Purdue Sports Update May 18
Baseball Hosts Nebraska for First Time Since 2016
Purdue baseball has an opportunity to win its way into the Big Ten Tournament as Nebraska comes to Alexander Field for the first time since 2016 for a weekend series that features the Boilermakers’ annual on-field commencement ceremony and Senior Day.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Nine graduates from the Class of 2023 will be awarded their diplomas Thursday at 5:30 p.m. from Purdue’s faculty athletics representative Dr. Marcy Towns, a Bodner-Honig professor of chemistry at the university. Eight Boilermakers are in the mix for Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. Senior Day ceremony.
Rosters always remain in flux throughout the year. Case in point, senior Mike Bolton Jr. is planning to return in 2024 as a fifth-year in similar fashion to Evan Albrecht at this time last season. Steve Ramirez has earned two degrees in his three years with the program. He was part of Senior Day last year and then opted to return for 2023 as a fifth-year. Ramirez will be recognized briefly at the beginning of Saturday’s ceremony.
Due to a head-to-head tiebreaker with Michigan State, the Boilermakers enter the weekend on the outside of the eight-team Big Ten Tournament field. But with Illinois done with its league schedule at 12-12, Purdue continues to control its own destiny. Three victories would allow the Boilermakers to leapfrog the Illini for a tournament berth. However, Purdue needs to avoid most ties this weekend – it would also lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Illinois and come out on the short end of a three-way tie for seventh with Illinois and MSU.
If the Boilermakers drop a game this weekend, it needs to win more games than Michigan State (vs. Indiana) to clinch the final berth. Minnesota has an outside chance to crash the party but it would require the Gophers to sweep their home series vs. Rutgers coupled with multiple losses by both Purdue and Michigan State.
HOW PURDUE CAN CLINCH A BIG TEN TOURNAMENT BERTH
• 3 Wins
• 1 Win PLUS 3 losses by Michigan State
• 2 Wins PLUS 2 losses by Michigan State
The Boilermakers have played 365 games vs. 69 different teams since last hosting Nebraska for the opening weekend of Big Ten play in March 2016. Additionally, Purdue has played 135 home games (including 74 in Big Ten play) vs. 37 different opponents since Nebraska’s last trip to Alexander. The Huskers were scheduled to visit West Lafayette in April 2020.
Dating back to the beginning of the 2017 campaign, Purdue’s eight games total against the Huskers are its fewest against any Big Ten rival. The teams opened the unique conference-only 2021 season against each other at the Triple-A stadium in Round Rock, Texas. The Boilermakers got an early look at a Nebraska team that went on to win the Big Ten and pushed Arkansas, the NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed, to the wire in a winner-take-all Monday game at the Fayetteville Regional.
Infielders Max Anderson (.409/.453/.777, 18 2B, 19 HR, 65 RBI, 1 error at 2nd base) and Brice Matthews (.380/.496/.771, 20 HR, 65 RBI, 19 SB) made their collegiate debuts vs. Purdue in March 2021 and have now grown into two of the premier hitters in the Big Ten. They’ve led the way as the Huskers have connected for 90 home runs, second behind Maryland in the Big Ten and three shy of the program record that has stood since 1985.
Now the relief ace, Shay Schanaman (6 saves, 60 K vs. 33 hits in 46 1/3 IP) is the most notable remaining member of the pitching staff the Boilermakers faced early in 2021. Emmett Olson (72 strikeouts vs. 58 hits in 73 1/3 IP) and Jace Kaminska (7 wins in 12 starts, .231 B/Avg) have been constants in the weekend rotation all season.
For Purdue, Avery Cook, Cam Thompson, Calvin Schapira and Ramirez are the active Boilermakers that made their team debuts vs. Nebraska in 2021.
Volleyball: Trio of Alu
Men’s Golf Season Concludes at Clemson Regional
The Purdue men’s golf team’s season came to an end Wednesday in the final round of the NCAA Clemson Regional, finishing 12th after shooting 2-under par 862 (283-296-283) over the three-day event at the Cliffs at Keowee Falls.
