Purdue Sports Update Feb. 26

Baseball Sweeps Niagara, Remains Unbeaten

Logan Sutter connected for four extra-base hits as part of a team record six-hit game and Easton Storey and Gavin Beuter teamed up for 17 strikeouts in a combined three-hit shutout in the nightcap as Purdue swept a Saturday doubleheader vs. Niagara to improve to 7-0 on the season.

The Boilermakers scored 13 unanswered runs in the middle innings of game 1, overcoming a brief 3-1 deficit in a 16-4 victory. The 9-0 win in the nightcap was Purdue’s first shutout of the season. The Boilers clinched a series victory in a four-game set for the second weekend in a row and improved to 18-4 all-time at Ting Stadium (since 2022).

At 7-0, Purdue has kept pace with the 2022 team that started 15-0 for the best season-opening win streak in program history. The seven-game win streak is the Boilers’ longest since the 15-0 start three years ago.

Sutter tied team records for runs scored (5) and total bases (14) while becoming the first Boilermaker ever with six hits in a game. It had been nearly five years since Purdue’s last five hit game – Evan Albrecht at Western Kentucky on March 8, 2020, in what proved to the final game of that abbreviated season. A Boilermaker had not scored five times in a game since David Blount in a February 2011 win at Morehead State. Nate Sickler also had 14 total bases when he hit for the cycle in an April 2001 win at Butler.

Sutter doubled (1st inning), homered (3rd), singled (4th), singled (5th), doubled (6th) and homered (7th) in his six at-bats. The second double was an opposite-field gapper and had the potential to become a triple, but Sutter pulled up at second base as the ball arrived at the cutoff man.

Sutter’s home runs included a towering 392-foot blast over the left field foul pole and 360-foot no doubter off the videoboard in left field. It was his first multi-homer game as a Boilermaker.

Purdue scored in each of the first four innings on Friday as the Boilermakers drew 14 free passes, defeating Niagara 6-4 to remain unbeaten on the season at 5-0.

Avery Cook closed out the game for the forth time in the first five contests, recording three strikeouts while accounting for a four-out save. He escaped a bases-loaded jam with a K in the eighth inning and struck out NU’s No. 2 and 3 hitters while they represented the tying run in the ninth.

The Boilermakers nearly batted around three times over the first four innings, with a three-run bottom of the third proving to be the game-defining frame. CJ Richmond and Brandon Anderson teamed up for a hit-and-run single with one out in the inning, helping to set the stage for RBI from Avery Moore, Lukas Cook and Albert Choi.

Purdue’s 11 walks and 14 free passes matched season highs from a year ago. Four of those base runners came around to score and a trio of bases-loaded walks helped extend innings.

Softball in Birmingham

The Boilermakers split day one of the Green and Gold Classic, defeating USI (1-8) 12-0, and falling to Belmont (8-5), 2-0 in eight innings.

Alivia Meeks hit her third home run of the year, which doubled as the third home run of her career in the first game against USI. Madi Elish pitched 6.1 shutout innings against Belmont, before Purdue fell short during the extra-inning international tie breaker.

WBB Suffers record loss at Ohio State

Purdue fell 98-46 on the road at No. 8 Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus. It was the largest point differential in school history. (50 vs. UConn in 2008).

Playing their Big Ten leading 10th game against ranked opposition and the sixth against a top-10 foe, the Boilermakers (9-18, 2-13) could not find their offensive rhythm shooting 32.1% from the field and going 5-of-18 from behind the arc.

Reagan Bass finished just shy of her team-leading fifth double-double of the year, totaling eight points and 10 rebounds.

Rashunda Jones paced the Boilermakers with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Ohio State (23-4, 12-4) shot 52.4% from the field and connected on 14 of its 27 3-point attempts. The Buckeyes finished 18-of-27 at the line. Chance Grey led the Buckeyes with 21 points.  

The women’s basketball team could not keep pace in the second half falling to Minnesota 74-61 on Wednesday night in Mackey Arena for the Fight Like A Boilermaker Pinkout.

After trailing by two at the break, Purdue (9-17, 2-13) fell behind by 11 in the third. The Boilermakers mounted a rally that cut the gap to three points with 6:54 to play in the fourth, but Minnesota (20-8, 8-8) closed the game on an 18-8 run.

Sophie Swanson paced Purdue offensively with a season-high 18 points. The sophomore was 6-of-14 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line in her first start since early January.

Rashunda Jones flirted with her first career double-double, going for 14 points and a career-high nine assists. The South Bend native also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and went 5-of-5 at the line.

Kendall Puryear reached double figures for the seventh time in the last eight games. The freshman posted 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and a pair of steals.

Purdue shot 45.1% from the field on the night and went 4-of-15 from behind the arc. The Boilermakers finished the game 11-of-12 at the line.

