Oct. 18, 2007

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Five new players will don the Old Gold and Black as Purdue softball takes the field in 2008. As the season approaches, purduesports.com will go inside the dugout to get the rundown on each of the newcomers.

Next up: junior infielder Liane Horiuchi.

The Skinny
A transfer from the University of Tennessee, Horiuchi was named to the SEC All-Freshmen Team in 2006 as the Lady Vols were SEC Tournament Champions and finished third at the NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS). Last season, she was part of a Tennessee team that repeated as SEC Champions and finished second overall at the WCWS.

"I'm hoping my experience at Tennessee will carry over and be able to help me at Purdue," Horiuchi said. "I've heard a lot of great things about the Big Ten being a very competitive league. I can't wait to get a feel for a different conference and new competition."

Horiuchi hit .273 with three home runs and 15 RBI her freshman season at Tennessee. The next year, she stole 14 bases in 17 attempts and committed only one error in 71 games for a .992 fielding percentage.

Kulia i ka nuu
Liane was born in Moanalua, Hawaii and attended Kamehameha High School where she was named Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2005). Her culture and lifestyle there still mean a lot to her, even though she is thousands of miles away.

"There's no place like Hawaii. The people there are so friendly and the culture is so different," Horiuchi said. "I grew up going to an all-Hawaiin school, so I got to really learn about my culture and where I came from. It's something that I'm very proud of."

The lessons she learned back home still resonate today.

"At our school, one of our mottos was, `Kulia i ka nuu.' That means, `Strive for the summit.' I think a lot of athletes have that desire to keep on striving and improving. It's definitely one of the quotes that I try to live by," Horiuchi said.

To Purdue...And Beyond
STUDENT-Athlete
"I decided I wanted to take a more academic route. I've always been interested in pharmacy and I knew that Purdue had a great pharmacy school. Once I had the opportunity to talk to the coaches, I was able to learn more about the program, the school and the acadmics. It was something that I thought I'd be interested in."

Apples To Oranges
"Indiana is a new experience for me. That's ultimately why I wanted to get away from Hawaii. I figured that I should come out here and experience new things while I can, since I will probably return to Hawaii to work after college. I've enjoyed everything so far. I'm kind of scared about winter, though."

Practice Makes Perfect
"I think this fall our team has made some major strides as a whole. We're still working on touching up a couple things. Overall, we saw improvement in last weekend's scrimmages, especially day-to-day. Just being able to make those adjustments really helped."

The Game Within The Game
"I'm just trying to work on my mental game and my confidence right now. The coaches have really helped me with that this fall. I'm hoping to keep improving day-by-day and keep taking it one step at a time."

Playing With Passion
"I think I'm a lot more serious on the field than I am off it. I don't really joke around on the field. I'm just a lot more serious and competitive. I'm hoping I bring a little bit of passion when I'm out there."

The Inside Scoop
"She's really fast on the bases.; I can never throw her out. I think she's probably one of the fastest players we have. She has really quick hands and feet. She makes softball seem like it comes easy to her. I think it's just natural. She looks very natural playing the sport. Everything she does looks very smooth. I can tell she's passionate. Every practice she's giving everything she has." -- senior catcher Tara Palmer

"I'm definitely impressed with her as the complete package. She has phenomenal hands and great range defensively. She gets the job done offensively. Just by looking at her, you wouldn't think she possesses as much speed as she does, but she is probably one of the top runners on our team right now. She's a good kid. She works hard and she's definitely gelling with the team.

"Her work ethic crosses over from the field to the classroom. Not only is she an athlete that works hard on the field, but with her studies as well. We have a required amount of study table hours and she exceeds it every single week. Academics is a priority and that's one of the reasons she chose to come to Purdue." -- head coach Kim Maher

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