The Boilermakers fell short of qualifying for Nationals, missing out on one of the five coveted spots for a trip to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Purdue has made regional play in eight of nine possible seasons under head coach Rob Bradley, advancing to Nationals three times in 2014, 2016 and 2017. In all three of the seasons that Purdue advanced, the advancing scores were well over par. The scores of this year’s advancing teams were 53-under (Georgia Tech), 45-under (Arkansas), 43-under (North Carolina), 42-under (New Mexico) and 29-under (Texas A&M).
Kentaro Nanayama, playing his first round on the counting team, posted a 4-under par 68, registering birdies on five of his last seven holes to provide the Boilermakers with their lowest individual round of the tournament.
Herman Sekne struck the ball well all weekend, but couldn’t get anything going on the greens, finishing tied for 39th at 3-under par 213 (69-72-72). Sekne finished the year with 18 rounds of even-par or better, the fifth-most in a season in school history. Percentage-wise, 18 of his 29 rounds this season were even- or under-par, 62.1 percent of his rounds – good for second in school history. His stroke average of 70.41 is a school record by 0.37 strokes over Lee Williamson’s 70.78 during the 2001-02 season.
Nels Surtani finished tied for 52nd at even-par 216 (69-75-72), while Peyton Snoeberger was tied for 58th at 2-over par 218 (74-73-71) and Nick Dentino was 62nd at 3-over par 219 (71-76-72).
Purdue, which will likely finish in the top 40 nationally, returns everyone but Andrew Farraye for the 2023-24 season, while welcoming in Sam Easterbrook, who has had an outstanding junior career in England.
The 2024 NCAA Regionals will be held at the Kampen-Cosler Course in West Lafayette, from May 13 to 15, 2024.
ms Named to U.S. National Team Roster
USA Volleyball announced its 30-player Women’s National Team roster for the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), which includes Purdue alums Danielle Cuttino (2014-17), Annie Drews (2012-15) and Ashley Evans (2013-2017).
The trio returns to their roots as teammates, having all played together for Purdue in 2014 and 2015.
The nod marks the first time Evans has been selected for the VNL roster, while Cuttino makes her return to the team’s VNL lineup and Drews, a member of the 2021 Olympic gold medal-winning team, dawns the red, white and blue once more.
The U.S. are the reigning Olympic champions and ranked No. 4 in the world.
Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round, which will be hosted by the United States this year from July 12-16 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. With its hosting status, the U.S. automatically qualifies.
Fourteen players from the roster of 30 will be selected to travel to each week’s preliminary round matches.
Purdue’s three sections tie as second-most among Big Ten programs (Penn State 5, Nebraska 3, Wisconsin 3).
The announcement marks the second time this month Boilermakers were named to a U.S. national team roster. Earlier in May, current student-athletes Chloe Chicoine, Raven Colvin and Eva Hudson were named to the U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup roster. They are currently at the Anaheim National Training Center in California as part of an 18-member team, with 12 continuing on to Mexico for the Pan Am Cup taking place May 23-28 in Mexico.
Boilermakers Back at WVU for USA Diving Nationals
Purdue will be well represented among the nation’s best with seven Boilermakers competing in the 3-meter and 10-meter events as the USA Diving National Championships returns as a spring showcase from a four-year hiatus.
Action is set for Thursday, May 18 to Wednesday, May 24 at West Virginia’s The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. Purdue’s representatives are not slated to compete on Saturday. WVU’s facility also hosted the USA Diving Winter Nationals in December. In the 10-meter events, Jordan Rzepka won gold and Daryn Wright claimed bronze.
The USA Diving National Championships is being held in May for the first time since 2019. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June 2021 was the last senior nationals meet held in the late spring.
The weeklong national showcase will serve as USA Diving’s qualifier for the World Aquatics Championships (July 14-30 in Fukuoka, Japan) and Pan American Games (Oct. 20-Nov. 5 in Santiago, Chile). The World Championships will be the first opportunity for countries to secure quota spots for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Scores are cumulative across the semifinals and finals (prelims and finals for synchro), resetting to zero for those that advance from the preliminary round. In the individual events, the top 18 advance to the semifinals and top 12 to the finals.
