In the second part of a two-part farewell write-off, the Purdue Fort Wayne softball team brought some hardware back for the trophy case in their final season for the foreseeable future. On Friday, the Horizon League learned that the 2026 softball season would tee off without a Cleveland State squad, who announced that the 2025 season would be the final season for the team in January, but also now would be without a Mastodon squad.
The university announced the immediate discontinuation of both programs as part of a $6 million budget reduction across the university, including a $1 million annual budget cut in the athletic department. The tough decision was to part ways with the baseball and softball programs. As stated in the farewell write-off for the baseball program, athletic director Kelley Hartley Hutton said that Friday was “one of the saddest days” in her 25 years in various roles at Purdue Fort Wayne. Hutton also said that the well thought out, and very tough decision will not signify the end of the support of the student athletes affected by the decision. The support referred to will include that all student-athlete scholarships will continue to be honored for those baseball and softball student-athletes who decide not to enter the transfer portal. For those who wish to enjoy the new normal of collegiate sports in the portal, support and guidance on navigating the portal will be provided. Mental health support will also remain available to student-athletes. As with other sports, the student-athletes who choose to transfer to a new institution will be immediately eligible to participate next season. (gomastodons.com)
The league will continue with 7 teams as of this decision – Robert Morris, IU Indy, Northern Kentucky, Green Bay, Oakland, Detroit Mercy, and Youngstown State. Wright State suspended softball activities in 2020 as part of a $2 million budget reduction in response to financial challenges accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Milwaukee has not fielded a softball team in the Horizon League.
The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodon softball team finished the 2025 season as Horizon League Runners-Up with an overall record of 21-26 and a conference record of 14-10. The season started for the ‘Dons early February in Conway, South Carolina at the Coastal Carolina Kickin’ Chicken Classic. After a loss to the Creighton Bluejays, the Mastodons picked up their first win of the season against the host team Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in their second game of the day and season by a score of 7-5. The ‘Dons used a 2 RBI triple by Bailey Manos, an RBI double by Aglaia Rudd, an RBI single by Kennedy Peckinpaugh, and a pinch hit homerun by Skylar Smith all in the fifth inning to take the lead and stay ahead for the win.
After some tough games in the UT Martin Skyhawk Classic, the Southern Illinois Coach B Classic, and the EKU Colonel Classic, the Mastodons came back to Indiana down I-69 to face IU Indy in their first Horizon League matchup of the season. With a 6-4 victory, Alanah Jones picked up her fourth win on the season in her tenth decision. The Mastodons scored all six runs in the first two innings of the game. The six runs proved to be enough as they would hold off a late game scare as IU Indy would plate 4 runs in the 6th.
A string of close, and tough losses would prove to be enough fuel to the Mastodons to their first series sweep of the season. The Mastodons first series in Fort Wayne would see the Detroit Mercy Titans come to town for a doubleheader on March 27 and a single game on March 28. The Mastodons won each of the games by a score of 6-5, 9-4, and 10-5. Followed by a series win over Youngstown State and Oakland, the Purdue Fort Wayne Softball team started the Horizon League season with an impressive 8-4 record.
The annual Pink Out game became the Pink Out games with a doubleheader on April 26 with Northern Kentucky at Indiana Tech’s field in downtown Fort Wayne, due to a baseball game on the same day. The Mastodons won the first game by a score of 6-5 to give Alanah Jones her 12th victory on the year.
The second game of the doubleheader saw the Mastodons victorious once again, this time by a score of 3-1 to complete the three game sweep over the Norse. Grace Hollopeter was the difference in this game. The junior catcher hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning to plate Bailey Manos, and then Hollopeter went yard over the left field fence in the 4th inning to put the ‘Dons ahead for good.
In the Horizon League tournament, the Mastodons proved their place in the league. In the first round game, PFW took care of the Norse once again by a score of 3-1 with none other than Alanah Jones on the mound again for the ‘Dons. With the victory and the seeding format of the Horizon League tournament, the ‘Dons earned a rematch with top seeded and hosting Cleveland State. The Vikings were looking to go out on top, knowing this would be their last stretch of games in Cleveland. Jones took to the circle once again, and pitched a nearly blemish free complete game by only walking 1 hitter, allowing 6 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 4. The Mastodons came to hit – A six-run 3rd inning allowed the Mastodons to jump out to a commanding lead and surprised the home crowd. The 3rd inning offense chased the usually dominant Melissa Holzopfel for the Vikings, but the damage was already done. The Mastodons would shock the tournament and send the top-seeded Vikings to the loser’s bracket with a 7-1 victory.
