Complete Release in PDF Format
The Slate
Big Ten Week 1
Boilermaker Softball Stadium ~ West Lafayette, Ind.
Live Stats: purduesports.com
Audio: purduesports.com
Video (Sunday): purduesports.com; BTN Plus via BTN2Go.com
Friday, March 20: 5 p.m. vs. Wisconsin
- First 500 fans receive a commemorative ticket to the first ever game at the new stadium.
- Baseball Double Dip; $1 ticket when you show your baseball ticket for the day. Baseball at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 21: 1 p.m. vs. Wisconsin
- Boiler Block Party; Spend your Saturdays at the Boilermaker Softball Stadium and join us for the Boiler Block Party. Every Saturday this season, fans age 21+ are able to purchase alcoholic beverages at the game
- Mug giveaway: First 250 fans will get a FREE Purdue Plastic mug.
- Baseball Double Dip; $1 ticket when you show your baseball ticket for the day. Baseball at 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 22: Noon vs. Wisconsin
-Summer Ball Sundays: Bring the family for a fun Sunday at the Boilermaker Softball Stadium. Enjoy inflatables, games, special promotions during the game and more.
- Baseball Double Dip: $1 ticket when you show your baseball ticket for the day. Baseball at noon.
A New Home
The Purdue softball program opens the Boilermaker Softball Stadium, located adjacent to Alexander Field and the Boilermaker Soccer Complex near the intersection of Cherry Lane and McCormick Road, this weekend. The $13-million project was part of the Mackey Complex master plan approved by the trustees in May 2007 and designed to address the athletics department's facility deficiencies. The cost includes related site work and infrastructure.
The softball facility is built in traditional Purdue style with brick and masonry exterior facades and a concrete spectator area with a combination of bench and chairback seats. Seating capacity is 1,000, with the ability to expand in the future.
Both the home and visiting dugouts are heated, and both teams have dedicated bullpens and batting cages. The Boilermakers' home dugout is located along the third-base line and adjacent to a new clubhouse that features a locker room, lounge, team meeting area and athletic training treatment area. The clubhouse is attached to an enclosed and heated training facility that will allow for offseason batting and pitching workouts.A new press box includes media seating, radio and television announce booths, and a game-day operations area. Television-quality lights allow for night games to be televised.
The stadium will be officially dedicated on April 10 prior to the 1 p.m. contest against Nebraska.
The Book on the Boilermakers
At First Glance: Purdue (19-9) has won seven of its last eight games heading into this weekend's home and Big Ten opening series with Wisconsin. The Boilermakers finished the 2014 season with a 27-28-1 overall record, falling in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue returns 11 letterwinners, including three position starters and three pitchers from that team, which earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament after posting a 13-10 record in league play and winning five of its eight conference series. Head coach Kim Schuette is in her second season with the Boilermakers.
Last Time Out: The Boilermakers went 7-1 on their spring break trip to Clearwater, Fla., last week. Purdue posted a 6-0 mark at the Michelle Smith Spring Break Tournament, topping Northern Illinois (7-3), Long Island (9-1), Quinnipiac (2-1), Saint Joseph's (6-2), Western Michigan (3-1) and Colgate (4-1). The team split a Tuesday doubleheader with Central Connecticut State, falling 2-1 in Game 1, but rebounding with a 7-0 win.
Statistically Speaking: First baseman Ashley Burkhardt (.438) leads the Boilermaker bats and a group of seven starters with averages of .250 or better. Burkhardt has driven in a team-best 33 RBI, scored 24 runs, swiped 18 bases and launched eight home runs. Outfielder Alyssa Koorsen (.378), outfielder Maya Hughes (.315), designated player Katie Harrison (.313), catcher Kaylah Hampton (.301), outfielder Kristen Hoppman (.296) and shortstop Paris Andrew (.253) round out the group. Hampton has driven in 19 RBI, scored 12 runs and launched seven home runs. Koorsen has scored 16 runs, swiped 10 bases and tallied four doubles, while Hughes has stolen 16 bases and scored 15 runs. Andrew has scored 14 runs, driven in 14 RBI, stolen four bases and accounted for two triples and a home run. As a team, the Boilers are batting .304 with 19 home runs and 50 stolen bases.
In the circle, the Boilermaker pitchers are holding foes to a .193 average. Junior Lilly Fecho (13-5) has posted a 1.16 ERA with 143 strikeouts, three shutouts and a save in 108 innings of work. Freshman Gina Snyder (4-0) has struck out 41 batters in 32 innings, while boasting a 1.97 ERA and holding foes to a .161 average. Senior Lexy Moore (2-3) has issued 17 strikeouts in 32 innings, while senior Alex Whittemore (0-1) has added six Ks in nine innings.
What a Difference a Win Makes ...
If the Boilermakers top Wisconsin on Friday ...
- They will win their home opener for the eighth time in the last nine seasons and the 18th time in program history.
- They will win their first Big Ten home game for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
- They will have won their Big Ten opener for the 13th time in program history, including the fourth time in the last five years.
- They will move to 91-117 all-time in Big Ten home games and 178-237-1 all-time in conference play.
- They will move to 271-176-2 all-time in the month of March, including 9-1 on March 20.
Series Information
Wisconsin (Purdue leads the series 25-18): The Boilermakers won the first seven meetings in the series with the Badgers, which began on April 6, 1996. Wisconsin countered, taking eight of the next 11 from 1998 to 2002. Purdue snapped the streak with three straight wins. The teams split the next eight games from 2004 to 2007. The Boilers have taken eight of the last 11 games, including a four-game streak in 2008 and 2009. Purdue won the 2012 series 2-1, but Wisconsin swept all three games in 2014 in Madison. Purdue is 15-8 vs. the Badgers in West Lafayette, 9-10 in Madison and 1-0 in neutral games.
