Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Softball Heads to Florida
2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Louisville Slugger Tournament Notes in PDF Format
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Feb. 23, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana softball team is set to participate in its second tournament in as many weekends, traveling to Tampa, Fla., for the Louisville Slugger Invitational Feb. 24-26. The tournament, hosted by the University of South Florida, will feature Kent State, Siena and South Florida. The Hoosiers are coming off a 0-1-1 weekend at the OU/Nike Classic (2/17-19) where they faced No. 10/13 Oklahoma. Due to cold weather, the Hoosiers played only two games instead of six at the event.
HEAD COACH Stacey Phillips PREVIEW
"It felt great to have the offensive output that we had in our first two games of the season," Phillips said. "The weather was a factor, but I take nothing away from the hard work of the players and staff during the offseason. This weekend, it will be very important for us to keep things under control. We also want our pitchers to go out and experience success in wins. They both pitched very well in our first two games and that cannot be shown through stats. I am very proud of their start. I feel like Mariangee and Megan can go out in any game against anyone and really do a nice job. The weekend's tournament features three teams with a lot of talent and we are ready to get things underway. At this point in the season, it does not matter who we play, our team is just ready to get out and play some games. "
SOUTH FLORIDA PREVIEW
Tournament host South Florida is 7-4 on the young season. Ninth-year head coach Ken Eriksen has accumulated a 415-214-1 record during his tenure and leads the Bulls into the BIG EAST Conference this season. USF went 42-28 last season and finished fourth in Conference USA with a 15-9 record.
South Florida returns 11 starters from last season's 40-plus win team, lost four letterwinners and bring in a talented group of nine newcomers.
In 2006, USF is led by the bat of Kattrina Dowd who is hitting .593 this season with five runs, 16 hits, three doubles and three RBI. Cristi Ecks leads the USF pitching staff with a 0.75 ERA and a 3-2 record across 28 innings of work.
KENT STATE PREVIEW
Kent State dropped its first three games of the season to Kentucky. Head coach Karen Linder (448-399-1) is in her 10th season with the Golden Flashes and her 21st year overall as a head coach. Kent State went 27-20 last year, compiling a 15-6 record in the Mid-American Conference to finish first.
Ashley Fairhurst paces the Golden Flashes with a .429 batting, posting one run, three hits, one double and bringing in one RBI. Brittney Robinson carries the pitcher's duties for KSU, fanning 16 batters in just two appearances and 11 2/3 innings of work. Robinson also owns a 0-1 record on the young season and boasts a 3.09 ERA.
Kent State opened the season with a rocky 9-0 loss to Kentucky, followed by a stronger performance in games two and three, falling 2-1 and 10-3, respectively.
Indiana owns a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series with Kent State.
SIENA PREVIEW
This is Siena's season opener. The Saints were 22-27 overall and 7-9 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last season. are coming off a 22-27 season where they finished sixth with a 7-9 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2005. Siena is led by fourth-year head coach Peejay Burn who is 50-83-1 in her career. The Saints' top returner is senior hurler Tara Campbell who struck out 114 batters last season, went 8-12 and finished the year with a 2.75 ERA.
This is the first meeting between Indiana and Siena.
OU/NIKE CLASSIC RECAP
The Indiana softball team opened its season at the OU/Nike Classic with a downpour of offense, hitting six homers, out-hitting Oklahoma 30-21 and scored a combined 19 runs to go 0-1-1 in a doubleheader against No. 10/13 Oklahoma on Feb. 17. With the loss and tie, Oklahoma moved to 9-1-1 on the season.
Oklahoma prevailed in the first game of the doubleheader 10-8, despite a late-game run from the Hoosiers in the fifth where IU scored five runs to close the gap.
Indiana responded in the second game to open the contest 2-0 after two innings. The Sooners continued to apply the pressure and took an 11-8 lead into the top of the seventh. A three-run homer from senior right fielder Lauren Hines tied the ballgame at 11. Due to cold weather, the game was ended at the bottom of the seventh after Indiana dispatched of Oklahoma's first three batters to close out regulation.
Seniors designated player/pitcher Mariangee Bogado and Hines led the IU offensive onslaught, combining for three homers and 10 hits. Both seniors notched a home run on their first at bats this season.
In the circle, senior Megan Roark started for Indiana in game one, striking out three in five innings of action. Bogado closed out the pitching duties for IU, fanning three in the first game through two innings of work before striking out 12 in the second game. Bogado allowed a two-game total of 11 hits by the Sooners, while Indiana tabbed 18 hits alone in the second game.
DEBUT AT BATS
Seniors pitcher Mariangee Bogado and right fielder Lauren Hines had no first at bat jitters in their first game of the season against No. 10/13 Oklahoma on Feb. 17. Both Hoosiers tallied their first home runs of the season at their first appearances at the plate in 2006.
Bogado served as the first Hoosier in 2006 to chart a home run, knocking the long ball out past the right field fence to put the Hoosiers on the board against the Sooners, 3-1. Hines then stepped to the plate as the fourth batter in the lineup, sending her first homer out into center field to bring in sophomore Jennilee Huddleston, who reached base on a single. The rocket tied the game at 3-3.
