Five Games Slated for Softball in Boca Raton

FAU PARENTS' WEEKEND TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, March 4
at FAU | 4:30 p.m. ET | Listen
at FAU | 7 p.m. ET | Listen
 
Saturday, March 5
vs. SIUE | 11:30 a.m. ET | Listen 
vs. Illinois St. | 2 p.m. ET |  Listen
 
Sunday, March 6
vs. SIUE | 10 a.m. ET | Listen 

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Visiting Florida Atlantic for the FAU Parents' Weekend Tournament, Purdue softball (7-9) is prepped for a five-game series inside FAU Softball Stadium this weekend.

Games will include a doubleheader at FAU on Friday (4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET), SIUE and Illinois State on Saturday (11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET, respectively) before finishing against SIUE at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday.

All games will be available to listen to online HERE, meanwhile both of Friday's games will be available to stream on FAUSports.TV via Conference USA.
 
Purdue Boilermakers (7-9)

• The Boilermakers are led by Rachel Becker, who ranks third in the Big Ten with 16 walks in addition to batting a .316 average at the plate and a .519 on-base %.
• Meanwhile, Purdue leads the conference and 25th in the nation with 57 walks this season.
• Last weekend at LSU's Purple & Gold Challenge, Purdue recorded 3-0 shutout vs. Drake, where the team posted six hits. Right-handed pitcher Alex Echazarreta tossed a career-high nine strikeouts in her complete-game shutout.
• Echazarreta
• Defensively, as a team the Boilermakers are averaging a .966 fielding %, including 280 total putouts
• Meanwhile, Purdue is averaging .88 home runs per game, good for third in the Big Ten, which included 10 homers over the opening weekend at Coastal Carolina.
• Newcomers frequent the lineup card, including freshman second-baseman Jade Moy, catcher/first baseman Ryen Ross, third baseman Olivia McFadden, not to mention pitchers Kendall Klochack and Columbia transfer Alexa Pinarski.

 
AU Owls (6-9)

• This season the Owls are (3-1) against Big Ten foes, With a win against Maryland (1-0), Two wins against Michigan State (both with scores of 2-1), and a loss against Indiana (1-11)
• The Owls are (0-2) against ranked teams this season with a loss to #12 Kentucky (3-7) on Feb 24th and a loss to #17 Missouri (0-3) on Feb 19th
• The Owls this past Tournament went (3-3) in the weekend the Owls gave up 22 runs and scored 21 
• #7 Sara Berthiaume is the Owl's best hitter as she is hitting at .366 average with 41 at bats, which included 15 hits. She leads the team in both slugging % (.512) and on-base % (.422), She is the only Owl batting over .300
• #29 Lynn Gardner is the Owl's best pitcher coming in, with an ERA of 1.42 with 39.1 innings pitched, she also leads the team in strikeouts with 22
• No other Owl's pitcher is posting an ERA under 3.00

 
SIUE Cougars (3-7)

• The Cougars come into the weekend (3-7) overall 
• The Cougars have not played in a week as their last weekend tournament was canceled 
• In Chattanooga Challenge (Feb. 18-20) the Cougars went (1-4) with its lone win coming against Northwestern State (5-4 F/8)
• The Cougars in the weekend (Feb.18-20) gave up 29 runs and scored 21 runs, and the following weekend (Feb. 11-13) the cougars gave up 34 runs and scored 28
• Out of the team's 10 games, seven were decided by three runs or less  
• #99 Grace Lueke owns a best-team batting average at (.400) in 15 at bats with six hits, she also has the team's highest slugging % at (.800) she has also blasted a pair of home runs this year as well she also leads the team in on base % at (.471)
• The Cougars best pitcher is #13 Mia Haynes with an ERA of (3.57) and leads the team with 17 strikeouts 

 
Illinois State Redbirds (3-10)

• The Redbirds are (0-5) against ranked teams and teams receiving votes with losses against (RV) USF (2-9), (#13) Michigan (1-4), (#5) Florida (0-3), (RV) Minnesota (5-7, 8 IN), (#21) Arizona State (2-12, 5 IN)
• Last weekend in the Hilltopper Spring Fling the Redbirds went (2-2) and they gave up 22 runs (16 of the runs in one game) and scored 11 runs 
• #15 Emme Olson is the Redbirds' best hitter as she is posting a (.400) batting average in her 16 hits she has two doubles, along with one homer, all while posting a .525 slugging % and she has the team's highest on base % at .442.
• #27 Hannah Ross has the most innings pitched at 37.0 and is posting an ERA of 3.97, she has 16 strikeouts this season so far
• #20 Amanda Fox has the most strikeouts on the team with 30 but has an ERA 4.85