Minnesota was powered by Grace Grocholski’s 27 points and Sophie Hart’s 22 points. The Golden Gophers posted a 50.9% shooting clip and knocked down five triples.

UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will play their final road game of the 2024-25 season on Thursday night with a 6 p.m. tip against Penn State on BTN.

Women’s Tennis Takes Rivalry Match, 4-2

The women’s tennis team racked up its seventh win in eight matches (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) after downing the Indiana Hoosiers (5-5, 0-1 Big Ten), 4-2, at Schwartz Tennis Center.

Not only was the dual the first meeting between the two programs in Big Ten season-opening fashion, but marked the seventh victory in the last eight years versus the Hoosiers and the 11th win all-time for head coach Laura Glitz.

In its highest attended match this season, the Boilermakers put on a show, taking the doubles point after coming down to the last court in play: the No. 1 doubles pair of Tara Katarina Milic and Carmen Gallardo Guevara. Ashlie Wilson and Ida Clement were the first to finish at the No. 3 singles position, winning 6-2. After falling at No. 2 doubles, Milic and Gallardo Guevara closed out the match, 6-4.

In singles, No. 1 singles Gallardo Guevara completed a bagel in Set 1 before securing Purdue’s first point during singles play with a 6-4 Set 2 score. The senior improves to 6-1 this season and 15-7 overall during the 2024-25 academic year and will finish her collegiate career with three consecutive wins and 3-1 overall singles record against the Hoosiers.

No. 120 Ece Gencer registered the third Purdue point of the day behind a 6-3, 6-4 result. With the result, the freshman improves to a 7-1 record this spring and a 17-4 overall. Meanwhile, Ida Clement secured the victory for the Boilermakers at the No. 3 singles position in three sets: 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Purdue will face its second road contest of the year when the team travels to Ohio State for a Friday matinee in Columbus, Ohio. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. ET start.

Wright Repeats as Bronze Medalist, Marcukaitis Breaks 200 Back Record Again

Daryn Wright repeated as the bronze medalist in platform diving to extend the Boilermakers’ streak of medalists in the event to eight straight years and Abby Marcukaitis eclipsed the team record in the 200 backstroke for the second time in less than a month, highlighting the final day of action at the Big Ten Championships for Purdue Women’s Swimming & Diving.

The Boilermakers finished eighth in the final team scoring. All seven teams that finished ahead of Purdue were ranked among the CSCAA Top 25 entering the meet.

Avery Worobel and Campbell Scofield were both selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, which was introduced to swimming & diving for the first time this year. As the silver medalist on 3-meter, Worobel was also named second-team All-Big Ten. Scofield was an A finalist in the 200 butterfly Saturday, becoming Purdue’s first freshman swimmer (female) since 2015 to finish top eight in an individual event at Big Tens.

Purdue’s swimmers will have the option of competing in time trials next weekend at the two-day Boiler-Make-It NCAA last chance meet. Swimming qualifiers for the women’s NCAA Championships will be announced on Wednesday, March 5. The Zone C Diving Championships (March 9-12 in Columbus) serve as diving’s NCAA qualifier for teams based in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky. Selected swimmers will also have the opportunity to compete at the CSCAA’s National Invitational Championships the weekend of March 13-15 in Ocala, Florida.

Purdue Upends #32 Boise State

The men’s tennis team (6-1) secured its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2017 as the Boilermakers upset No. 32 Boise State Broncos, 4-1.

The victory not only extended Purdue’s undefeated home streak (6-0) this season and handed Boise State its second loss of the season (6-2 overall record), but also marked the program’s most dominant victory over a top-32 team in 11 years (last: W, 6-1 vs. No. 16 Penn State, 4/11/14).

Juan David Velasquez sealed the victory at the No. 2 singles position after coming from behind in Set 1 to win a Set 1 tiebreak, 7-6 (2), 6-4. With the win, Velasquez improves to a 5-2 singles record this spring and 9-4 during the 2024-25 season.

Stefan Simeunovic secured a win at the No. 4 singles position in a Set 2 tiebreak, downing the Broncos’ Lukas Velik 6-2, 7-6 (0).

Henrick Villanger came out strong at No. 3 singles and was the first to finish, defeating Julius Seifert 6-4, 6-1. Villanger’s win marked the sixth of the year (6-1 record) and the eighth overall in 2024-25 (8-4).

Shondell Announces Spring Slate

Head coach Dave Shondell announced the 2025 spring volleyball slate, set to begin March 26 and run through April 15. The schedule features three opportunities to catch the Boilermakers at home, a matchup at Volleyball Federation’s Indy Ignite’s Fishers Event Center, and a visit to Ball State.

