April 2, 2007

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker softball team continues its eight-game homestand this week as Purdue welcomes Butler and No. 8 Northwestern to the Varsity Softball Complex. The Boilermakers will face off against the Bulldogs in a Tuesday doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m., before taking on the Wildcats on Friday and Saturday.

Multimedia
All of this week's contests will be broadcast live on WLAS 1410 AM and on purduesports.com. Live statistics also will be provided for all of the Boilermakers' games via the GameTracker system on purduesports.com.

Series Information
Butler (Purdue leads the series 13-4-1): The Boilermakers lead the series with the Bulldogs, which began on April 12, 1994, 13-4-1. Butler won four of the first seven meetings. The teams have played two extra-inning contests including a 10-inning 4-4 tie in the second meeting of the series. The Boilermakers have won 11 straight dating from the nightcap of an April 23, 1998 twin bill to last year's 2-0 win in Indianapolis.

Northwestern (NU leads the series 18-14): Purdue won nine of the first 11 meetings in the series which began on May 6, 1995. The Wildcats countered with six of the next eight. Purdue swept the 2001 doubleheader and took one meeting in 2003, but Northwestern has won the last seven games.

A Look at the Boilermakers
The Purdue softball team (18-24-1) looks to get back on the winning track as the team continues its eight-game homestand with a Tuesday doubleheader against Butler. The Boilermakers posted a 1-3 record in the their home and Big Ten opening weekend against Illinois and Iowa. Purdue split with the Illini and fell twice to the Hawkeyes, including a 4-3 nine-inning effort.

Sophomore first baseman Katie Mitchell leads the Boilermaker offense with a .375 average, and has posted a team-high 35 RBI, 29 runs and 23 extra-base hits, including nine home runs. Junior third baseman Ashley Hall (.345), sophomore shortstop Candace Curtis (.307), and freshman Kelsey Haupert (.302) follow. Sophomore second baseman Kelly Miller (.298) and seniors DaQueta Johnson (.273) and Erika Peterson (.250) also are batting above .250. Hall has scored a team-best 30 runs, while also accounting for 17 RBI and a single-season record 30 stolen bases. Haupert has launched five home runs, while Curtis (2), Johnson (2), Peterson (2) and freshman Jenna Alexander (2) also have tallied long balls. Purdue is batting .269 and has stolen 69 bases in 90 attempts.

Senior Brooke Baker (14-12) has K'ed 104 batters in 175 innings of work and boasts a team-best 2.72 ERA to go with seven shutouts. Sophomore Ashley DiDomenico (4-11) owns a 2.89 ERA and has struck out 27 batters in 101 innings of work. Freshmen Sarah Grams and Sarah Killer also have seen action in the circle.

A Bit About Butler
The Butler Bulldogs (13-11) enter Tuesday's doubleheader with the Boilermakers after posting a 6-3 record last weekend in games against Bellarmine, Bradley, Notre Dame College and Wright State. The Bulldogs are 2-1 in Horizon League play after going 2-1 with Wright State to wrap up the week.

Junior first baseman Amy Hyerczyk leads the team with a .469 batting average, including a team-best 23 RBI, eight doubles and two home runs. Freshman infielder Bridget Paine (.390), sophomore catcher Tara Long (.370) and sophomore utility player Alex Boros (.324) follow, while three other Bulldog players are batting .250 or better. Sophomore utility Lindsay Schluge (.293), sophomore infielder Annie Dolan (.292) and junior outfielder Jenny Jacobs (.288) make up that group. Shluge has scored a team-best 17 runs, while Jacobs has accounted for 20 RBI and five home runs. The Bulldogs are batting .305 as a team with 12 home runs.

Freshman Jennifer Chasteen (6-2) leads the Butler pitching staff with a 2.05 ERA and 24 strikeouts. Senior Jamie Wonderly (6-3) has struck out 12 in 54 innings, while tallying five complete games and a shutout. Junior Nikki Naffziger (1-3) has struck out 30 in 36 innings, while freshman Kristen Malinkey (0-3) has accounted for 13 Ks in 13 innings. The Bulldogs are coach by Jeanne Rayman, who is in her first year with the team.

