Purdue Sports Update: April 1

Sterling Again: Wills Wins Silver on Platform at NCAAs

Purdue’s Tyler Wills put together a sterling performance in platform diving to cap his sophomore season as a silver medalist at the NCAA Championships.

Wills led the way as the Boilermakers had three of the top 15 finishers and four of the top 20 in the final individual event of the national championship meet. Nathaniel Grannis (14th) and Holden Higbie (15th) joined Wills as All-Americans in platform diving. Kaden Springfield also placed 19th.

Purdue finished 29th in the team scoring with 32 points at the NCAA Championships. The Boilermakers had an All-American in all three diving events for the fourth time this decade and finished top 30 at the national championship meet for the eighth time since 2017.

Wills also teamed with Daryn Wright for a silver sweep in platform diving at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships. Like Wills, Wright also won silver on the Tower at both championship showcases. Purdue had both men’s and women’s diving medalists at NCAAs for third fourth time – also accomplishing the feat in 2008, 2011 and 2021.

While earning scores of 70-plus points on five of his six dives in the final for a list total of 451.15, Wills carried an eight-point lead into the final round. Texas A&M’s Emilio Trevino finished strong with an event-high score of 92.5 on a forward 4 ½ (109C) in the final round to soar to the top of the leaderboard. Wills ripped dives in rounds 4 and 5 for scores of 84.15 and 86.70. He also had the top-scoring dive (79.20) of round 1. Trevino’s score of 85 in round 5 essentially matched Wills and set the stage for the dramatic finish.

With Springfield winning bronze on the tower at NCAAs last year, the Boilermakers had different male divers medal at the national championship meet in consecutive years for the second time – also accomplishing the feat in 2008 and 2009.

Higbie earned his second career All-America honor after also scoring among the top 16 on platform as a freshman in 2024. Wills and Grannis earned their first All-America accolades Saturday. Five of the six Purdue Divers that competed this week in Atlanta were an All-American in an event.

Swimmer Evan Mackesy raced for a third consecutive day at NCAAs to close out his sophomore season. He finished 27th in the prelims of the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:44.39 that would rank fifth in team history (he’s already second). Mackesy also represented the Boilermakers in the 400 IM and 500 free and Purdue qualified its 200 free and 200 medley relays as well.

Of the Boilermakers’ program-record 11 NCAA Championships qualifiers, 10 are slated to return for the 2026-27 season. Alex Hotta was the lone senior among Purdue’s group in Atlanta.

Baseball Wins Series at MSU, Drops clash at Indiana State

Purdue’s Aaron Manias hit a first-inning home run for his 10th  career RBI in just two games at Bob Warn Field, but Indiana State’s seven-run fourth inning proved too much to overcome as the Sycamores took round one of the midweek home and home 12-4 Tuesday.

Indiana State (14-14) scored 10 unanswered runs after Manias’ two-out, two-run blast on an 0-2 count gave the visitors an early lead. The seven-run rally in the bottom of the fourth was the third largest of the season against the Boilermakers, all coming in the last seven games.

Purdue (19-9) closed out its stretch of 10 games in 14 days with a 7-3 record and will have to wait until April to reach the 20-win benchmark this year.

The Sycamores improved to 5-1 against Big Ten teams this season, defeating Illinois, Indiana and now Purdue in midweek action over three consecutive weeks.

Five different Boilermakers took the mound in the fourth inning as ISU sent 11 men to the plate. The big hits were a three-run double from 9-hole hitter Caleb Niehaus and a three-run homer from cleanup man Camden Miller. Niehaus and Miller both finished the night with a pair of extra-base hits and five RBI, combining to drive in 10 of the Sycamores’ 12 runs.

Brandon Rogers connected for Purdue’s third grand slam of the series and his second slam of the week, powering a six-run third inning that in turn carried the Boilermakers to an 11-4 victory in Sunday’s rubber game at Michigan State.

Purdue has won three consecutive Big Ten weekend series for the first time since its team-record 11-game conference win streak in April 2024. The Boilermakers posted their first series win in East Lansing since 2009, snapping a four-game losing streak in rubber games vs. MSU (9-17, 4-8 Big Ten).

Purdue rallied to win a Big Ten series on the road after dropping the opening game for the first time since April 2017 at Ohio State. But it marked the third time this season the Boilers have come back to win two of three on a weekend after losing the first game. The program had not done that three times in a campaign since the Big Ten moved to three-game conference weekends in 2009.

