Indiana University
Western Illinois University
Indiana Travels to Memphis This Weekend
3/9/2017 12:18:00 PM | Softball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Softball travels to Memphis, Tenn. this weekend for the UofM Softball Tournament. The Hoosiers will face off against Western Illinois, Lipscomb, Oakland, Memphis and Buffalo in the event, which will end a streak of five-straight road tournaments to start the year.
Live stats and a radio broadcast will be available on IUHoosiers.com. In addition, Saturday's game at Memphis will be available for streaming on GoTigersGo.com
CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION
Western Illinois: The Fighting Leathernecks are 6-11 on the year, but picked up two wins to end last weekend's Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Ill. Rachel Beatty leads the offense with 16 hits and 13 runs while Nina Maggio has 15 hits and 8 runs. Emily Ira (3.31 ERA, 2-6), Payton Abbott (4.85 ERA, 1-2) and Brooke Stulga (6.00 ERA, 3-3) make up the Western Illinois pitching staff.
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series, 17-8, with the last meeting resulting in an 11-8 IU win in the 2016 Indiana Classic.
Lipscomb: The Bisons are currently riding a 7-game win streak and have a 16-5 mark on the year. Caitlin Plocheck leads the bats with 28 hits and 15 runs. Mandy Jordan has seen the most time in the circle, grabbing a 10-2 record in 80.0 innings pitched.
Friday will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Oakland: Oakland has play just nine games thus far in 2017 and have a 6-3 record. Mikayela Marciniak has a team-best .370 average with 10 hits and 5 RBI. Kelsie Swanson has the second-most hits on the year with eight. In the circle, Erin Kownacki (0.93 ERA, 3-1), Kaley Waalkes (2.70 ERA, 2-1) and Haley Zemmer (5.02 ERA, 1-1) have split the most time. Kownacki has twice earned Horizon League Pitcher of the Week accolades this season.
This will be the first meeting between Indiana and Oakland.
Memphis: The Tigers are riding a five-game winning streak after sweeping the Blues City Classic in Memphis last weekend. At 9-7, Memphis' offense is paced by Lindsay Crowdus. who it batting .500 with 25 hits, 9 RBI and 8 runs. Kyler Tsoclair has also been a difference maker, hitting .447 with 17 hits and 10 runs. The Tigers have used five pitchers this season, with Christian Novak (3.71 ERA, 2-4, 34.0 IP), Molly Smith (2.24 ERA, 2-3, 25.0 IP) and Katie Brignac (0.98 ERA, 3-0, 21.1 IP) seeing the most time.
IU and Memphis have played just once, an 8-5 Indiana win in 2012.
Buffalo: The Bulls are 2-13 on the season with both wins coming against Hartford. Leandra Jew is batting .404 with 19 hits, 7 runs and 4 RBI. Gabby Keller and Janelle Martinez have each added 10 hits on the year. Ally Power (3.64 ERA, 1-3), Bobbi Langolis (5.69 ERA, 1-5) and Brieanna Baker (6.42 ERA, 0-5) have split time in the circle.
Indiana has won all five previous meetings with Buffalo, including taking three games in 2007.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hoosiers traveled to Cal State Fullerton last weekend for the Judi Garman Classic. Indiana dropped all five games, falling to No. 8 Washington, Fresno State, South Carolina, Long Beach State and No. 23 Cal.
JENKINS, LACEFIELD IMPRESS IN FULLERTON
Freshmen Gabbi Jenkins and Katie Lacefield put up impressive performances at the plate at the Judi Garman Classic. Jenkins hit .333 with a team-best five base knocks. She registered at least one hit in the first four games of the event. Lacefield batted .444 in Fullerton, leading the Hoosiers. She also added a run and an RBI and has now reached base in nine consecutive games dating back to Indiana's game against UAB on Feb. 24.
MCDONOUGH CONTINUES HOT HITTING
Junior Aimilia McDonough again had a big weekend at the plate for Indiana, batting .429 with 4 runs and 3 hits, including a home run, in Fullerton. All three of her hits came against No. 23 Cal on Sunday. Since Indiana's Feb. 18 game at Texas, McDonough has registered 12 base knocks in 10 games played. She is now hitting a team-best .433 on the season with 13 hits, 8 runs and 5 RBI. Her five doubles also leads the team, while her two homers is tied for the most for Indiana.
TRAINER'S STRIKEOUT RANKINGS
Tara Trainer has 70 strikeouts on the year, good for 32nd nationally and second in the Big Ten. In addition, her 8.6 strikeouts per game is 47th 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.
ALL HOME GAMES TO BE AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING
On Thursday it was announced that every home IU Softball game will be available through either BTN Plus of the Big Ten Network.
BTN Plus is a web subscription service available for a small monthly fee allowing users to stream games on BTN2Go.com.
The Big Ten Network will announce its selections for the broadcast schedule at a later date.
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 the trip to Memphis, Indiana opens 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.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Juliana Sherry will be the voice of Indiana Softball in 2017. A broadcast of every game will be available on IUHoosiers.com.
Stay up-to-date with the Hoosiers by following @IUSoftball on Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.
