Purdue Sports Update Sept. 26

Gearlds Extended Through 2028-29

After reaching the postseason three times in her first three seasons, Katie Gearlds is set to continue her time on the sidelines of Women’s Basketball, as her alma mater officially announced her contract extension through the 2028-29 season.

“We are excited for Katie Gearlds to continue leading Purdue Women’s Basketball as we restore the program to national prominence,” said Executive Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Bobinski. “Katie is passionate about our proud history of success and is intently focused on building a program with a foundation for sustained, championship-level performance.  Our athletic department and the entire Purdue community look forward to supporting Katie, her team and staff this upcoming season and beyond.”

In three short years, Gearlds guided the Boilermakers to three postseason appearances, three ranked wins and reestablished Purdue’s presence on the recruiting front.

“I am excited to continue leading this incredible program,” Gearlds said. “I am grateful for the support of Athletic Director Mike Bobinski, President Mung Chiang, the Purdue Board of Trustees and Deputy Athletic Director Tiffini Grimes have shown me and our program. From watching the program’s success as a kid in this state to wearing Purdue across my chest to getting to lead this incredible team, Purdue has had a profound impact on my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to bring more success to this university and continue to develop our young women into leaders when they graduate.”

Gearlds joined Lin Dunn and Carolyn Peck as the only Purdue head coaches to post win improvements in each of their first two seasons.

Gearlds’ teams have broken the single-game and single season 3-point records, posted the longest home winning streak since 2007, and set the Purdue record for home non-conference wins with 19 straight, including postseason play. The Boilermakers also recorded their first winning record in Big Ten action since 2016-17 with a 9-8 mark in 2022-23.

One of the best to lace them up for Purdue, Gearlds guided Purdue to two Big Ten Tournament titles, four NCAA Tournament appearances with three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight during her career from 2004-07. She still ranks fourth in program history with 1,974 points.

Gearlds and the Boilermakers will open the 2024-25 season on Nov. 6 with a home contest against Purdue Fort Wayne.

No. 10 Volleyball drops match to No. 4 Penn State in Three Sets

 In the Big Ten season-opener, the No. 10 Purdue Boilermakers (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten) fell in straight sets to No. 4 Penn State (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten), 14-25, 21-25, 20-25.

A strong Penn State team hit .369% in the match while Purdue was held to .176 on the night, the lowest hitting % of the season for the Boilermakers while setting an opponent-high.

The Boilermakers were led by Chloe Chicoine’s double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Meanwhile, Eva Hudson produced just one attack error and a .375 hitting % on seven kills through the first two sets ended the night with 10 kills, five digs.

Middles Lourdes Myers and Raven Colvin led the team’s attack % with an errorless .429 (3-0-7) and .308% (6-2-13), respectively.

Setter Taylor Anderson notched 29 assists, two digs and a block assist in the match.

Purdue will return to action Saturday night at No. 16 Minnesota. The match will air live on Big Ten Network at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Boilers Finish Fourth at Home Invite as Easterbrook Records Top-5 Finish

The men’s golf team finished fourth in its home event that concluded Monday, led by a fifth-place finish by sophomore Sam Easterbrook.

The Boilermakers shot a 54-hole total of 9-over par 873, with rounds of 296-285-292. Indiana won the event with a 14-under par 850, while Miami, Ohio was second at 10-under par 854 and Iowa was third at 6-over par 870. Toledo rounded out the top five at 11-over par 875.

The 36-hole leader, Easterbrook, shot a 4-over par 76 to fall to a tie for fifth at 3-under par 213 (69-68-76). It marked his second top-10 finish of the season and third career top-5 showing.

Nels Surtani finished tied for 22^nd at 2-over par 216 (72-75-71). Surtani recorded 17 pars and one birdie during today’s final round.

Kent Hsiao finished tied for 39^th at 7-over par 223 (76-75-72), while Kentaro Nanayama was tied for 44^th at 9-over par 225 (81-71-73) and Supapon Amornchaichan was tied for 47^th at 10-over par 226 (79-71-76).