Unfortunately, the Mastodons would run into the red hot buzzsaw of the Robert Morris Colonials. The Colonials were the second seeded team in the tournament, and they made a case for being the favorites to win the tournament with the rate at which they were winning games. They did not spare the Mastodons, sending them to the loser’s bracket for a rematch with Cleveland by winning 2-10.
In the rematch with Cleveland State in a “win or go home” scenario, the Mastodons weren’t going to go home without a fight. In a pitching rematch between Jones and Holzopfel, both pitchers overcame the early yips and pitched scoreless innings for the 2nd through 6th innings. Both pitchers pitched a complete game – but Jones made just a few less mistakes than her counterpart. The dagger in the fairytale story for Cleveland State came off the bat of Grace Hollopeter in the top of the 7th inning as she would take a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence. Hollopeter was mobbed at the plate by her teammates, knowing that with the shutdown pitching of Jones, the ‘Dons were headed to their first ever Horizon League Championship.
The Mastodons’ final game of the season was a rematch against Robert Morris. After seeing them just the day before, seemed to have a solution to cool the red hot Robert Morris bats. The Colonials would only score 1 run in the first 6th innings and would only have 6 hits in the entire game. The Mastodons’ dream seemed to be a reality when Hollopeter would single in 2 RBIs before being thrown out at second base trying to advance on the throw. The crushing blow would come in the bottom of the 7th inning when the lead off batter Sequoia Dunlap would homer to left field tying the game. The next inning, the Mastodons would be unable to produce anything, and a home run from RMU’s Mary Brant would crush the dreams of the ‘Dons, hoping to enter the road to Oklahoma City.
Season’s End Individual Stat Leaders
Batting Average:
- Grace Hollopeter, .415
- Bailey Manos, .367
- Tori Countryman, .333
Hits:
- Grace Hollopeter, 56
- Bailey Manos, 55
- Tori Countryman, 43
Home Runs:
- Grace Hollopeter, 12
- Addison Zimpleman, 7
- Bailey Manos, 6
Runs Batted In:
- Grace Hollopeter, 53
- Bailey Manos, 30
- Addison Zimpleman, 22
Walks:
- Grace Hollopeter, 25
- Bailey Manos, 15
- Gwen McMenemy, 10
Wins:
- Alanah Jones, 16
- Gracie Brinkerhoff, 4
- Aubrey Zachary, 1 *
* Did not meet the minimum requirements of 2 PA/G and 75% of games played.
ERA:
- Alanah Jones, 3.44
- Gracie Brinkerhoff, 6.12
History of Purdue Fort Wayne Softball
The inaugural season for Purdue Fort Wayne Softball was in 1986, and well… it left a lot to be desired. The first season left the Mastodons winless at 0-20 overall. The first game in PFW softball history was a 2-6 defeat to the Cougars of Saint Francis (IN) from right down the road in Fort Wayne. Another local team to the Mastodons, Tri-State Normal College (Now known as Trine University) in Angola, Indiana was a common opponent for the Mastodons. The teams played four times in the twenty game season. Stats and box scores are unavailable online for this season.
The Mastodons under head coach Dale Van Houten struggled to work their way through the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference in their first 5 years of existence by only amassing 13 wins over 5 season and never winning more than 5 games in a season. Then in 1991, a breakthrough year flipped the switch for the Mastodons. The team was able to over double the program win total by going 16-20 in the ‘91 season. After a small setback in ‘92 (14-16), the Mastodons posted back to back winning seasons at 22-7 and 24-19-1 in Van Houten’s final season at the helm.
The next four head coaches of the program did not bring success to the level of the final years of Van Houten’s tenure. The Mastodon’s finished their DII time 64-181 over a 7-season stretch. The transition to DI honestly didn’t go much better. The D1 Mastodons did not win more than 18 games in their 6 seasons in the Independent scene and their first two seasons in the The Summit League.