Words About Wisconsin
At First Glance: The Wisconsin Badgers (13-13) have won eight of their last 11 games coming into Friday's conference opener. UW returns 13 letterwinners, including eight starters and two pitchers, from the 2014 team, which posted a 36-20 record, finished fourth in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Regionals. The Badgers are coached by Yvette Healy, who is in her fifth year with the team.
Last Time Out: Wisconsin went 4-1 at the College of Charleston Invitational in Charleston, S.C. The Badgers topped Furman (5-3), College of Charleston (7-2), Marist (6-3) and Memphis (14-7), but dropped the finale to New Mexico (3-1).
Statistically Speaking: Outfielder Maria Van Abel leads the Badger hitters with a .407 average, a team-best 20 runs and 21 stolen bases. Six other players are batting .250 or better. Third baseman Chloe Miller (.348), second baseman Megan Tancill (.347), designated player Marissa Mersch (.322), shortstop Ashley Van Zeeland (.316), outfielder Katie Christner (.254) and first baseman Samantha Arents (.254) make up the group. Miller has driven in a team-leading 21 RBI with eight doubles, while also adding 14 runs and seven stolen bases. Mersch has tallied 19 RBI, five doubles, two triples and a home run to go with 17 stolen bases. Tancill and Van Zeeland each has 10 steals to her credit. As a team, the Badgers are batting .291 with two home runs and 86 stolen bases.
Junior Taylor-Paige Stewart (5-6) has done the bulk of the pitching for UW, striking out 66 batters in 89 innings, including a shutout and two saves. Freshman Mariah Watts (5-3) has struck out 17 batters in 46 innings, while freshman Annie Davis (3-1) has issued 15 Ks in 32 innings with a shutout and a save. Sophomore Sarah Fonk (0-2) has struck out three batters in seven innings. The staff has allowed foes a .281 average with 18 home runs and 25 steals.
Schuette Records 300th Career Victory
Head coach Kim Schuette recorded the 300th victory of her coaching career when the team topped Western Michigan 3-1 on March 15. Including her year at Division II Quincy College, Schuette has managed a 302-256-2 record. In Division I contests, she boasts a 278-228-2 mark. Schuette is in her second year at the helm of the Boilermaker program.
Stealing A Record
Senior first baseman Ashley Burkhardt snapped a 21-year old school record with a four steal effort against Western Michigan, March 15. The performance surpassed the previous record of three steals, which had been reached 25 times since 1994.
The game record of three had already been matched three times in 2015. Burkhardt had done so twice (vs. Long Island, Feb. 13, and vs. Oakland, Feb. 20) and freshman Maya Hughes had swiped three bases once (vs. Memphis, Feb. 14). The three-steal record was originally set by Jenny Schoen on April 5, 1995 vs. Valparaiso. Five players had matched the mark twice or more (Molly Garst, 6 times), Ashley Hall (4 times), Liane Horiuchi (4 times), Katie Crabtree (twice) and Burkhardt (twice).
Hampton Launches Record-Tying Home Runs
Freshman catcher Kaylah Hampton launched a school-record tying two home runs against Long Island, March 13. The two long ball effort marked the 23rd time in program lore a Boilermaker had done so and makes Hampton the 17th player to reach the mark.
Strikeout Machine
Junior Lilly Fecho racked up a school game-record 19 strikeouts in a 10-2 nine-inning victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 20. The K tally surpassed Diana LaRiva's mark of 17 in a seven-inning win over IPFW, which had stood since March 27, 2004.
Small Screen Stars
The Boilermaker softball team will be coming to a TV or computer near you, 18 times in the 2015 season. Three contests will be aired live on the Big Ten Network, while eight home games plus eight road contests will be available on BTN 2 Go through the BTN Plus streaming service.
The March 27 game with Rutgers will air live on the Big Ten Network at 5 p.m. ET, while the April 8 doubleheader vs. Indiana in Bloomington also will be broadcast live beginning at 1 p.m. Select games of the Big Ten Tournament May 6-9 in Columbus, Ohio, also will be broadcast on BTN Plus and on the Big Ten Network.
Seven home games - March 22 vs. Wisconsin, March 28-29 vs. Rutgers, April 1 vs. Ball State, April 10-11 vs. Nebraska, April 19 vs. Iowa - will be available through BTN Plus streaming. Road games at Northwestern (April 3-5), Ilinois (April 25-26) and Minnesota (May 1-3) also will be broadcast online.
A Tough Slate
The Boilermakers will face tough foes in 2015, including nine teams ranked or receiving votes in the preseason Top 25. Purdue will play 10 games against the Top 25: No. 15 Minnesota and No. 18 Nebraska three times each, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 UCLA, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 24 Texas A&M. The team also will take on vote-getters in Cal State Fullerton, Northwestern (three times) and Wisconsin (three times) boosting the tally to 17 games against ranked foes or those receiving votes.
The Boilermakers will play against 12 teams that participated in last year's NCAA Regionals and six teams that ended the year in the NFCA Top 25. Four of Purdue's foes went on to the Super Regionals, while No. 6 Kentucky competed in the Women's College World Series.
The Boilermakers will face three opponents for the first time in program history, taking on Memphis at the FIU Invitational, Stony Brook at the FGCU/Four Points by Sherton Invitational and Saint Joseph's at the Michelle Smith Spring Break Tournament.