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Feb. 20, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Week three of the softball season takes the Boilermakers to the Pirate Classic in Greenville, N.C., where the team will face off against Appalachian State, Syracuse and East Carolina. Purdue is looking to extend its four-game win streak, while building on its 6-2 record.

A Bit About the Pirate Classic
The Pirate Classic is a five-team tournament, which will feature Appalachian State, East Carolina, Penn State, Purdue and Syracuse. The three-day affair will include six round robin games, before breaking into a seeded tournament bracket. Live statistics for all of Purdue's games will be available on purduesports.com via the GameTracker feature.

Series Information
Appalachian State: This is the first meeting between the Boilermakers and the Mountaineers.

East Carolina (Purdue leads the series 3-2): The Boilermakers own a 3-2 advantage in the series with the Pirates, which began on March 6, 1994. Purdue took three of the first four meetings, all of which were played in the state of North Carolina. ECU, however, won the most recent contest on Feb. 11, 2006, at the Florida Atlantic Classic in Boca Raton, Fla.

Syracuse (Purdue leads the series 3-0): The Boilermakers boast a 3-0 advantage in the series which began on Feb. 10, 2001 at the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala. The teams met again on Feb. 23, 2007, at the Golden Panther Invitational in Miami, Fla. Purdue took the most recent meeting, topping the Orange 10-0 at the Getterman Classic in Waco, Texas, last weekend.

A Look at the Boilermakers
The Purdue softball team brings a 6-2 record into the Pirate Classic after posting a 4-0 mark en route to the Getterman Classic title in Waco, Texas, last weekend. The Boilermakers topped No. 7 Baylor and Syracuse, while also defeating Centenary twice.

Five Boilermakers are batting .300 or better led by junior shortstop Candace Curtis (.500). Senior third baseman Ashley Hall (.429), sophomore outfielder Ashley Barr (.333), junior infielder Katie Mitchell (.318) and junior outfielder Christina Trauger (.313) round out the group. Curtis boasts a .800 slugging percentage, including three doubles and a home run, while leading the team with nine RBI. Hall has tallied three triples and three stolen bases, while scoring a team-best seven runs. Mitchell also has scored seven runs, while tallying three doubles. Freshman pitcher Suzie Rzegocki (.333), freshman outfielder Beth Cinadr (.263) and senior catcher Tara Palmer (.250) also have contributed to the Purdue offense. The Boilermakers are batting .318 as a team with 15 extra base hits and eight stolen bases.

Rzegocki (4-1) leads the Boilermakers in the circle with 23 strikeouts, two complete games and one shutout in four starts. Junior Dana Alcocer (2-1) has K'ed 11 batters in 17 innings, while tossing two complete games, including a shutout. Sophomore Sarah Killer also has seen action.

Analyzing Appalachian State
The Appalachian State Mountaineers (0-4) play a Wednesday doubleheader at Charlotte before continuing their season at the Pirate Classic. The Mountaineers fell to Southern Miss and Kennesaw State and twice to Eastern Kentucky at the K-Club Classic in Kennesaw, Ga., last weekend.

After four games, freshman catcher Katie Boyd is batting .769 with four home runs, seven RBI and seven runs scored. Six other Mountaineer players are batting .250 or better. Freshman utility player Tijana Stevens (.444), junior outfielder Ashley Gaston (.400), senior outfielder Tiffany Hensley (.400), junior second baseman Brittany Gaston (.375), junior infielder Stephanie Long (.333) and freshman third baseman Sarah Rappe (.286) make up the group. As a team, Appalachian State is batting .339, while allowing opponents to hit at a .384 clip.

Junior Yancy Moose (0-1), junior Kayla Richardson (0-1) and junior Teri Fister (0-2) have split time on the mound for ASU. Moose has struck out 11 in 11 innings, while Richardson has K'ed six in 9.2 innings. Fister has struck out two batters in 3.2 innings of work. The Mountaineers are coached by Amy Herrington, who is in her first season with the team.

A Peak at the Pirates
The East Carolina Pirates (9-2) host their second home tournament in as many weeks after posting a 5-0 mark at the Pirate Invitational last weekend. ECU defeated Boston College twice, Maine twice and Ohio once en route to the tournament title.

