The Purdue Northwest softball team split their 2025 GLIAC opener at home against Parkside in two tough battles on Friday afternoon. The Pride fought in a nine inning thriller to a walk-off win in Game 1, 6-4, and then fell in a high-scoring bout in Game 2, 20-9.

The Basics

• Records: Purdue Northwest (6-15-1,1-1), Parkside (10-10,1-1)
• Location: Dowling Park  – Hammond, Indiana
• Attendance: 50

Game 1
The Breakdown

• Junior Olivia Hernandez (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Central Catholic) led the Pride with two hits and four RBIs that included the game-winning homerun.
• Sophomore Kylie Dugan (Buck Creek, Ind./William Henry Harrison) added one hit and one RBI.
• Five other Pride players recorded a hit during the game.
• Freshman Jordyn Roop (Hudson, Ill./University) earned the start on the mound for the Pride and pitched all nine innings to grind out her first collegiate win. 
• Ava Swain led Parkside with two hits and one RBI.
• Olivia Manisca started in the circle for the Rangers pitching the first six innings allowing two runs off four hits with four strikeouts
• Shelly Deisz finished the final 2.2 innings for Parkside allowing four runs and four hits.
• Both teams battled hard in the first three innings holding each other scoreless.
• Parkside grabbed the first runs of the game with a two-run homer from Megan Medlin to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.
• The Pride gained a run in the sixth to cut it to 2-1.
• Purdue Northwest then tied the game up in the seventh inning 2-2 after Dugan reached on an error to score a run.
• Parkside then scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to go up 4-2.
• With the bases loaded and two outs, Hernandez launched her third homer of the season which was a grand-slam walk-off bomb to give the Pride the 6-4 win in Game 1.

Game 2
The Breakdown

• Freshman Kylie Madura (Munster, Ind./Munster) led the Pride with three hits and two RBIs including her first collegiate homerun.
• Senior Darcy Barkauskas (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) added one hit and two RBIs.
• Sophomore Emma Fair (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) chipped in one hit and one RBI during the game.
• Junior Hailie Charmat (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) started in the circle for Pride in her GLIAC debut.
• Both junior Hannah Rafferty-Flatter (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South) and freshman Rylan Gick (West Lafayette, Ind./William Henry Harrison) made appearances on the mound for the Pride. Gick finished with three strikeouts.
• Mia Johnson led Parkside with three hits and five RBIs.
• Ellie Curtis started on the mound for the Rangers and pitched the first 1.2 innings allowing seven runs off six hits.
• Hope Maes ended the final 3.1 innings only allowing two runs and two hits with three strikeouts to pick up the victory.
• Parkside took the early lead in the first inning scoring five runs to take a 5-0 lead.
• Purdue Northwest gained two runs in the first to cut it to 5-2.
• The Pride had a strong second inning scoring five runs to take their first lead of the game with a 7-5 advantage.
• Purdue Northwest added two runs in the third to increase their lead to 9-5.
• The fourth inning was a different story as it was all Parkside. The Rangers tallied ten runs to take a 15-9 lead.
• Parkside notched five more runs in the fifth inning to increase their advantage to 20-9.
• The Pride couldn't get anymore offense going and ultimately fell in the end in Game 2, 20-9.

Up Next

• The Pride hit the road to take on GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt on Saturday, March 22. The doubleheader is set to bet at 1:00 PM CT in Rosemont, Illinois.