IOWA CITY, Iowa - Purdue (13-39, 4-15 B1G) wraps up the 2018 regular season at Iowa's (20-28, 6-13 B1G) Bob Pearl Field. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m. ET with the Boilermakers fighting to clinch a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
The Boilermakers are in a dog fight with Rutgers for the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. If the 2018 season ended today, Purdue would be a 12 seed in its sixth-consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearance. A season ago, the Hawkeyes came to Bittinger Stadium and took 2-of-3 from Purdue. The Boilermakers won the opener by a score of 4-2.
If Purdue is successful against the Hawkeyes, it'll need a big weekend from the battery of Sydney Bates and Alexa Binckes. Bates leads the Big Ten this season in conference play with 18 appearances and held the second-place Hoosiers to just one run in seven innings of work a week ago. Binckes leads all Big Ten catchers with 14 baserunners caught stealing this season.
Stephanie Ramsey and Jenny Behan lead the Boilermakers in Big Ten this season with 15 of Purdue's 56 RBI against conference opponents. Ramsey leads the team with 20 hits and a .351 batting average while Behan is right behind her with 18 hits and a .333 batting average.
