| WEEKEND STREAMING GUIDE (all times ET) |
| Baseball |
| Saturday / 2 p.m. / vs. Illinois or Indiana (Big Ten Tournament) / BTN |
| Sunday / 2 p.m. / Big Ten Tournament Championship Game / BTN |
By Tom Schott
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Baseball keeps on rolling.
As in winning 20 of its last 22 games.
The No. 27 Boilermakers (36-18), who earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, have won their first two postseason contests - 9-2 over Ohio State on May 23 and 5-4 over Michigan on May 24 - and will play either Illinois (32-19) or Indiana (38-16) on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Omaha, Nebraska. Illinois and Indiana square off Friday.
The championship game is Sunday at 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, four Boilermakers earned third team All-Big Ten honors: senior pitcher Tanner Andrews, junior catcher Nick Dalesandro, senior pitcher Ross Learnard and junior first baseman Jacson McGowan. The four all-conference selections are more than Purdue had combined from 2013 to 2017.
Pitcher Trent Johnson and outfielder Ben Nisle represented Purdue on the Big Ten All-Freshman team. Nisle was one of four unanimous selections.
Carson, Moffitt Advance to NCAA Championships
Senior Savannah Carson and junior Janae' Moffitt earned trips to the NCAA Championships after finishing in the top 12 in the high jump and long jump, respectively, at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds on May 24.
The Boilermakers also advanced five individuals to Friday quarterfinal races.
For all the details on the East Preliminary Rounds, click here.
Women's Basketball Adds 3 to Roster
Women's basketball head coach Sharon Versyp announced the addition of three players to the 2018-19 roster.
The trio is Jenelle Grant, Ajah Stallings and Lyndsey Whilby. Grant and Whilby are transfers - from the University of Pacific and Texas Tech University, respectively - while Stallings is a preferred walkon.
De Leon Named Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Assistant Vice President for Development
Purdue vice president and athletics director Mike Bobinski, in partnership with vice president for development Amy Noah, announced the hiring of Abilene Christian University director of athletics Lee De Leon as executive senior associate athletics director/assistant vice president for development May 24.
De Leon (pronounced DAY LEE ON) will work in direct partnership with Bobinski, Noah and deputy athletics director Jason Butikofer to provide vision and leadership to advance the athletic department's fundraising efforts. He will manage the day-to-day internal operations of the John Purdue Club with a concerted focus on building the donor base and engaging contributors.
De Leon, who will start June 25, has served as athletics director at Abilene Christian since November of 2014. At the time of his hiring, he was the youngest Division I athletics director in the country.
In three and a half years, De Leon grew Abilene Christian's annual revenue by 81 percent and increased the operating budget by almost 40 percent - in large part due to new multi-year contracts with NIKE, IMG and Vivature - while also overseeing increases in ticket sales, merchandise sales and concessions and the re-launch of the Wildcat Club, the official fundraising organization of ACU Athletics. The first year of the organization led to 700 inaugural members, followed by an increase in the second year to 980 members. In its initial year, the Wildcat Club raised more than $6.25 million through the Wildcat Annual Fund, capital and endowment gifts, as well as donations to sport-specific funds.
De Leon also oversaw the construction of Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium, Abilene Christian's first on-campus football stadium in more than 70 years. ACU Athletics has completed $57 million worth of new and improved facility projects since 2014, including a new soccer/track & field stadium, artificial turf at both baseball and softball stadiums, a new tennis operations facility, and the renovation of the Teague Special Events Center (football offices, locker room, and training room facilities).
Prior to joining the Abilene Christian staff, De Leon served as a member of the senior staff at three Division I-FBS institutions.
From 2011 to 2014, De Leon was the associate director of athletics for development at the University of New Mexico. He served as executive director of the Lobo Club, UNM's official fundraising organization for athletics that raises funds for all Lobo teams, programs and student-athletes. Previously, De Leon worked three years (2009-11) at the University of Arizona, first as the director of annual giving before being promoted to assistant athletics director for major gifts and annual giving. Before that stop, De Leon spent three years (2006-08) at the University of Houston as assistant director of marketing and director of marketing. De Leon began his career in college athletics at LSU in 2005 as a marketing assistant.
Etcetera
For the third consecutive year, swimmer Marat Amaltdinov has earned academic all-district honors. Amaltdinov graduated with his master's degree in finance this month after earning his bachelor's degree in just three years ... The 2018 volleyball schedule has been announced ... Volleyball's incoming freshman class is ranked No. 13 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com. It is the fourth-highest ranked class in the Big Ten ... Volleyball alumna Azariah Stahl (2014-17) signed a contract with Geneve Volley to compete professionally in Switzerland beginning in August ... Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.