Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Travels to Minneapolis
4/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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April 27, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - The Indiana softball team will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for its two-game series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on April 28-29 at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. The Hoosiers open an abbreviated Big Ten slate, as they will take Sunday off from doubleheader action this week before ending the regular season against Purdue May 6-7. Indiana is set to meet the Gophers on the diamond at 7 p.m. (EST) on Friday before closing the series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. (EST) contest.
MINNESOTA PREVIEW
Minnesota brings a 14-29 record into the games with the Hoosiers.
Lisa Bernstein is in her 16th year with the Golden Gophers, accumulating a record of 502-373-2.
Megan Higginbotham heads the offensive charge for Minnesota with a .296 batting average. Colleen Conway holds the team's second-best average with a .237 clip. Brianna Hassett shoulders the pitching duties for UM with a 2.75 ERA in 29 appearances.
The series is tied at 39, while Minnesota tied the series in 2005, winning both meetings.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Indiana used solid pitching performances by senior hurlers Mariangee Bogado and Megan Roark, as the Hoosiers registered back-to-back shutout victories over Ball State and Indiana State.
Against Ball State, Indiana was paced by Roark with eight strikeouts, while junior center fielder Kim Richards went 2-for-3 from the plate. The effort pushed IU over Ball State, 2-0.
Two days later, Bogado turned in a record-setting performance as she retired 22 against Indiana State to mark the second-most batters fanned in a game by a Hoosier in school history. Bogado owns the all-time record of 23 set earlier this season against South Florida. The outing, coupled with a one-hitter, held the Sycamores scoreless, while Indiana needed 11 innings to score the game-winning run to claim a 1-0 victory.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Indiana returns to the diamond on May 6 when it hosts Purdue at the IU Softball Field. IU then travels to West Lafayette, Ind., to face the Boilermakers for the second game of the series on May 7.
LATEST FROM THE BIG TEN
Junior first base man Rachel Terry earned her first Big Ten Player of the Week laurel for the week ending April 23.
Terry helped lead the Hoosiers to a 3-1 record in Big Ten action against league foes Wisconsin and Iowa.
The Palatine, Ind., native earned the selection after leading the Hoosiers to a 4-2 record over the past week, and a 3-1 mark in Big Ten games. IU's league victories came courtesy of a sweep over Wisconsin, while the Hoosiers split with Iowa.
Terry tallied a .526 batting average (10-for-19) through six games of action, and registered two home runs, a double, five runs and 10 RBI en route to a .895 slugging percentage. Against Iowa, Terry recorded the game-ending home run to seal a run-rule 12-4 victory over the Hawkeyes. She also helped Indiana set an all-time record for long balls in a season with 37, eclipsing the previous high of 35 set by the 2004 Hoosiers.
Terry had two-or-more hits in four out of the six games, including a 2-for-2 performance against IPFW and a 3-for-4 effort in the first game against Iowa.
Terry joins senior pitcher Mariangee Bogado on the list of 2006 Hoosiers to earn the Big Ten's weekly awards, as Bogado as twice earned the nod this season.
Indiana is currently tied for second with Michigan with the second-most awards this season, while Northwestern leads the conference with eight selections.
HITTING ZONE
One of IU's top goals since the beginning of the season was to improve its offensive output. The Hoosiers have accomplished that and more with a .264 batting average on the season and a .239 ledger in conference games.
The 2006 Hoosiers also have managed to record the best batting average in nine years. The last time the Hoosiers had above a .264 came in 1997 when they registered a .293 clip.
BOWLING `STRIKES'
Senior pitcher Mariangee Bogado has posted a team-leading 260 strikeouts on the season. The feat is the most fanned batters for a Hoosier since Gina Ugo (1993-96) punched out 273 in 1996.
Previous to that effort, IU Hall of Famer Amy Unterbrink (1983-86) registered 298 in 1984 and 370 in 1986 for the school record. Currently, Bogado's season count ranks fourth in IU's all-time single season strikeouts list.
BEST IN THE BUSINESS
Senior right fielder Lauren Hines is well on her way to posting the best batting average in the last nine years.
Currently, the Hoosier owns a .423 clip, just below Monica Armendarez's (1995-98) season mark of a .437 in 1997. If the season ended today, the senior would finish with the third-best mark in a season, and the best average since Stormy Hanson registered a .382 clip in 2003.
STEP UP TO THE PLATE
The Indiana pitching staff has prided itself on being one of the best in the Big Ten. Not only have senior pitchers Mariangee Bogado and Megan Roark and junior hurler Christy Wahl done that, they have combined to be one of the best contingents in IU history.
The threesome has allowed only 245 hits on the season, which ranks fifth all-time in the IU record book for a season.