Senior infielder Erin St. Ledger (.438) leads a group of seven Pirate players that are batting .250 or better. Sophomore utility player Charina Sumner (.412), sophomore outfielder Christina Merrida (.353), senior outfielder Stacey Andrews (.353), sophomore infielder Cristen Aona (.281), junior infielder Jessica Johnson (.280) and junior utility player Vanessa Moreno (.258) round out the group. St. Ledger, Aona and Johnson each have tallied two home runs, leading a group of seven players with at least one home run. As a team, ECU is batting .303 with 10 home runs and 11 stolen bases.

Junior Brooke Swann (4-1) has led the team on the mound, issuing 32 strikeouts in 33 innings, while boasting a 1.27 ERA. Freshman lefty Britt Howell (3-0) owns a 1.45 ERA to go with nine strikeouts in 19 innings of work. Sophomore Toni Paisley (2-1) has racked up 25 Ks in 21.2 innings and is holding opponents to a .205 batting average. East Carolina is coached by Tracey Kee, who is in her 12th year with the team.

An Overview of the Orange
The Syracuse Orange (0-4) look to shake off their opening weekend showing at the Pirate Classic. The Orange dropped two contests to No. 7 Baylor, while also falling to Purdue and Centenary at the Getterman Classic in Waco, Texas, last weekend.

Freshman infielder Tawni Irvine leads the team with a .333 average, while junior infielder Nicole Miller follows with a .250 average, including two of the team's three RBI. Junior catcher Amy Kelley (.222) and freshman third baseman Hallie Gibbs (.143) recorded the team's two extra base hits with a double and a home run respectively. Senior outfielder Chanel Roehner, a first team all-region and first team All-Big East selection, who led the team with a .336 average, a .537 slugging percentage and 50 hits a year ago, was held to just one hit in 11 at-bats. Sophomore outfielder Ev Anderson (.300) and senior outfielder Rachel Tilford (.276) also managed just one hit each, after pacing the team with 31 runs, 41 RBI and 10 home runs in 2007. As a team, Syracuse is batting .163, while allowing opponents a .321 average.

Roehner (0-2), sophomore Brittany Gardner (0-1) and freshman lefty Angie Sagnelli (0-1) split time on the mound for the Orange. Gardner struck out eight in nine innings, while Sagnelli and Roehner tossed eight and six innings respectively. Syracuse is coached by Leigh Ross, who is in her second season with the team.

What a Difference a Win Makes ...

If Purdue tops Appalachian State on Friday...

• The team will move to 7-2 on the year, its best start since the 2001 season (7-2).

• It will move the team's all-time non-conference record to 339-209-4.

• It will move the team's all-time record in the month of February to 77-71.

An Historic Win
The Purdue softball posted an historic win Feb. 15, topping the No. 7 Baylor Bears, 6-5 in eight innings to close day one of the Getterman Classic. The Boilermakers topped a Top 10 team for the first time since beating No. 7 Texas 6-5 on March 4, 1999. The seventh-ranked Bears are the highest ranked team a Purdue squad has defeated in program history. The victory was Purdue's first over a ranked foe since upsetting No. 12 Michigan on April 9, 2006.

A Tough Slate
The Boilermakers are slated to face 14 NCAA Tournament teams, including two that advanced to the 2007 Women's College World Series. Based on the preseason rankings, the Boilermakers will take on No. 4 Alabama, No. 8 Baylor, No. 9 LSU, No. 19 Stanford, No. 21 Cal State Fullerton and No. 25 Missouri in non-conference play, and No. 7 Northwestern, No. 12 Michigan and No. 23 Ohio State during Big Ten play.

Upcoming Milestones
Senior third baseman Ashley Hall is on her way to stealing a spot on the career stolen base list. Hall, who swiped a school record 36 bases in 2007, has racked up 64 steals in her career, just 12 shy of the career record of 76 held by Angi Roembke (2000-2003). Hall snapped Roembke's single-season record of 28 steals, which came during the 2003 season. The Noblesville, Ind., native also ranks among the career top five for batting average (3rd with .343) and on-base percentage (5th with .385). In 2007, Hall set single-season record marks for stolen bases and hits (85).

Junior infielder/designated player Katie Mitchell enters the season with 17 home runs, just 15 away from the career record of 32 owned by Katie Crabtree (1999-2002) and Heidi Foster (2000-2003).One more long ball would move Mitchell into fourth place all-time. The Crown Point, Ind., native also ranks among the career top five for slugging percentage (1st with .575) and on-base percentage (4th with .398). In 2007, Mitchell set single-season records for runs (54), RBI (54), home runs (14) and slugging percentage (.697).

