Purdue vs. Saint Joseph's
Friday, March 10 / 11:30 a.m. ET
USF Under Armour Showcase / USF Softball Stadium / Tampa, Florida
Purdue at USF
Friday, March 10 / 2 p.m. ET
USF Under Armour Showcase / USF Softball Stadium / Tampa, Florida
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Purdue vs. USC Upstate
Saturday, March 11 / 2 p.m. ET
USF Under Armour Showcase / Eddie C. Moore Complex Field 1 / Clearwater, Florida
Purdue vs. Villanova
Saturday, March 11 / 4:15 p.m. ET
USF Under Armour Showcase / Eddie C. Moore Complex Field 1 / Clearwater, Florida
Purdue vs. Mount St. Mary's
Sunday, March 12 / 9 a.m. ET
USF Under Armour Showcase / Eddie C. Moore Complex Field 9 / Clearwater, Florida
Tournament Central
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Like a jigsaw puzzle, Boo De Oliveira is patiently toiling to piece together the Purdue softball team.
The first-year head coach is seeing different phases of the game develop, but not consistently enough to win games on a regular basis.
"Going into this weekend, we are acknowledging that our pitching has hit its peak and our base running is helping us out, so now let's focus on getting more quality at-bats, especially with runners in scoring position and playing better defense," De Oliveira said. "We have a lot of things going well for us. I know the win column isn't showing that, but we are improving in a bunch of areas. We just need to put it all together."
Defense was the Boilermakers' biggest bugaboo last weekend at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic II in Kissimmee, Florida. Purdue committed 10 errors in five games, which counterbalanced a staff ERA of 2.05 and a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen-base attempts. Seven of the 17 runs the pitchers allowed were unearned. Predictably, the Boilermakers' one errorless game came in a 6-0 shutout of Bryant University.
"We just need to make the routine plays," De Oliveira said. "That's what's hurting us. We're not making errors on highlight-reel caliber plays. We need to do a better job defending the short game."
This weekend, the Boilermakers (3-16) return to the Sunshine State for the USF Under Armour Showcase in Tampa and Clearwater. Purdue is scheduled to play five games: tomorrow against Saint Joseph's (11:30 a.m. ET) and USF (2 p.m.), Saturday against USC Upstate (2 p.m.) and Villanova (4:15 p.m.), and Sunday against Mount St. Mary's (9 a.m.).
Here are the records of the five foes: Saint Joseph's (3-7), USF (12-7), USC Upstate (19-3), Villanova (6-4) and Mount St. Mary's (3-7).
DIAMOND 9 CITRUS CLASSIC II REWIND
Sophomore Kaitlynn Moody earned her first win in a Purdue uniform in the shutout of Bryant University on March 3. She scattered three hits - all singles - and three walks while striking out a season-high nine batters.
"We started to see what Kaitlynn was capable of in California (the previous weekend)," De Oliveira said. "She pitched very well against tough-hitting teams. She followed up on that with a great performance against Bryant. She changed speeds, she hit zones and she attacked batters."
Sophomore Maddie Damon also had a solid weekend, posting a snappy 1.94 ERA over three appearances, and senior Katie Johnson was a tough-luck 2-1 loser to Charlotte on March 4, authoring a complete game and giving up just one earned run. She had an eye-popping 0.91 ERA covering two outings.
Purdue pitchers recorded 20 strikeouts for the weekend - an average of four per game - after totaling just 35 over their first 14 games (2.5 average).
Meanwhile, on the base paths, five different Boilermakers had thefts: sophomore Mallory Baker (5-5), senior Kristen Hoppman (4-4), junior Maya Hughes (3-3), freshman Taylor Wullenweber (2-2) and sophomore Stephanie Ramsey (1-1).
Baker paced Purdue with a .455 batting average (5-for-11) and also drew five walks for a .647 on-base percentage. She is batting .333 for the season.
Hughes (.412), Wullenweber (.385, one double and three RBI) and junior Kaylah Hampton (.333, two doubles and three RBI) also had impressive showings at the plate. Hughes currently boasts a 10-game hitting streak, while Hampton and Wullenweber both have hits in six straight games.
USF UNDER ARMOUR SHOWCASE
The USF Under Armour Showcase is part of the largest NCAA Division I softball tournament series in the country.
The tournament field consists of 21 teams.
The Boilermakers will play their two Friday games at the USF Softball Stadium in Tampa. On Saturday and Sunday, they will cross Old Tampa Bay to Clearwater for three games at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
The Eddie C. Moore Complex is Clearwater's award-winning softball facility. It is named for the city's former parks & recreation director, who also was a player and manager for the Clearwater Bombers men's fastpitch softball team. There are nine fields at three locations on Drew Street, all of which are connected by the East-West Trail.
This weekend's tournament is the start of a massive 10-day road trip for the Boilermakers. Upon leaving Florida, they will fly to Honolulu for the Rainbow Wahine Classic, which will consist of seven games from March 15 to 18.
Total mileage from West Lafayette to Indianapolis to Tampa to Honolulu to Indianapolis to West Lafayette: 10,138.
SERIES RECORDS
Purdue vs. Saint Joseph's: Purdue leads 1-0
Purdue vs. USF: Tied 3-3
Purdue vs. USC Upstate: First Meeting
Purdue vs. Villanova: Purdue leads 4-0
Purdue vs. Mount St. Mary's: First Meeting