Rogers joined Neal Gorka (April 2006 at Indiana) as Boilermakers this century to hit two grand slams in the same week. Rogers hit the first pitch thrown by reliever Tommy Szczepanski over the left field fence for Purdue’s fourth grand slam of the week and sixth of the season. The six slams are already a single-season team high this century and likely an overall program record.

CJ Richmond hit his second home run of the series in the second inning, another long blast to right center field. The Boilermakers scored 14 of their 30 runs in the series on home runs.

Purdue has posted a double-figure run total in eight of its 12 victories this month, scoring five-plus runs in an inning 10 times.

Grand Slams from Avery Moore and CJ Richmond helped power a surge of 15 unanswered runs as Purdue overcame an early eight-run inning to defeat Michigan State 16-13 Saturday.

The Boilermakers trailed 8-1 entering the third inning but had the lead back by the top of the fifth when Moore connected for his grand slam. Richmond hit his slam in a six-run eighth inning that proved much more significant after MSU (9-16, 4-7 Big Ten) awoke for a five-spot in the bottom of the ninth.

Both teams pounded out 16 hits and there were a combined seven errors in the game. The Spartans also hit a grand slam in their eight-run inning.

Cole Van Assen worked a quartet of 1-2-3 innings all against the top of the lineup while matching his longest outing as a Boilermaker with a seven-inning quality start, but Purdue was limited to four hits in a 4-3 loss at Michigan State on Friday.

The sixth inning decided the game. After CJ Richmond’s RBI double brought the Boilermakers (17-8, 5-5 Big Ten) even at 3-3, MSU (9-15, 4-6 Big Ten) escaped a bases-loaded jam with an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. In the bottom half of the frame, Ryan McKay connected for a home run over the high wall in right field and into the Redar Cedar River.

McKay’s homer was the only extra-base hit Van Assen (2-2) surrendered in his longest outing of the season. He worked seven innings for the third time as a Boilermaker overall, needing only 95 pitches thanks to the four 1-2-3 innings coupled with not issuing a walk.

Softball Takes One of Three in Ann Arbor

The Boilers finished out the series with Michigan falling 13-5 in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Hutchins Stadium. 

The Boilers had eight hits on the day, while hitting three home runs, but it proved not to be enough to outscore the Michigan offense. 

Purdue (25-9, 5-3 Big Ten) used a six-run fifth inning and a 15-hit performance to power past Michigan (20-13, 1-7 Big Ten), 13–6, on Saturday afternoon at Hutchins Stadium.

Four different Boilers had three-hit performances, while five had multi hit performances. The 15 total hits against Michigan is the second-highest total this year, second to the record-breaking performance of 19 against Southern Illinois on Feb. 27

The Boilers earned just their fifth victory over Michigan in the all-time series, now trailing the Wolverines 54-5.

The Boilermakers added to the lead in the third. Moriah Polar singled and advanced into scoring position before Haley Painter drove her in with an RBI single to make it 2–0.

Smith Earns Another Honor, Loyer to Compete at Final Four 3-Point Contest

The final feather in the cap of one of the most-accomplished players in NCAA history, Braden Smith has been named a Wooden Award All-American and Top-5 Finalist, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced tonight.

For the second straight season, Smith was named a finalist and is joined by Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Duke’s Cameron Boozer, BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa and Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg. It marks the fourth straight year that Purdue has had a finalist after Zach Edey won the award in both 2023 and 2024, and Smith was a finalist a year ago.

Purdue senior shooting guard Fletcher Loyer has been selected to compete in the State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships on April 3 in Indianapolis.

Loyer is one of eight men’s players that will compete in the E*TRADE 3-Point Championship taking place at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday, April 3, at 7 p.m. ET. The event will air on Sunday, April 5, at 1:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN.

As a bookend to his career, Loyer will be attempting to win the same title he did as a high school senior before he entered Purdue. In 2022, Loyer won the high school 3-point championship at the Final Four in New Orleans, defeating Duke’s Kyle Filipowski in the finals.

Loyer wrapped up a sensational career at Purdue, setting the school record for games played (149), games started (149) and career 3-pointers made (309) while ranking 11^th on Purdue’s career scoring list (1,829 points).

Women’s Golf Defends Title At Coach Mo

 Firing a final round 282 (-6) as a team, the lowest round of the day, Purdue Women’s Golf surged to the top of the leaderboard to win the 2026 Coach Mo Classic at St. John’s Golf and Country Club. The Boilermakers (E) secured a 4-shot victory over No. 16 Florida State, claiming the tournament title for the second straight season. 

Throughout program history, the Coach Mo Classic becomes the 17th event that the Boilermakers have won multiple times. The win is Purdue’s sixth tournament victory under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Zack Byrd. Purdue has won a tournament in each season with Byrd guiding the program, the longest stretch of consecutive years of winning at least one tournament since the nine-year run from 2006-14. The Boilermakers won five tournaments over the nine years prior to Byrd’s arrival.

Defeating 15 other teams, including a pair ranked in the Top 25, the Boilermakers claimed their crown by leading the field in par-3 scoring (E), par-4 scoring (+24) and birdies (45). Purdue also played the par 5s 7-under, ranking third in the field, and made the fewest big numbers (double bogeys or worse) with seven.

Big Ten / SEC Volleyball Challenge Slated For West Lafayette

The Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference (SEC) have announced a partnership for Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week, beginning this fall to bring together the nation’s premier conferences in competition that reflects the growth and national momentum of women’s college volleyball. 

Purdue will serve as a host site, and will play the defending national champions, Texas A&M on Tuesday, September 1 followed by Georgia on Wednesday, September 2. Indiana will also compete in West Lafayette over the same days, playing Georgia followed by Texas A&M.

The contest between the Boilermakers and Aggies will be the first-ever meeting in West Lafayette and the overall first contest since 1990. Purdue leads the series history, 3-1.

Meanwhile, Purdue and Georgia have met just twice in program history in 1990 and 1991 in a home-and-away series with each home team owning a win.

All 18 Big Ten schools and all 16 SEC institutions will match up beginning Tuesday, September 1, culminating with a historic outdoor doubleheader at Wrigley Field on Sunday, September 6. 

Purdue was picked No. 9 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 10 for 2026, followed by Texas A&M at No. 10.

It will be the second straight year Purdue’s hosted the defending national champions, having welcomed Penn State to Holloway Gymnasium last fall, where the Boilermakers swept the Nittany Lions, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22.

The Boilermakers are coming off a historic 2025 season, which saw improvements in virtually every area following a Regional Final appearance, a third-place Big Ten standings finish, three All-Americans and 10 top-25 victories.

Purdue returns senior setter Taylor Anderson, who led the nation last fall in assists, senior outside hitter Kenna Wollard, who was named an AVCA Player of the Year semifinalist, and redshirt junior opposite Grace Heaney, who proved to be one of the most effective players at her position in the nation.

This fall, the Boilermakers will feature eight freshman (true and redshirt) and one transfer in sophomore outside hitter Lameen Mambu (previously Georgia Tech).

More information about the matches will be announced at a later time.

Women’s Tennis Falls Short

Coming down to the final court, Purdue fell 3-4 to No. 45 Iowa at Schwartz Tennis Center. The Boilermakers fought hard, ultimately falling to a 6-9 record (2-5 Big Ten) while the Hawkeyes improve to 9-10 (3-5 Big Ten).

In doubles, Ece Gencer and Ida Clement were leading over the No. 28-ranked pair in the nation, but went abandoned at 4-3.

The women’s tennis team nearly posted a complete comeback, falling just shy as the squad fell to No. 48 Nebraska, 2-4. The Boilermakers began their comeback, posting two straight points after wins by Ida Clement and Emmi Kolyszko left the final two courts tied in its final set. The Huskers just edged the Boilermakers on one court to seal the dual.

With the result, Purdue falls to 6-8 (2-4 Big Ten) while No. 48 Nebraska extends its winning streak and moves to 11-5 (4-3 Big Ten).

The Boilermakers have just two home matches left. Next week, the team will travel east for a Friday/Sunday matchup at Maryland and Rutgers, respectively, before returning home for the penultimate week of the season. Purdue will host Ohio State on Saturday, April 11 followed by Penn State on Sunday, April 12 for Senior Day.

Men’s Tennis Defeated by Indiana

The men’s tennis team (4-12, 0-7 Big Ten) fell to No. 60 Indiana (9-7, 3-4 Big Ten) behind a 1-4 decision.

Despite a strong start to singles action, which including Boilermakers up on four Set 1 wins, the Hoosiers rallied to pick up wins on three of the courts to solidify the win.

Freshman Jacob Lee picked up Purdue’s lone win of the day behind a pair of 7-6, 7-6 wins against Aryan Badlani. With the victory, Lee improves to a 7-4 record, including a 4-3 edge in conference matches.

Up next, Purdue will continue its road swing, traveling to Northwestern on Friday at 7 p.m. ET followed by Illinois on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.