Sophomore first baseman Kelsey Haupert launched nine home runs as a rookie, putting her just eight long balls outside of the career top five. She trails teammate Katie Mitchell and Erika Peterson (2004-2007), who tallied 17 dingers.

In The Books
Senior third baseman Ashley Hall tied the single-game record for triples with two in Purdue's 7-6 win over South Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 9. Hall tallied her three-baggers in the third and fifth innings as part of a 4-for-4 effort on her 22nd birthday. The effort marks the seventh two-triple performance in school history, the last coming off the bat of Tricia Lilley on March 26, 2005.

The Boilermakers allowed 10 walks in the contest against South Alabama, tying a single-game record mark. Purdue also issued 10 free passes vs. Florida State on Feb. 13, 1998. On the flip side, Purdue drew a single-game record tying nine walks against Syracuse, Feb. 17.

Accumulating Accolades
Junior shortstop Candace Curtis and senior third baseman Ashley Hall received all-tournament team honors at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash to start the season. Curtis batted .444 with two RBI and two stolen bases, while Hall hit .385 with two triples, two runs, one steal and a 4-for-4 effort.

Four Boilermaker players garnered all-tournament team nods at the Getterman Classic, Feb. 15-17. Curtis, Hall, junior second baseman Kelly Miller and freshman pitcher Suzie Rzegocki were so honored. Curtis batted .545 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI, while Hall averaged .467 with five runs and two stolen bases. Miller hit .333 and scored four runs, while Rzegocki posted a 3-0 record and struck out 13 in 15 innings on the mound. Rzegocki also batted .333 including two doubles.

A Purdue First
First baseman Katie Mitchell made history on Feb. 23, 2007, when she hit for the cycle against Florida International. Mitchell became the first Boilermaker ever to achieve the feat, which calls for a player to hit a single, double, triple and home run in a single game. In the contest with the Golden Panthers, she put up three RBI and scored two runs. A first inning double, a two-run home run in the third and one-out triple in the sixth set the table for her RBI single in the seventh, which made history. She also drew a walk in the fourth.

For the weekend, Mitchell batted .538 with a 1.385 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. She went 7-for-13 including six extra base hits en route to all-tournament honors.

Marathon Game
The Boilermakers played a three hour and twenty-eight minute game against Iowa State on Feb. 18, 2007. The contest, the third between Purdue and the Cyclones, lasted 12 innings. The teams combined for 22 hits and seven errors in the contest, which ended in a 7-6 Boilermaker victory.

Sophomore pitcher Ashley DiDomenico threw all 12 innings for Purdue, setting a new single-game record for innings pitched. The effort surpassed 10-inning performances by Sheryl Scheve and Deana Jackson.

The Boilermakers scored seven runs on 10 hits and two ISU errors, while the Cyclones managed six runs on 12 hits and five Purdue miscues. Senior Catherine Zaworski (Prospect Heights, Ill.) led the Boilermaker hitters with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, while sophomore Kelly Miller (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Mitchell also tallied multiple hits.

Purdue's March 23 contest with Miami (Ohio) lasted four hours and nine minutes, but the contest included nearly an hour and 45 minutes of rain delay time.

Broken Records In 2007, the Boilermakers launched a school record 44 home runs. The long balls came off the bats of 10 different players. Katie Mitchell led the charge with a school record 14 dingers, while Kelsey Haupert added nine and Candace Curtis added six.

In addition to the home run record, the Boilermaker offense set single-season marks for runs (308), doubles (73), walks (189) and total bases (706). The Purdue pitching staff threw a record 52 complete games.

One Down, One To Go Purdue finally got the monkey off its back by earning the first postseason victory in program history last season. The Boilermakers topped Iowa 4-1 in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament to secure the first postseason victory in six tries.

Purdue has its sights set on earning the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.

The Honor Roll
At season's end, third baseman Ashley Hall and infielder/designated player Katie Mitchell garnered first team All-Big Ten honors, while pitcher Brooke Baker capped her career with third team honors. The accolades marked the first time a Purdue duo had garnered first team All-Big Ten honors since 2001. Hall and Mitchell went on to receive first team All-Mideast Region accolades. Hall also was named to the Easton All-America third team, which is only available to players at schools sponsored by Easton.

Mitchell also was honored for her academics, earning first team Academic All-District V accolades. She and three other teammates - Candace Curtis, and seniors Erika Peterson and Catherine Zaworski - garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors.