IOWA CITY, Iowa. –––– No. 8 seed Indiana will begin the 2024 Big Ten Tournament against No. 9 seed Purdue on Wednesday at noon Eastern time in the event’s opening game.
This will be the third meeting of the year with the Boilermakers as the two teams split the doubleheader in Bloomington on Wednesday, April 17.
Should Indiana advance, it will face No. 1 seed Northwestern in the quarterfinal on Thursday at noon (ET). The semifinals will take place on Friday, May 10 and the final will be on Saturday, May 11.
For the entire tournament’s bracket, click here.
A year ago, the Hoosiers reached the Big Ten Tournament Final, losing to No. 1 seed Northwestern, 2-1.
QUICK HITTERS:
- Indiana finished the regular season with a 37-17 record and a 12-11 mark in conference play. A three-way tie for the sixth-best record in the conference with Ohio State and Penn State puts the Hoosiers as the Big Ten Tournament’s No. 8 seed.
- This will be the second time ever that Indiana and Purdue have faced each other in the Big Ten Tournament (2014).
- Seven different Hoosiers in the lineup have posted 20-plus RBI on the season, including Taylor Minnick (53), Sarah Stone (42), Avery Parker (42), Alex Cooper (32), Brianna Copeland (32), Cora Bassett (26) and Brooke Benson (26). Minnick’s 53 are the third-most in the conference.
- Three Hoosiers are hitting .330 or better from the plate: Taylor Minnick (.374), Aly VanBrandt (.364), and Brianna Copeland (.337).
LAST TIME OUT:
- In its last weekend of the regular season, Indiana had a battle of a series at No. 20 Northwestern, winning the Saturday game, 8-3, and losing in two close games on Friday and Sunday.
- The Hoosiers’ victory in the Saturday game marked the first time a road team won at Northwestern since April 3, 2022, when No. 23 Michigan defeated Northwestern by the same score of 8-3.
- The moment that changed the game on Saturday was in the top of the second inning when sophomore Chloe Geijer came in to pinch-hit with the bases loaded as the Hoosiers trailed 1-0. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Geijer hit a grand slam over the left field wall to put Indiana up 4-1.
- Indiana dropped the Friday game, 6-3, and the Sunday game, 4-2. In both games, Indiana held the lead at various points. On Friday, Indiana led 3-0 through the top of the fourth, and on Sunday Indiana was up 2-0 through the top of the second.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
- Purdue finished the regular season with a 25-26 record and an 11-12 showing in conference.
- The Boilermakers dropped their last three games of the season, getting swept by Michigan State, but previous to that had won a road series at Maryland, taking two of three games and defeating Ball State in a midweek game.
- Sophomore Khloe Banks leads the way for Purdue at the plate, hitting .340 with eight doubles and 18 RBI. Ashlynn Campbell (.312) and Sage Scarmodo (.309) are also hitting over. 300. As a team, Purdue has a combined .254 batting average.
- In the circle, Purdue uses a number of arms with Kendall Klochack, Madi Elish and Julia Gossett all having at least 25 appearances.
- Gossett has made a team-high 30 appearances, with 69 strikeouts, a 3.67 ERA and a 9-12 record.
SERIES NOTES:
- Indiana leads the all-time series over Purdue, 43-42.
- Earlier this season, Indiana won game one of the doubleheader (5-1), while Purdue took game two (6-5).