News About Northwestern
The No. 8 Northwestern Wildcats (27-7) play a Tuesday doubleheader with Northern Illinois before journeying to West Lafayette to face the Boilermakers in a pair of conference games. The Wildcats opened Big Ten play with a 3-1 record, splitting with #10 Michigan and sweeping Michigan State.

Sophomore infielder Tammy Williams leads the Wildcat bats with a .509 average, including nine home runs and nine doubles, to go with a team-best 49 runs and 31 RBI. Williams also leads the team on the base paths with 12 steals in 13 attempts. Five other Northwestern players are batting .250 or better. Senior outfielder Katie Logan (.386), senior first baseman Garland Cooper (.382), freshman infielder Nicole Pauly (.306), sophomore infielder Jessica Rigas (.258) and sophomore catcher Erin Dyer (.250) make up the group. Each of those players has hit at least one home run, led by Cooper's tally of 12. Dyer has launched six long balls and Pauly has added five. Cooper leads the team with 41 RBI, while Logan has swiped 10 bases. The Wildcats are batting .308 as a team and have stolen 37 bases.

Freshman Lauren Delaney (13-0) and senior Eileen Canney (14-7) make up the Northwestern pitching staff, which boasts a 1.61 ERA. Delaney has racked up 126 strikeouts in 101 innings, while tossing five shutouts. Canney has struck out 165 in 121 innings, while throwing four shutouts. The Wildcats are allowing opponents just a .174 batting average. Northwestern is coach by Kate Drohan, who is in her sixth year with the team.

What a Difference a Win Makes ...

If Purdue tops Butler on Tuesday...

• The team will garner its 19th win of the season.

• The team will snap a three-game losing streak.

• The team will move to 88-22 in non-conference home games.

• The team will move to 8-3 in games played on April 3.

Streakin'
The Boilermakers have won 12 of their last 17 contests, including a seven-game win streak and a four-game stretch. During that span, several individual players also have caught fire both offensively and in the pitching circle.

Senior Brooke Baker (Schererville, Ind.) has won 11 of her last 13 starts dating back to a March 14 win at UC Davis. Baker has struck out four or more batters in seven of those 13 starts, allowing just 14 earned runs in her 15 appearances, spanning 86 innings.

Junior Ashley Hall (Noblesville, Ind.) boasts the team's longest current hitting streak with a base knock in each of the last nine games. The streak follows her 10-game streak from March 2-March 13. Freshman Kelsey Haupert ended a seven-game hit streak against the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks March 23, but has posted a hit in three of her last five games. Haupert posted five home runs during an eight-game span from March 16-March 24. Sophomore Alicia Spack (West Lafayette, Ind.) snapped a four-game hitting streak against Toledo on March 25.

Sophomore Katie Mitchell (Crown Point, Ind.) has tallied a hit in 11 of her last 15 contests, including a six-game hit streak from March 15-March 18. She also has scored a run in 10 of the last 15 games, including five straight from March 23-30. Mitchell also has tallied five home runs in her last 10 games.

Freshman Amy Butcher (Decatur, Ind.) has scored a run in four of her last five pinch running opportunities.

Purdue had managed at least one run offensively in its last 27 contests, until being shutout by Illinois on March 31. The Boilermakers have posted at least seven hits in 12 of their last 17 contests, including three double-digit tallies.

Several Boilermaker players have been quite successful reaching base in the last 17 contests. A chart of current streaks follows.

Name       Games Reached Via Hit/Walk/HBP vs. Games Played
Haupert    15 of 17     .380 avg.       .436 obp.
Hall       14 of 16     .339 avg.       .393 obp.
Mitchell   13 of 17     .426 avg.       .472 obp.
Peterson   13 of 17     .257 avg.       .409 obp.
Curtis     12 of 15     .289 avg.       .400 obp.
Barr       11 of 17     .260 avg.       .339 obp.
Johnson    10 of 17     .262 avg.       .340 obp.
Alexander  8 of 13      .240 avg.       .406 obp.

A Tale of Two Seasons
The 2007 campaign can be clearly divided into two distinct segments, the contests before the team's midweek contests against UC Davis during Spring Break and those after. The team posted a 6-20 record prior to the UC Davis doubleheader, and has recorded a 12-4-1 mark since. Below is a chart of comparing the team's statistics during the two portions of the season.

