Purdue Sports Update: March 5

Baseball Off to 12-1 start, Travel to Minnesota this weekend

Aaron Manias collected six of his eight RBI as Purdue Baseball scored four times in each of the first two innings, another fast start that propelled the Boilermakers to a 14-4 victory at Indiana State in Tuesday’s (March 4) midweek opener.

Purdue (12-1) won by the same score in eight innings for the second game in a row, scoring eight times in the first inning Sunday. The Boilermakers have scored at least nine runs in nine of their last 11 games.

Purdue ended an eight-game losing streak to Indiana State that dated back to 2018. However, Tuesday was the Boilers’ fourth victory in Terre Haute since 2015.

Manias erupted at the plate for a 4-for-5 day in which he connected for four extra-base hits and posted the most RBI by a Boilermaker since 2006 – becoming the fifth Purdue player with at least eight RBI in a game. He joined Logan Sutter as Boilermakers with three-double and 10-total base games this season. The 2016 season marked the last time Purdue had two different players with a three-double game. Daniel Underwood had a pair of 10-total base games in 2003 but there have been no previous instances of two different Boilers accomplishing the feat in the same year since the start of the 2001 campaign.

Carter Doorn and Michael Vallone teamed up for 14 strikeouts while guiding Baseball to its second shutout in the last three games, leading the way in a 5-0 victory vs. Akron that completed a flawless February for the Boilermakers.

Purdue (9-0) remained the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten while enjoying an undefeated run in the month of February for the second time in the last four years. The Boilermakers have surrendered just one run in their last 29 innings in the field dating back to the eighth inning of game 1 of the Feb. 22 doubleheader vs. Niagara.

Ty Gill connected for a two-out, three-run double in the fourth inning Friday. While batting in the 9-hole every game, he has reached base safely in the first nine games of his senior season.

Doorn struck out a career-high eight over six innings of three-hit ball. He retired 17 of the 21 batters he faced. Vallone backed him up as the first Boilermaker out of the bullpen for the third weekend in a row. The lefty struck out six of the 12 batters he faced while earning a three-inning save, his first as a Boilermaker.

Purdue recorded a double-figure strikeout total for the fifth straight game. The Boilermakers’ 47 strikeouts over the last three games is a team record in a trio of consecutive games. They’ve only allowed 12 hits over the last three games.

Baseball used a 10-run seventh inning to break open a tie score in a game 1 win and connected for three consecutive home runs as part of furious rally in the nightcap, but ultimately saw its season-opening 10-game win streak come to an end in extra innings Saturday vs. Akron.

The Boilermakers (10-1) won the first game 13-3 in seven innings. The Zips (4-6) took the nightcap 10-9 in 11 innings.

Logan Sutter enjoyed another big Saturday at Ting Stadium, finishing the day with three extra-base hits and eight RBI. He brought the 10-run rule into play with a two-out, three-run double in game 1. In his next at-bat in the first inning of the nightcap, he connected for a 430-foot home run to center field – a game-tying three-run blast. Sutter posted a five-RBI game for the second Saturday in a row. With 22 RBI for the season, he’s the fastest Boilermaker ever to reach the 20-RBI mark by date on the calendar.

Breck Nowik’s grand slam headlined a stretch of 11 consecutive Boilermakers reaching base safely to begin the game as Purdue Baseball scored eight times in the first inning and rolled to a 14-4 victory vs. Akron on Sunday.

The Boilermakers (12-1) posted their second run-rule victory of the series and finished their eight-game stretch at Ting Stadium with a 7-1 record. They also responded to their first loss of the season Saturday night with a fast start offensively and seven zeros from the pitching staff.

Nowik barreled up for a blast off the videoboard as the eighth batter of the first inning. It was Purdue’s second grand slam in as many weekends after Brandon Anderson hit one Feb. 22 vs. Niagara. Anderson, Sergio DeCello and Avery Moore had all delivered RBI singles in front of Nowik on Sunday.

The Boilermakers’ 12-1 start remains the program’s best since the 2022 team opened its season 15-0. Big Ten play starts as early as ever (excluding 2021) with a weekend series at Minnesota inside U.S. Bank Stadium. Purdue will bat first as the visiting team for the first time this season.

Softball Wins Weekend

The Boilers (10-6) took the 5-0 shutout victory over Central Arkansas (5-9) to open the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Ill. 