BOILERMAKERS AT THE 2023 USA DIVING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Greg Duncan (Alum) – 3-Meter, 3-Meter Synchro (with Tyler Downs)
• Steele Johnson (Alum) – 10-Meter Synchro (with Tyler Downs)
• Brandon Loschiavo (Alum) – 10-Meter, 10-Meter Synchro (with Rzepka)
• Sophie McAfee – 10-Meter
• Maxwell Miller (NLI Signee) – 3-Meter, 3-Meter Synchro (with Jacob Jones)
• Jordan Rzepka – 10-Meter, 10-Meter Synchro (with Loschiavo)
• Daryn Wright – 10-Meter
Olympian and five-time NCAA champion Steele Johnson is slated to compete for the first time since reinjuring his foot in the 3-meter synchro semifinal at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials two years ago. He’s entered in 10-meter synchro and has not competed from the tower since the 2019 USA Diving Winter Nationals.
Brandon Loschiavo’s victory on 10-meter headlined Purdue’s week at the 2019 USA Diving National Championships the last time the meet was held. He went on to win on the tower again two years later to become an Olympian. Johnson joined Loschiavo on the podium in both 10-meter events four years ago, winning silver in synchro and bronze individually. Sophie McAfee, Daryn Wright and Jordan Rzepka all competed – and were finalists – at nationals in May 2019 long before enrolling at Purdue. Incoming Boilermaker Maxwell Miller also competed on the springboards as a 13-year-old.
Aniamaka Wins Big Ten Triple Jump Title
Sophomore Praise Aniamaka won the Big Ten triple jump title as the Purdue track & field team claimed three medals on the third and final day of the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bloomington, Indiana, on Sunday, May 14.
Aniamaka won gold in the triple jump to claim Purdue’s fourth consecutive title outdoors in the event. The men’s 4×100 and women’s 4×400 relay teams also took home bronze medals on a warm, sun-filled Sunday at Indiana’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex. The Boilermakers notched 11 top-eight podium finishes to conclude the weekend.
In total at the three-day conference championship meet, Purdue won four medals, one gold, one silver and two bronze, with eight more top-eight podium finishes. Four top-10 marks in team history were achieved and 25 personal-best marks were set.
The triple jump began the day, and Aniamaka’s winning jump came on his second attempt with a mark of 16.03 meters. It was the seventh-best jump in program history, as Aniamaka entered the top-10 list. Coming into the meet as the No. 8 overall seed, his sixth and final jump of 15.98m also would have been a PR and a top-10 mark in the record books before he eclipsed 16.00m for the first time.
Gold is Aniamaka’s third career Big Ten medal, along with a pair of bronzes indoors. His winning jump also checks in at No. 11 in the NCAA East region.
Purdue started the day on the track with a bronze medal by the men’s 4×100 relay team. Junior Jahn Riley, fifth-year Justin Becker and freshmen Connor Czajkowski and Eric Young II ran a season-best time of 39.87 and won a medal by 0.47 seconds. Before their third-place finish, the foursome was seeded sixth.
Similarly, the day concluded with another bronze medal, this time courtesy of the women’s 4×400 relay. Junior K’Ja Talley, senior Saran Kouyeth, junior Cierra Williams and freshman Jaylie Lohmeyer posted a time of 3:33.76 and took third by almost two seconds.
The women’s 4×100 quickly followed the men with a fourth-place finish of their own, in 44.57. That was thanks to Kouyeth, Talley, junior Naomi Campbell and fifth-year Camille Christopher.
Becker and Williams ran top-10 times in school history on Friday and Saturday, respectively, to qualify for the finals, and they followed it up with sixth-place finishes on Sunday.
Becker entered the record books with the sixth-fastest 200-meter time on Friday, and then ran a 20.83 to place sixth in the final on Sunday. It’s his 10th career Big Ten podium finish, indoors and outdoors, and his fourth individually. At his final conference championships in 2023, Becker reached the podium a total of five times indoors and outdoors in 2023, including in the 200m and 4×100 Sunday in Bloomington.
Williams moved up to No. 3 in team history in the 400m yesterday before she was sixth in the final in 52.60 on Sunday. As she earned her best career individual Big Ten finish, Williams notched her eighth career spot on the podium and fourth individually.
Sophomore Rieko Wilford also was sixth for her best career Big Ten placement. Her performance came in the triple jump courtesy of a mark of 12.76m. It came on Wilford’s final attempt to move her up from seventh and secure her second career spot on the podium.
Fifth-year Jessica Bray concluded her career on the podium as she tied for seventh in the pole vault. She cleared 3.96m on her first attempt to place in the top eight and earn points for the first time outdoors.