In a 36-player individual tournament at Ackerman-Allen across the street, Jenson Forrester placed third with a 3-under par 210 (72-67-71). Luke Prall finished tied for 13^th at 5-over par 218 (78-66-74).

Yilin Sun tied for 20^th at 7-over par 220 (76-71-73), Andrew White finished 31^st at 14-over par 227 (78-74-75) and Sam Maylee was tied for 33^rd at 17-over par 230 (74-81-75).

Purdue will compete in the Windon Memorial Classic at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois, on Sept. 29 and 30.  

Boilermakers Move Up Leaderboard, Tie for 6th in Michigan

Natasha Kiel fired a 1-under 71 in the final round, and Women’s Golf moved up the leaderboard to finish in a tie for sixth at the Mary Fossum Invitational. The Boilermakers carded a final round 292 (+4) to end the event in a tie with Michigan after besting the Wolverines by six strokes on Monday.

Ole Miss (-17) cruised to a 15-shot victory, while hosts Michigan State finished runner-up (-2) after a final round 280 (-8). Minnesota (+8), Florida (+10) and Miami (+20) rounded out the Top 5.

Kiel earned her second Top 20 finish of the season, tying for 13th (+3). After bogeys on two of her first four holes Monday, the senior played the final 14 holes 3-under par. That included going bogey free over her last 11 holes. Kiel made a team-high four birdies throughout the final round to lead to her 71 (-1) and team-best fifth par-or-better round of the season.

Playing golf on her 18th birthday, freshman Lauren Timpf carded a 74 (+2) to secure a tie for 15th in her first tournament in the Purdue lineup. Timpf led the Boilermakers during the first two rounds (71-75) before contributing to the team score on Monday.

Fellow freshman Samantha Brown shot 73 (+1), her best round of the tournament. The Westfield, Indiana, native was steady throughout her final round, making 15 pars. Brown recorded 40 pars throughout the 54-hole event, ranking second in the 84-player field.

Momo Sugiyama added a 74 (+2) to the team’s final round total. The senior tied for 35th on the individual leaderboard (+10).

Purdue returns to action next week. After not appearing on the schedule last year, the Windy City Collegiate Classic is back on the calendar (Sept. 30-Oct. 1). The Boilermakers played in the tournament annually from 2013-22, aside from the 2020 fall season that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baseball’s Halloween Bash Set for Oct. 29 at Alexander

Fans of all ages are invited to Alexander Field for Purdue Baseball’s Halloween Bash on Tuesday, Oct. 29, the annual event featuring trick-or-treating on the field following the team’s costume scrimmage.

The free event begins with player introductions at 6 p.m. The Boilermakers will be wearing costumes and fans planning to attend are also encouraged to arrive dressed in Halloween costumes. The Halloween Bash at Alexander debuted in 2019 and has remained a popular October event since returning to the calendar in 2021.

The Tuesday, Oct. 29 event date is subject to change in an effort to maximize the best weather conditions. But it will not be held on Halloween. The 2021 event was moved from Thursday to Wednesday to take advantage of a dry, 60-degree evening. Oct. 29 is the team’s preferred date this fall.

The Halloween Bash will begin with a brief costume scrimmage, after which children will be able to take the field for trick-or-treating, receiving candy from the players. Fans in attendance can claim a voucher redeemable for one free ticket to any regular-season home game during the 2025 campaign. Purdue has six home weekends and 27 total home games on its 2025 schedule.

The Boilermakers are also making plans to host their First Pitch Dinner and all-ages Preseason Fan Fest inside Mollenkopf. Both events are held early in the spring semester, with the Preseason Fan Fest generally taking place the weekend before college baseball’s national opening day (Friday, Feb. 14 this school year).

The remainder of the fall ball schedule at Alexander Field features an exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 12 vs. Toledo as well as a handful of open scrimmages – primarily on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays/Sundays. All fall ball events feature free admission.