(Photo: Purdue Fort Wayne Athletics)
The greatest stretch of Mastodon softball cannot argued. The Amy Tudor/John Bassett era of Mastodon softball proved to be the golden era. Amy Tudor took over as head coach of the Summit League Mastodons for the 2010 season. Coming off a less mediocre 14-24 and 7th place finish the season prior, Tudor’s team exceeded all expectations. In her first season, she led the Mastodons to a 2nd place finish in the Summit League with an overall record of 29-19 and a conference record of 17-6. Over the course of the next three seasons, the Mastodons never placed lower than 3rd place in the Summit League, winning an impressive 45 games in the 2012 season and winning the Summit League conference championship in 2013 for the Mastodons’ first and only appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
After the conclusion of the 2013 season, Amy Tudor left IPFW to become the head coach at her alma matter, Western Kentucky University. Tudor has continued her dominance as a head coach at WKU – 365+ wins since 2014, including the 2025 season. Tudor also brought IPFW standout, Miranda Kramer, over to WKU a year later before the age of the transfer portal. Kramer, who was more than good at IPFW being the all-time career leader in strikeouts, became elite at WKU. Kramer became WKU’s first NFCA First-Team All-American and led the nation in strikeouts (439) and was sixth in the country in ERA (1.24). After her playing time, she entered into coaching. She is most recently coached at University of Texas at Arlington in 2021.
The last season of the golden era was in 2014 with John Bassett as the head coach. Bassett came from the NJCAA level and followed up Tudor’s success as best as anyone could ask. Bassett, with the same core of production of Tudor’s teams, was able to secure a 40-15 record overall and 13-4 in the Summit League.
Until this last season, the Mastodons never found success again. Partially due to the exodus of the greatest core of Mastodon softball players in the 2014 class, the 2015 had plenty of rough seas. The 2015 Mastodons recorded their worst season since the starting struggles in 1989 by ending the 2015 campaign with a record of 3-45, with only 2 wins coming in the conference. The following years were slightly better until the shortened 2020 season where the Mastodons finished 3-21.
After one season in the Horizon League, the Mastodons parted ways with head coach Germaine Fairchild to bring in then assistant coach Amber Bowman. Bowman had spent the 2016-2019 seasons as an assistant coach and was named head coach on July 22, 2021. She spent a two year stretch at Davenport University, leading the panthers to 30 wins over two years – including the COVID season. The Mastodons made steady progress under Bowman until the, unbeknownst to them, final season in 2025. The Mastodons ended with a winning record in Horizon League play at 14-10, including some hardware as they finished Horizon League Runners-Up for the first time in school history.
All Time Career Individual Stat Leaders (At the conclusion of the 2025 season)
Batting Average (min. 100 AB):
- Larissa Franklin, .392, 2012-14
- Ashleigh Bousquet, .377, 2011-14
- Maggie Bruening, .358, 2003-04
Hits:
- Ashleigh Bousquet, 237, 2011-14
- Larissa Franklin, 217, 2012-14
- Alex Bousquet, 182, 2011-14
Home Runs:
- Ashleigh Bousquet, 29, 2011-14
- Grace Hollopeter, 27, 2023-25
- Kristina Karpun, 26, 2008-11
Runs Batted In:
- Ashleigh Bousquet, 160, 2011-14
- Alex Bousquet, 122, 2011-14
- Dani Pugh, 120, 2012-14
Walks Drawn:
- Alex Bousquet, 104, 2011-14
- Ashleigh Bousquet, 98, 2011-14
- Rachel Staschuk, 79, 2008-11
Wins:
- Courtney Cronin, 63, 2009-12
- Miranda Kramer, 59, 2012-14
- Megan Flenniken, 40, 2011-14
Saves:
- Courtney Cronin, 8, 2009-12
- Miranda Kramer, 7, 2012-14
- Megan Flenniken, 5, 2011-14
ERA (min. 50 IP):
- Courtney Cronin, 1.82, 2009-12
- Miranda Kramer, 1.90, 2012-14
- Jamie Kassay, 2.16, 1995
Strikeouts:
- Miranda Kramer, 764, 2012-14
- Courtney Cronin, 528, 2009-12
- Alanah Jones, 454, 2023-25