Kylie Franks hit her first-career home run, while Madi Elish earned her first-career save. Kendall Klochack earned the win in the game, moving to a 3-1 on the year.

Purdue blasted four home runs while splitting day two of the Coach B Classic in Carbondale. The Boilers defeated Purdue Fort Wayne (2-8) 11-1, and fell to Southern Illinois (3-13) 5-4 in eight innings.

Freshman Maura Condon’s first-career hit was a walk-off grand slam to earn the Boilers the victory in game one; the Boilermakers hit three home runs in the game. Julia Gossett matched her career-high ten strikeouts against the Mastodons, and also hit a solo homer in the loss to SIU.

Purdue split the final day of the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Ill, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne (2-10) 6-2, and falling to host team, Southern Illinois (5-13) 6-5 in eight innings.

The Boilers defeated the Mastodons for the second day in a row, and déjà vu hit as Purdue took a second walk off loss in extra innings to SIU. Julia Gossett hit her second home run in as many days, while Kadyn Camper earned her first-career save. 

Purdue will return to Bittinger Stadium to begin the 2025 home season with their home opener on Mar. 8 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Rzepka Enjoys Golden Coda to His Career at Big Tens

A pair of 90-point dives over the final two rounds on platform allowed Purdue senior Jordan Rzepka to close out his career at the Big Ten Championships with a golden moment, winning his first conference title to also earn Diver of the Championships.

Rzepka won his sixth career medal at Big Tens and was joined on the podium by freshmen Tyler Wills (bronze) and Kaden Springfield (6th). Rzepka won by 33 points thanks to scores of 84.15, 92.5 and 96.9 over the final three rounds. His final two dives – a forward 4 ½ (109C) and a forward 2 ½ 3-twiser (5156B) – were among the most intricate dives performed Saturday. He ripped both to defeat 2024 Big Ten, NCAA and U.S. Olympic Team Trials champion Carson Tyler of Indiana.

Rzepka finished top five in all three diving events at Big Tens for the second year in a row. He won bronze on 3-meter Friday and was fifth on 1-meter Thursday. He finished his four-year career a perfect 12-for-12 in top-10 finishes at Big Tens. The only championship final in which Rzepka did not qualify was 1-meter as a freshman in 2022 – winning the consolation final instead.

Rzepka is the first Boilermaker to win Big Ten Diver of the Championships since Emily Bretscher in 2020. Even though the men had won six Big Ten titles in the dive well since 2012, current head coach David Boudia was Purdue’s last Big Ten Diver of the Championships in 2011. Boudia won the award three straight years from 2009 to 2011 while going 8-for-9 in Big Ten titles before turning pro after his junior season.

Rzepka joins Olympians Brandon Loschiavo (2018, 2019, 2021), Steele Johnson (2017) and Boudia (2009-11) as Purdue men to win gold on platform at Big Tens. The Boilermakers have won at least one Big Ten title (any event) the last six times Minnesota has hosted the men’s Big Ten Championships dating back to 1998.

Purdue may choose to send selected swimmers to an NCAA last chance meet next weekend. Men’s swimming qualifiers for the NCAA Championships will be announced on March 12. The divers qualify for NCAAs via the annual Zone C Diving Championships, set for March 9-12 in Columbus.

Three Events Wins Highlight Final Day of Big Tens

 Three victories by Cameron Miller in the 200m, Praise Aniamaka in the triple jump and Miller, Connor Czajkowski, Brett Otterbacher and Antoine Spencer in the 4x400m relay headlined the final day of indoor Big Tens.

In addition to the wins, Bode Gilkerson finished fourth in the high jump and Logan Sandlin finished sixth in the heptathlon on the men’s side.

On the women’s side, the 4x400m team of Alexia Smith, Alyssa Tate, Mirai Bernard and Gia Clay took fifth, while Alexia Smith (400m) and Zoe Sullivan (60m hurdles) took sixth.

The men’s team finished seventh with 38.5 points and the women’s team finished tied for 12th with 19 points.

Next Up
Boilermakers that qualify for NCAA Indoor Championships will participate in the two-day meet in Virginia Beach March 14-15.

Boilermakers Breeze Past Bulldogs

The men’s tennis squad secured a 6-1 victory versus Butler on Saturday evening. With the win, Purdue (8-1) will remain undefeated at home heading into Big Ten play, owning a perfect 8-0 record inside Schwartz Tennis Center. Meanwhile, Buter falls to 6-7 (0-1 Big East).