Quartet of Seniors Among Big Ten Preseason Watch List

A quartet of accomplished seniors featuring All-Americans and program record holders has been selected to represent Purdue Swimming & Diving on the Big Ten preseason watch lists.

Swimmers Brady Samuels and Maggie Love as well as divers Jordan Rzepka and Sophie McAfee were selected for the preseason recognition. The conference office introduced the preseason watch lists for swimming & diving for the first time this season. All programs were invited to highlight one swimmer and one diver of each gender.

Selected Big Ten teams open their schedules this weekend and the NCAA season really gets rolling in October. The Boilermakers open their schedule on Friday, Oct. 4 at Michigan’s Be Better Invitational in Holland, Michigan. Grace College and Hope College are also scheduled to compete at the non-scoring event, which serves as a fundraiser for the Be Better Foundation (mental health awareness).

Love, McAfee, Rzepka and Samuels are all three-year scorers at the Big Ten Championships entering their senior seasons. Love eclipsed the Purdue women’s program record in the 200-yard individual medley last season. Samuels has owned team records in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly since his underclassman seasons.

McAfee and Rzepka are multi-year All-Americans that have represented USA Diving internationally at showcases like the World University Games, World Aquatics Championships and Pan-American Games. They’re also CSCAA Scholar All-Americans as three-year NCAA Championships qualifiers.

Purdue’s first home meet is Saturday, Oct. 12 for the annual Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate, which features a variety of teams from around the state. The Boilermakers are also hosting the three-day, six-session Purdue Invitational (Nov. 21-23) for the fourth year in a row.

Big Ten Announces Conference Softball Slate

The Big Ten released the 2025 conference softball schedule, which will feature three home weekends for Purdue, including the Big Ten home opener slated for Friday, April 4 vs. Minnesota.

With Oregon, UCLA and Washington’s softball programs joining the league, the schedule breakdown includes one bye week, three true away opponents (at UCLA, at Nebraska and at Ohio State), three true home opponents (Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana) and two neutral site opponents (Wisconsin and Maryland). For the neutral site games, the teams will compete in a two-game series as opposed to the standard three in back-to-back fashion.

The Big Ten season will begin for the Boilermakers out west at UCLA from March 13-16. From there, Purdue will travel to Oklahoma City to play just four days later at the home of USA Softball and the NCAA Women’s Softball World Series’ Devon Park. There, Purdue will take on Wisconsin (March 20-21) and Maryland (March 22-23).

Following the trip to Oklahoma City, Purdue will play at Nebraska from March 28-30. Then, The Boilermakers will return to Bittinger Stadium for a series vs. Minnesota (April 4-6). Following the home series, Purdue will have a bye week before continuing its homestand vs. Illinois (April 18-20). Then, Purdue will travel to Ohio State for the penultimate weekend of the regular season (April 25-27).

Purdue will close the regular season at home against Indiana (May 2-4), marking the first time since 2014 the rivals will meet in a weekend series (previously doubleheaders or single-game showdowns for the last ten years).

Purdue will host the Big Ten Softball Tournament at Bittinger Stadium next May. The tournament is scheduled to run Wednesday, May 7 through Saturday, May 10. More information regarding the tournament, along with Purdue’s non-conference schedule will be released at a later date.

The Purdue softball squad is coming off a record-setting season under first-year head coach Magali Frezzotti, setting the program record for longest Big Ten game winning streak (seven). Not only that, but their 18 triples led the Big Ten, ranked seventh in the nation and tied the Purdue record, all while being one of the fastest teams in recent history.

Coach Frezzotti returns nearly its entire roster, including Big Ten All-Defensive Team honoree and four Distinguished Scholars. The team has begun an eight-game Fall Ball slate at Bittinger Stadium over the next month, with a 10-innging game vs. Illinois State on the docket to start at 2 p.m. ET.

Admission is free for all Fall Ball, non-conference and Big Ten regular-season games at Bittinger Stadium.