Indiana University
University of Washington
IU Heads West for Judi Garman Classic
3/2/2017 12:12:00 PM | Softball
All games will be available for streaming on FloSoftball.com.
WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
Friday, March 3
Indiana vs. No. 8 Washington - 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Indiana vs. Fresno State - 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT
Saturday, March 4
Indiana vs. South Carolina - 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT
Sunday, March 5
Indiana vs. Long Beach State - Noon ET/9 a.m. PT
Indiana vs. No. 23 California - 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT
CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION
Washington: The No. 8 ranked Washington Huskies, who appeared in the NCAA Super Regionals last year, are off to an 11-2 start, including wins against then No. 2 Auburn and defending national champions No. 1 Oklahoma. Washington ranks 21st in the nation with an average of 6.77 runs per game, while sitting at 24th nationally with a .339 batting average. The strong defense of the Huskies is ranked sixth in the country with a .986 fielding percentage. Washington has seven every day hitters batting above .300. Taran Alvelo leads the Huskies' pitching staff with a 2.04 ERA and a 7-0 record in 48.0 innings pitched.
Friday's game will be just the third time Indiana and Washington have played with each team picking up a victory. The last meeting resulted in a 10-0 Washington win in 1996.
Fresno State: For the second time this season, Indiana will face off against Fresno State after also playing the Bulldogs in the season-opening Kajikawa Classic. The Bulldogs are heading into the weekend 10-6, going 4-2 last weekend at the Fresno State Invitational. As a team, Fresno State is hitting .292 with an ERA of 3.18. Savannah McHellon has knocked three homers this season and is batting .351. In the circle, Kamalani Dung leads the way with a 1.68 ERA and 7-3 record in 58.1 innings.
Fresno State has won all six previous meetings, including the 2-0 victory in Tempe on Feb. 10.
South Carolina: Another familiar opponent this weekend is South Carolina, who Indiana faced on Feb. 17 in the Texas Invitational. The teams were slated to play twice but the second game was cancelled due to a travel curfew. The Gamecocks are hitting .300 as a team, led by Krystan White's .425 average with 17 hits, 14 RBI and 11 runs. The pitching is averaging an impressive 1.36 ERA with every single pitcher in the rotation is logging an ERA of 1.48 or better while registering eight shutouts on the season.
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series, 11-6-1. South Carolina received seven votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
Long Beach State: The 49ers sit at a 5-6-1 record after going 1-3 in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic last weekend. Long Beach State is hitting .228 with a team ERA of 4.31. Aniesa Maulupe has paced the offense with a .333 average, 10 hits and 10 RBI. Christina Clermont has seen the most time, registering a 2.46 ERA with a 4-2 record in 37.0 innings of work.
Sunday will mark the fourth time the teams have met and the first since 2002. Long Beach State has won every matchup.
California: The Golden Bears are a near-perfect 13-1 with the only loss coming against North Carolina on Feb. 11. Since then, California has won 10 straight games. The Golden Bears are hitting an impressive .318 as a team, led by six players who have registered double-digit hit totals this year. Lindsay Rood is pacing the bats with a .462 average, 20 runs and 18 hits. Zoe Conley leads the pitching staff, tossing 58.0 innings with a 6-1 record and 2.17 ERA,
Indiana and California have played eight times previously with the Golden Bears winning every game. Last season, the Hoosiers dropped a tough 7-6 decision in Tempe, Ariz.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hoosiers visited Birmingham, Ala. last weekend for the Samford/UAB Tournament. The Hoosiers went 4-1 in the event, picking up two wins against UAB and a victory against Iowa State and Murray State. The lone IU loss came against Samford.
GOODIN NAMED BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Following a no-hitter against UAB and a 3-1 overall record in the Samford/UAB Tournament, freshman Emily Goodin was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Goodin registered a 0.88 ERA in 16.0 innings of work over the weekend, allowing just seven combined hits and two walks with two earned runs. The Evansville native struck out 10 and made a pair of starts in Birmingham.
On Friday against UAB, Goodin retired all but two batters faced in the no-hitter, the first for Indiana since Tara Trainer's on March 12, 2016. The righty tossed five strikeouts in the outing, which was also her first complete game of her career.
Goodin earned a pair of victories on Sunday, both coming in relief appearances as the Hoosiers defeated Murray State and UAB. Against the Racers, Goodin went 3.0 scoreless innings in Indiana's 6-4 comeback win. In her second victory versus the Blazers of the tournament, Goodin again went 3.0 scoreless innings, surrendering just one hit and a walk.
MCDONOUGH'S BIG WEEKEND
Junior Aimilia McDonough put up a strong showing at the plate in Birmingham, batting .533 with 8 hits, 3 runs and 3 RBI. The St. Louis native knocked four doubles and a homer during the weekend and registered a team-best 15 total bases.
FINDING THE LONG BALL
After not recording a home run in the first eight games of the season, Indiana has knocked five in the last six. CaraMia Tsirigos has gone yard twice, while Nicole Lawvere, Erin Lehman and McDonough have each hit one.
TRAINER'S STRIKEOUT RANKINGS
Tara Trainer has 60 strikeouts on the year, good for 17th nationally and second in the Big Ten. In addition, her 9.6 strikeouts per game is 25th in the country and second 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, while another three received votes.
After the trip to Fullerton, Indiana travels to a tournament in Memphis, Tenn. before opening home play on March 18 in the Hoosier Classic. 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.