“We’ve designed a spring schedule that will offer our loyal fans the opportunity to see our new squad compete on four dates this spring – all within the Boilermaker State. After training with our team the past few weeks, I’m convinced our fans will embrace this next chapter of Purdue Volleyball.”

Purdue will kick things off at home on Wednesday, March 26 vs. Butler. Then, on Saturday, April 5, the Boilermakers will take on not one, but two opponents in Loyola Chicago, a team Purdue faced in the NCAA Second Round last December, and Miami (Ohio) at Holloway Gymnasium. Admission will be free for home matches with no ticket required for entry.

Then, on Saturday, April 12 in the first-of-its-kind match, Purdue will play at the Fisher’s Event Center vs. Vanderbilt. The competition, which will begin at 2 p.m. ET, will precede the pro match between the Indy Ignite and Grand Rapids Rise, which features four Boilermakers: Raven Colvin (Grand Rapids Rise), Jena Otec (Grand Rapids), Grace Cleveland (Indy Ignite) and Blake Mohler (Indy Ignite).

“Our match with Vanderbilt, a new NCAA program in 2025, will be extremely unique – being the first college competition in the beautiful venue northeast of Indy.”  Fans looking to attend the collegiate showdown at Fishers Event Center will need to purchase a ticket to the Ignite vs. Rise match to gain admittance.

The schedule wraps up with a trip to Ball State on Tuesday, April 15 at Worthen Arena. Ball State, led by Boilermaker alum Kelly Miller Phillips, posted a 22-10 record last fall and appeared in the MAC Championship match where the team fell to Western Michigan, which Purdue went on to beat in the NCAA First Round. Admission is free with no ticket required for entry.

Times for Purdue’s home and away match will be announced at a later date.

The spring schedule will serve as the fan’s first look into a Boilermaker squad that features eight returners and seven newcomers, including two freshmen and five transfers. The squad returns 2024 Second Team All-Big Ten honoree Taylor Anderson, who not only ranked No. 8 in the nation in assists per set (11.25), but guided Purdue to its third-highest hitting % in single-season history (.280%). In addition to returning rising stars which include Kenna Wollard, Ryan McAleer and Grace Heaney, Shondell’s incoming freshmen and transfer class set Purdue up to tie the tallest team in over 22 years, with an average front court height of 6’2″.

Wrestling Wraps Regular Season With Loss to #5 Nebraska

Wrestling closed its regular season with a 35-6 loss to No. 5 Nebraska on Sunday night in Holloway Gymnasium.

The Boilermakers (10-6, 3-5 B1G) earned two match victories in the team loss to the Cornhuskers (11-3, 6-2 B1G).

Seniors Matt Ramos and Christian White were honored in a ceremony before the dual in recognition of Senior Night.

Ramos, the undefeated consensus No. 1 wrestler in the country at 125 pounds, did not compete as he has his sights set ahead to the postseason in March.

Orlando Cruz and Hayden Filipovich were victorious in their bouts, picking up three-point decisions over the Huskers.

Cruz topped Ethan DeLeon in the 184-pound match via 4-2 decision. Trailing 1-0 after two periods, the redshirt freshman got busy in the third.

After escaping six seconds into the frame, a clutch takedown with 30 seconds to go put Cruz over the top for good.

It was his fifth dual win of the year, wrestling up from his original starting weight of 174 in place of injured James Rowley.

Filipovich, facing off against his team-high 13th ranked opponent of the season, at last secured a gritty upset win over No. 21 Harley Andrews.

The Indianapolis heavyweight put Andrews on his heels with a four-point near-fall to take a 4-0 lead into the third.

A hectic final two minutes that featured three reversals and a two-point near-fall ultimately ended in Filipovich’s favor. The redshirt junior turned in a 9-4 decision for his first ranked win since Dec. 29, 2023, when he wrestled at 184 pounds in the Midlands Championships.

Also notably, a top-10 challenge got the night started as No. 7 Joey Blaze battled with No. 4 Antrell Taylor in the 157-pound match.

Each wrestler had their moments when it looked as if they were seconds away from scoring a match-altering takedown. But it was the fourth-ranked Taylor who landed the winning score with nine seconds remaining, taking down Blaze and handing him his first Big Ten dual loss of the year.

The sophomore from Ohio will heal up and turn his attention to the Big Ten Championships in less than two weeks, coming off an impressive 15-4 second season with a 5-1 B1G dual record.

UP NEXT

The Boilermakers shift gears to postseason with the Big Ten Championships looming on March 8-9.

Purdue will send 10 wrestlers to compete on the B1G stage, hosted by Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, this year.

Pre-seeds for the conference tournament will be released in the coming days.

No. 1 Ramos and No. 7 Blaze figure to lead the squad, each with the goal of becoming Purdue’s first Big Ten champion since 2004.