Thursday, May 10 / Noon ET
Goodman Diamond / Madison, Wisconsin
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MADISON, Wis. - Purdue (16-39, 7-17 B1G) is set to take on tournament host Wisconsin (27-20, 11-9 B1G) in game one of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at noon ET. Purdue is making its sixth-consecutive conference tournament appearance, entering the tournament as the 10 seed after its sweep of Iowa.
The Boilermakers enter the tournament playing its best softball of the season following a sweep if Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, over the weekend. The battery of Sydney Bates and Alexa Binckes dominated the Hawkeyes, leading to Bates earning Big Ten Pitcher and Freshman of the Week honors. The Davie, Florida, native threw three complete-game wins, including two shutouts, and a 0.37 ERA in the circle against Iowa with 11 strikeouts in 19 innings of action.
After Bates allowed Iowa to score a run in the first inning of game one, she recorded 18 consecutive shutout innings against the Hawkeyes to pitch Purdue into the Big Ten Tournament. Iowa was able to knock Bates around in games one and two earning 15 hits and six walks. However, Bates was able to pitch her way out of trouble every time the pressure was on, stranding 18 runners on base including 13 Hawkeyes in scoring position. She only got better as the weekend went on as she allowed just four baserunners in game three and retired five-of-seven leadoff hitters with three 1-2-3 innings.
Offensively, First Team All-Big Ten selection Jenny Behan will look to continue to lead Purdue. She's started at third base in all 55 games for the Boilermakers and registered 47 hits in 151 at-bats to hit .311. The junior leads the Boilermakers in extra-base hits as well with 10 doubles, two triples and seven home runs, giving her a .543 slugging percentage. She walked 29 times, fueling her .428 on-base percentage. Behan is Purdue's leading run-producer batting third in the lineup, scoring 27 runs and earning 30 RBI.
Madison Douglass has emerged as a threat at the plate, riding a five-game hitting streak into tournament play. The sophomore hit .500 after finishing 4-for-8 at the plate against the Hawkeyes with four RBI, three runs scored and a pair of walks. Ryleigh Scott finishes the year as the freshman hits leader in the Big Ten with 50 hits after her big weekend against Iowa. After missing a week due to injury, Scott came back and hit .417 in the series with a team-leading five hits in 12 at-bats with a pair of runs scored.
The winner moves onto the second round of the tournament Friday and will face two-seeded Minnesota at Noon. Purdue took one-of-three from the Badgers earlier in the season, defeating Wisconsin 3-2 in the opener before falling 7-1 and 4-3 in games two and three.