Category                First 26 Games       Last 17 Games
Batting Average         .254                 .294
Runs                    90                   89
Runs Per Game           3.46                 5.2
Home Runs               7                    15
Slugging Percentage     .345                 .452
ERA                     3.67                 1.46
Shutouts                2                    6
Strikeouts              72                   59
Strikeouts Per Game     2.76                 3.47
Walks Allowed           41                   19
Walks Per Game          1.57                 1.11
Opponent Batting Avg.   .304                 .246

Upcoming Milestones
Senior outfielder DaQueta Johnson is climbing the Purdue career record lists for home runs and RBI, while senior catcher Erika Peterson is making her way up the lists for walks and defensive putouts. Junior third baseman Ashley Hall is on her way to stealing a spot on the single season and career stolen base lists. Senior Brooke Baker also is making an impact on the pitching records.

Baker looks to add to her career record tallies for wins (59), complete games (81), starts (108) and innings pitched (755.1), while also moving up the career appearance, strikeouts, shutouts and wins lists. The Schererville, Ind., native became Purdue's all-time winningest pitcher on Sunday, March 25, when she posted her 58th career win against Toledo, surpassing Sheryl Scheve's mark of 57. Baker surpassed the innings pitched record of 683.2 held by Leighann Burke over spring break. Baker also ranks second in appearances (152) and shutouts (18), and third in strikeouts (481).

Hall has swiped 30 bases thus far in 2007, snapping the single-season record mark of 28 established by Angi Roembke during the 2003 season. She has racked up 55 steals in her career, just 21 shy of the career record of 76 also held by Roembke. Six more steals with put Hall among the career top five in stolen bases.

Johnson ranks third on the home runs list with 27, just five behind current record holders Katie Crabtree (1999-2002) and Heidi Foster (2000-2003), who posted 32 in their respective careers. The Ontario, Calif., native also is second on the RBI list with 132, 15 away from Foster's record of 147.

Peterson ranks third in defensive putouts with 1,186, just 185 away from Kristin Billen's second place tally of 1,371. The Irvine, Calif., native ranks fourth with 72 walks, seven behind Foster's third place tally of 79. Peterson has laid down 43 sacrifice hits in her career, ranking her tied for third in that career category. The senior also is tied for fifth with 16 career home runs.

Sophomore Katie Mitchell and Hall joined the single-season top five in triples with four each so far this year.

Making History
Sophomore first baseman Katie Mitchell made history on Feb. 23, 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. The sophomore 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. 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.

Tournament Honors
Boilermaker players have been honored with all-tournament team accolades at each of the team's tournaments thus far this season. Freshman first baseman Kelsey Haupert (Olympia, Wash.) and junior third baseman Ashley Hall (Noblesville, Ind.) were so honored at the Bulldog Round Robin in Starkville, Miss. Haupert batted .467, including a 4-for-4 effort against Kennesaw State, while Hall hit .353 with six runs, two RBI and five stolen bases, including a school-record tying three against KSU.

Hall and sophomore pitcher Ashley DiDomenico earned the accolades at the Ragin' Cajun Invitational in Lafayette, La. Hall batted .353 with four RBI and four stolen bases, while DiDomenico posted a 2-1 record on the mound and struck out seven batters in 23 innings of work. DiDomenico also tossed a school single-game record 12 innings against Iowa State on Sunday.

Sophomore first baseman Katie Mitchell and sophomore shortstop Candace Curtis garnered the all-tournament nods at the Golden Panther Invitational in Miami. Mitchell batted .538 on the weekend 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 at the Golden Panther Invitational. She also made history by hitting for the cycle against Florida International. Curtis batted .467 with a home run, a double and two stolen bases.

Sophomore second baseman Kelly Miller earned the nod at the Buzz Classic in Woodstock, Ga. Miller batted .636 on the weekend including three runs and a stolen base.

Curtis was Purdue's all-tournament representative at the Bulldog Classic in Fresno, Calif. She batted .500 with two doubles, a triple, four runs and two RBI.

No all-tournament team was named at the Capitol Classic in Sacramento or at the Miami Softball Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.

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