Sophomore Nathan Walker was seventh in the 5,000m in 14:20.69. He made the podium for the first time in his career after he entered the meet as the No. 15 seed.
In her final career Big Ten Championships race, Christopher was eighth in the 200m final. She crossed the finish line in 23.84, which secured a 12th spot on the Big Ten podium in her career and eighth individually.
Junior LJ Hill reached the podium for the fifth time in his career with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump. His mark of 14.88m was on his sixth and final attempt to move him up from ninth and secure a second spot on the podium in 2023, along with the long jump indoors.
Additionally on Sunday, freshman Seth Allen was 10th in the discus with a throw of 53.96m. The personal-best mark was just shy of a spot in the finals and a place on Purdue’s top-10 list. Freshman Leo Maxwell also had a PR in the event with a throw of 47.80m.
In the final team standings, Nebraska won the men’s title (151 points) and Michigan claimed the women’s crown (139 points). The Minnesota men (122) and Ohio State women (123) were the runners-up. The Purdue men (22) and women (27.5) finished 12th.
On Saturday, Craig won a silver medal in the heptathlon and Williams ran a top-10 time in team history in the 400m. On Friday, Becker ran the sixth-fastest 200m time in the record books and Walker moved up to No. 8 all-time in the 1,500m.
Coming up, select Boilermakers will compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida, from May 24-27. Qualifiers for the regional meet will be announced next week.
Purdue Athletics Announces Change in Softball Leadership
Purdue University Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Bobinski announced on Tuesday that softball head coach Boo De Oliveira will not return.
“On behalf of the University, our softball program and the entire Purdue community, we are grateful to Coach Boo De Oliveira, her staff and our student-athletes for their dedicated efforts on behalf of Purdue Softball,” said Bobinski. “We wish Boo the best of luck as she embarks on her next chapter. The Boilermakers are well positioned for the future, and we are intently focused on pursuing and sustaining success.”
De Oliveira led the Boilermakers from 2017-23, compiling an overall record of 150-202.
Purdue Athletics will begin a nationwide search to identify and bring aboard the Boilermakers’ next head softball coach.
Women’s Golf Finishes Sixth at NCAA Raleigh Regional
Purdue Women’s Golf outperformed its No. 9 seed and nearly made a return to the national championship stage. The Boilermakers placed sixth at the NCAA Raleigh Regional, finishing at 9-over par (287-291-295—873) and only three shots back of qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Ashley Kozlowski led the Boilermakers throughout the tournament, including the final round. She fired a final round 70 (-2) to move up the individual leaderboard and tie for fourth at 3-under (71-72-70—213). The 54-hole total was Kozlowski’s season best, securing her third Top 10 of the season and the fifth of her career. She made 13 birdies and played the par 3s 2-under throughout the week, ranking second in the field in both categories.
Using the slope on the left side of the first green, Kozlowski nearly chipped in for eagle and settled for a tap-in birdie to start her round. The junior added another birdie at the par-4 fifth, playing a bogey-free front nine and making the turn 2-under. Following three straight pars to start the back, Kozlowski threw a dart into the 13th green for her third birdie of the day. She alternated birdies with bogeys over a four-hole stretch before parring her final two holes to produce Purdue’s best round of the day.
Seniors Kan Bunnabodee and Danielle du Toit shot matching 74s (+2) in the final round. Bunnabodee’s round featured a trio of birdies, while du Toit made two on each side for a total of four. Tying for 20th, Bunnabodee cracked the Top 20 for the sixth time this spring.
Du Toit got hot towards the end of the front nine, recording back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth before adding another at No. 10 for three birdies in a four-hole stretch. Playing in her 127th round Purdue, du Toit drained her putt on No. 18 to birdie her last hole as a Boilermaker. She placed 30th in her final collegiate tournament.
The Boilermakers’ season comes to an end at regional play, but they had plenty of positives from the 2022-23 campaign under first-year head coach Zack Byrd. Purdue made the NCAA postseason for the eighth straight year and also captured the first team tournament title in five years with a win at the Tulane Classic to start the spring. Individually, Momo Sugiyama earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades in her first season as a Boilermaker.
The post Purdue Sports Update May 18 appeared first on On3.
