five runs scored in the three-game sweep, recording four hits and scoring three times in the series-opening win ... at Indiana (April 30-May 2): doubled twice, scored four times and knocked in five runs in the series victory ... Michigan State (May 8-10): went 5-for-12 with two walks, five runs scored and three stolen bases, scoring a run in all three games ... Big Ten Tournament (May 26-28): started three of the four games, recording a sacrifice fly in the Indiana win and two hits in the elimination loss to Iowa ... Big Ten Rankings: first in sacrifice flies and fourth in hit by pitch.
2009 Season
Named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball ... 2009 Third Team All-Big Ten ... 2009 All-Big Ten Freshman Team ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Hit .371 with nine doubles, three triples, two home runs, 21 RBIs and a team-high 45 runs scored in 45 games played ... Big East/Big Ten Challenge (Feb. 20-22): Appeared in three games as a reserve and scored three runs ... at Southeast Missouri State (Feb. 27): Appeared in one game off the bench ... at Texas State (March 6-8): Made first career start and recorded first collegiate hit ... at Butler (March 11): Went 1 for 2 with a run scored off the bench ... Dunn Hospitality Classic (March 13-15): Appeared in one game as a reserve ... at Illinois-Chicago (March 17-18): Appeared in both games as a replacement and went 1 for 4 with a run scored ... at Tennessee-Martin (March 20): Moved into the starting second base slot and would remain there the rest of the season. Went 2 for 6, including first collegiate homer, with an RBI and a run scored ... vs. SIU Edwardsville (March 21): Drove in three runs while going 2 for 4 with a double ... at Northwestern (March 27-28): Finished 3 for 5 (.600) with a pair of runs scored ... at IPFW (April 1): Went 3 for 5 with a double, home run, three RBIs and two runs scored ... Wabash (April 2): Finished 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored ... Iowa (April 3-4): Hit .467 (7 for 15) with two RBIs and three runs scored in three starts ... Ball State (April 8): Went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored ... Illinois State (April 8): Finished 3 for 6 with a triple and four runs scored ... at Penn State (April 10-12): Batted .364 (4 for 11) with four RBIs and four runs scored ... at Illinois State (April 15): Went 1 for 3 with a double and a run scored ... Ohio State (April 17-18): Went just 1 for 13 (.077) with a double and two runs scored ... Butler (April 22): Finished 1 for 4 with a run scored ... at Minnesota (April 24-26): Hit .273 (3 for 11) with a run scored ... at Ball State (April 28): Finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored ... Indiana (May 2-3): Batted .636 (7 for 11) with two RBIs and five runs scored ... at Michigan State (May 9-11): Went 3 for 12 (.250) with a triple, four RBIs and three runs scored ... Illinois (May 14-16): Batted .500 (6 for 12) with four doubles and five runs scored ... Big Ten Tournament (May 20-22): Hit .154 (2 for 13) with one RBI.
2008 Season
Played in five games off the bench before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season ... granted a medical redshirt ... doubled and scored in the home win against Valparaiso.
High School
Three-year letterwinner at Zionsville High School ... Was a three-time all-conference and all-area honoree ... Named to the Indianapolis Star Super Team all three varsity seasons ... Earned the ZHS Offensive Player Award as a sophomore, junior and senior ... Batted .437 during senior campaign with 13 doubles, four triples and six home runs ... Drove in 24 runs as a senior while swiping 16 bases ... Was an Indiana Mr. Baseball candidate during senior season ... Hit at a .530 clip as a junior with five doubles, five triples, five home runs and 23 stolen bases ... Batted .420 during sophomore season with 15 stolen bases ... Helped team to a regional title as a junior and a sectional championship as a senior.
Personal
Full name is Eric Michael Charles ... Born Dec. 18, 1988, in Chicago, Ill. ... Son of Pat and Phoebe Charles ... Spent time as youth growing up in Singapore ... Has one brother, Leo, and one sister, Elyssa ... Selling and Sales Management major.