Indiana University
Bowling Green
IU Opens Up Home Slate with Hoosier Classic
3/17/2017 12:53:00 PM | Softball
WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
Saturday, March 18
Indiana vs. Bowling Green - 1:15 p.m. ET
Indiana vs. UIC - 3:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, March 19
Indiana vs. UIC - 1:15 p.m. ET
Indiana vs. Bowling Green - 3:30 p.m. ET
ANDY MOHR FIELD
Andy Mohr Field is entering its fifth season and the Hoosiers enter the weekend with a 39-36 record at the stadium. This weekend's tournament begins a streak of seven straight games in Bloomington for the Hoosiers.
This year marks the seventh consecutive Hoosier Classic. Since the inaugural tournament in 2011, Indiana is 20-2 in the Hoosier Classic.
CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION
Bowling Green: The Falcons are 14-12 on the season after winning the final four games of last weekend's Ole Miss Tournament. Bowling Green was due to face Michigan on Wendnesday, but the game was postponed due to weather. As a team, Bowling Green is hitting .283 with an ERA of 3.44. At the plate, the Falcons are paced by Chelsea Raker, who is batting .390 with 30 hits, including 10 doubles and 4 homers, 26 RBI and 7 runs, Raker's 10 doubles is currently tied for eighth in the country. Aspen Searle is close behind with a .372 average and 32 hits, 20 RBI and 17 runs. This past week, Searle was named the MAC Player of the Week after hitting .480 last week. In the circle, the Falcons have used four pitchers in 2017. Meredith Miller (7-1, 2.57 ERA, 60.0 IP), Brooke Parker (3-5, 3.64 ERA, 57.2 IP) have seen the most innings thus far.
The Hoosiers have won all eight previous meetings against Bowling Green including two victories in the 2015 Hoosier Classic.
UIC: The Flames are 10-12 on the year after dropping three of four games at last weekend's University of Oklahoma Tournament. UIC is led by head coach Lynn Curylo, who took over for Indiana softball alumna Michelle Venturella after she took the opening at Wash U. in Saint Louis. Prior to coming to UIC, Curylo served as head coach for Wright State for six seasons. UIC is batting .258 with an impressive ERA of 2.59. The bats are led by Lexi Watts, who is hitting .397 with 27 base knocks, 10 runs and 8 RBI. Kayla Wedl is also batting above .300 for the Flames with a .308 average, 20 hits, 12 runs and 11 RBI. Karissa Frazier (3-6, 1.91 ERA, 47.2 IP) and Elaine Heflin (5-4, 2.30 ERA, 61.0 IP) have carried most of the pitching load for UIC.
Indiana leads the all-time series, 14-7, including a 3-2 victory in last year's Hoosier Classic.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana traveled to Memphis, Tenn. last weekend, going a perfect 5-0 in the UofM Softball Tournament. After a pair of extra inning victories on Friday, the Hoosiers closed out the weekend with three straight run-rule wins.
WEEKLY AWARDS FOR GOODIN AND NORTON
For the second time in three weeks, Indiana pitcher Emily Goodin earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. In addition, she was highlighted by NFCA as a Selected Top Performance. The Evansville, Ind. native went 3-0 on the weekend, tossing 15.1 scoreless innings. The righty surrendered just two total hits and five walks while striking out 21 batters. Goodin was near perfect against Western Illinois, surrendering just one hit while walking no batters and striking out eight.
In Friday's second game, she pitched 3.0 hitless innings in relief to earn the victory against Lipscomb. Her second relief appearance came on Saturday against Oakland. Goodin went 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and three walks while picking up a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Fellow freshman Bella Norton earned honors from CollegeSportsMadness.com, who named her the Big Ten Player of the Week. Norton batted .538 with 7 hits and 4 RBI during the weekend. The McLean, Va. native knocked her first career homer against Memphis on Saturday.
BATS COME ALIVE IN MEMPHIS
• For the weekend, Indiana hit .333 as a team at the UofM Tournament. The hot-hitting raised Indiana's season batting average from .235 to .257.
• After two low-scoring affairs on Friday, the Hoosiers scored 33 combined runs in the final three games, all of which resulted in run-rule victories. During those three final games, Indiana hit an average of .458, led by CaraMia Tsirigos, who batted .750 in those games with 6 hits, 6 RBI and 3 runs. Rebecca Blitz was close behind batting .700 with 7 hits, 4 RBI and 4 runs.
• The Hoosiers had five batters hit above .400 for the weekend, led by Norton's .548 average. Aimilia McDonough, Gabbi Jenkins, Rebecca Blitz and Gabbi Jenkins also hit above .400.
• After not registering a single triple in the first 19 games of the season, the Hoosiers hit three triple baggers in Memphis off the bats of junior Rachel O'Malley and freshmen Jenkins and Katie Lacefield.
HOT HITTING FROM JENKINS, MCDONOUGH
• Jenkins has worked her way into not only a regular spot in the starting lineup, but also into Indiana's leadoff spot. The Floyds Knobs, Ind. native has been a tear recently with 14 of her 15 hits on the year coming since Indiana's Feb. 26 game against Murray State. In those 12 games, Jenkins is hitting .341 with five runs scored. Jenkins has posted four multi-hit games this year, including the last three games in Memphis. Over the last four games, Jenkins has eight total hits.
• McDonough is riding a six-game hitting streak after another impressive outing in Memphis. She continues to lead the team with her .442 average and is tied with a team-best 13 runs.
TRAINER'S STRIKEOUT RANKINGS
Tara Trainer has 89 strikeouts on the year, good for 28th nationally and third in the Big Ten. In addition, her 8.7 strikeouts per seven innings is 39th in the country and third in the conference.
A season ago, the righty, who was named No. 21 on Fastpitch News' Preseason Top 50 NCAA Softball Pitchers List, set the Indiana freshman strikeout record with 183.
WHAT'S AHEAD IN 2017
The Hoosiers have 53 games on tap in 2017, including 16 to be played at Andy Mohr Field. Of Indiana's 32 opponents in 2017, seven are ranked in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
After this weekend, Indiana will have just two non-conference games remaining, a March 29 trip to Louisville and an April 19 game against Kentucky at Andy Mohr Field.
Home Big Ten battles for Indiana includes Rutgers, Purdue, Maryland and Michigan State. IU will travel to Penn State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Michigan. The 2017 Big Ten Tournament will be hosted by Michigan in Ann Arbor May 11-13.