As a team, Purdue has allowed one point or fewer in the last four consecutive matches, dating back to February 9. Nearly half of its matches have come in shutout fashion.

The Boilermakers are set to begin Big Ten play next week with their trip to the west coast. Purdue will open conference action at No. 21 USC on Saturday, March 8 at 4 p.m. ET followed by a 2 p.m. ET showdown at No. 52 UCLA on Sunday, March 9 at 2 p.m. ET.

Big Ten Earns 87 Bids for NCAA Wrestling Championships

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee released the pre-allocation spots for the 2025 NCAA Championships on Thursday.

The Big Ten Conference — the premier league for collegiate wrestling — earned 87 of 287 automatic qualifying bids, the most of any conference.

The allocations are split among the 10 weight classes and represent how many Big Ten placewinners at each weight will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, hosted in Philadelphia this year from March 20-22.

Wrestlers who finish outside of the above spots at the Big Ten Championships next week (March 8-9) in Evanston, Illinois, will still have an opportunity to qualify for the national tournament with at-large bids.

Villanger Selected Big Ten Player of the Week

Henrik Villanger of the men’s tennis team was named Big Ten Player of the Week following the team’s wins against No. 32 Boise State and Illinois State. It is the first career honor for the Oslo, Norway, native.

The ranked win, which was the team’s most dominant victory over a top-32 team in 11 years, propelled the Boilermakers to rank No. 44 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, the program’s highest ranking since 2016.

Villanger, a sophomore, took care of business at the No. 3 singles position in both matches, picking up a 6-4, 6-1 win vs. Boise State’s Julius Seifert and 6-4, 6-1 vs. Illinois State’s Tin Ostro. With the wins, the sophomore improves to a 7-1 singles record this spring, including 4-0 at the No. 3 position.

Meanwhile, in doubles, Villanger remains undefeated at 4-0 behind the point-clinching 6-3 win against Boise State’s pairing and a 6-2 win against Illinois State’s.

He is the first Boilermaker honored since March 2024. In all, Villanger joins elite company, becoming the 10th Boilermaker to receiving the Big Ten Player of the Week accolade.

One non-conference match remains for the Boilermakers. Next weekend, Purdue will take on Butler on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET before beginning Big Ten play on the road the following week out west (at USC on Saturday, March 8 and at UCLA on Sunday, March 9).

2025 Big Ten Volleyball Opponents Announced, Will Also Play in Nashville

The Big Ten Conference announced the home/away opponents for the 2025 season.

The schedule features 20 conference matches, including three opponents that Purdue will face both home and away. Purdue will both travel and host Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota.

Boilermaker fans can catch matchups vs. Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Washington and Oregon in West Lafayette. Meanwhile, Purdue will travel to the campuses of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, in addition to the west coast trip at UCLA and USC.

Purdue is coming off one of its best seasons in program history with a 27-7 (16-4 Big Ten) record, fourth place finish in the league, No. 8 AVCA final ranking and a Big Ten match attendance record (14,876) on two occasions. Under Shondell’s guidance, the Boilermakers have finished fourth or better in the league in three of the last four seasons. Meanwhile, the program has racked up a 161-58 record over the last seven seasons.

Head coach Dave Shondell announced the program’s spring slate, which boasts five opportunities for Purdue fans to catch the squad in action, including three at Holloway Gymnasium: 3/26 vs. Butler, 4/5 vs. Miami (Ohio), 4/5 vs. Loyola Chicago; one at the Fishers Event Center: 4/12 vs. Vanderbilt; and a match at Ball State (4/15). 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″.

In coordination with the Nashville Sports Council and ESPN Events, the Purdue volleyball squad announced its participation of the Broadway Block Party tournament, set to take place August 31, 2025 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Boilermakers will take on the Tennessee Lady Vols in the heart of Tennessee in the second of three matches that day. Purdue’s match will be preceded by Nebraska vs. Kentucky at 12 p.m. ET and will be followed by Illinois vs. Vanderbilt. Matches will begin 30 minutes following the one before, with Purdue vs. Tennessee airing on ESPN2.

The Labor Day weekend Big Ten / SEC volleyball showdown will be the first of its kind hosted at Bridgestone Arena, a venue that seats over 17,000 fans.