Indiana University
Western Kentucky
IU Closes Out Homestand Against WKU
3/26/2018 5:28:00 PM | Softball
Admission to all home games is free of charge. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus via BTN2Go.
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
The Hilltoppers are 19-11 on the year and 3-3 in Conference USA action. WKU had the weekend off with its last game coming in the form of a 6-2 victory against Jacksonville State Thursday. The Hilltoppers are hitting .295 as a team, led by Paige Carter (.376, 32 hits, 28 RBI, 18 runs) and Jordan Thomas (.341, 28 hits, 12 RBI, 25 runs). In the circle, Kelsey Aikey (2.35, 6-2, 65.2 IP) and Shelby Nunn (3.03, 12-8, 94.2 IP) have carried most of the innings. The only common opponent between Indiana and WKU this season has been Green Bay. The Hilltoppers took two games against the Phoenix while Indiana split the two-game set.
WKU leads the all-time series against Indiana, 3-1. The teams last met in 2006 as they split a pair of games.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana opened Big Ten play over the weekend by sweeping a three-game series against No. 18 Ohio State. The Hoosiers took both games of Friday's doubleheader in commanding fashion, 6-0 and 9-3, and won the series finale Sunday, 4-1, as the Hoosiers outscored the Buckeyes, 19-4. The wins marked the first time since at least 2004 IU has defeated a ranked opponent three times in a single season.
IU SWEEPS BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARDS
For the first time since 1995, Indiana Softball swept the Big Ten Weekly Awards as freshman Maddie Westmoreland earned Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week and junior Tara Trainer earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday.
The Big Ten Freshman of the Week award was added in 2011 so it marks the first time in program history IU has won three weekly awards.
Westmoreland batted .429 with a 1.429 slugging percentage in the series, recording seven RBI with two home runs, three hits and two runs scored. She knocked a two-run homer and had a sacrifice fly while going 2-for-2 at the plate in Indiana's 6-0 win Friday. In the second game of the doubleheader, she hit a three-run homer and laid down an RBI sacrifice bunt to help IU defeat the Buckeyes, 9-3.
For the season, Westmoreland is hitting .342 with a team-leading 23 RBI and five home runs.
Trainer became the first Hoosier to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Week since Morgan Melloh in 2011 after earning two complete game victories against the Buckeyes. For the weekend, she collected a 0.50 ERA and struck out 21 total batters while allowing just two extra base hits. In game one, she two-hit Ohio State on her way to the shutout win, striking out 12. In Sunday's series finale, she surrendered just four hits and one earned run as IU clinched the sweep with a 4-1 win. Trainer, who won Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades three times in 2016, is third in the conference with 107 strikeouts on the season.
LACEFIELD'S B1G WEEKEND
• Another key factor in Indiana's success over the weekend was sophomore Katie Lacefield, who led the Hoosiers with a .500 average. She recorded four hits, scored three runs and registered her first career home run in game two.
HOOSIER QUICK HITS
• Senior Rachel O'Malley delivered a bases-clearing double in Sunday's game to secure Indiana's 4-1 win. O'Malley has collected seven hits over the last seven games, including a pair of multi-hit outings.
• Indiana stole 16 bases over the weekend and the Hoosiers now have 46 stolen bases on the year, the second-most in the Big Ten. Jenkins has 13 stolen bags, which is the second-most in the conference, while Blitz has 11.
• Junior Tara Trainer's 107 strikeouts this season is good for third-most in the Big Ten. The Lebanon, Ohio native has 463 strikeouts in her career, the sixth-most in IU program history:
Career Rankings:
1. Amy Unterbrink (1983-86) - 1089
2. Gina Ugo (1993-96) - 664
3. Megan Roark (2003-06) - 577
4. Mariangee Bogado (04-06) - 569
5. Morgan Melloh (2011) - 494
6. Tara Trainer (2016-pr.) - 463
• Senior Rebecca Blitz collected career hit No. 200 March 18th against UIC, becoming just the sixth member of the 200-plus hit club in IU program history. Blitz sets top-10 in nearly offensive career category at IU, including:
Hits:
1. Karleen Moore (1984-87) - 238
2. Michelle Venturella (1992-95) - 225
3. Monica Armendarez (95-98) - 222
4. Breanna Saucedo (2010-14) - 219
5. Aimee Lonigro (1994-97) - 214
6. Rebecca Blitz (2015-pr.) - 205
Stolen Bases:
1. Aimee Lonigro (1994-97) - 90
2. Karleen Moore (1984-87) - 83
3. Rebecca Blitz (2015-pr.) - 73
Runs Scored:
1. Aimee Lonigro (1994-97) - 156
2. Monica Armendarez (95-98) - 139
3. Michelle Venturella (1992-95) - 137
4. Karleen Moore (1984-87) - 119
5. Rebecca Blitz (2015-pr.) - 117
