Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Faces Louisville In Midweek Matchup
4/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 22, 2014
| Louisville- April 23 - Andy Mohr Field | |
| Date | April 23, 2014 |
| Location | Bloomington, Ind. |
| Game | Indiana vs. Louisville • 6 p.m. ET (GameTracker) |
| Promotion | Bucceto's Giveaway |
| Radio | Free Audio |
| Social Media | Twitter | Facebook |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana softball team returns home for a mid-week, non-conference tilt with Louisville tomorrow, April 23 at Andy Mohr Field. First pitch between the Hoosiers and Cardinals is slated for 6 p.m. ET. Live audio and GameTracker will be available for tomorrow's contest. Wednesday's game will feature a $100 Bucceto's Giveaway for fans as well as other prizes, so be sure to sign up at the marketing table during the game.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Indiana will face Louisville for the just the 16th time in program history and the first time at the newly contstructed Andy Mohr Field. The Cardinals own a 13-2 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 2001, taking the last 10-consecutive meetings. The two programs previously met last season at Ulmer Stadium in Louisville where the Hoosiers fell 4-1 to the then 11th-ranked Cardinals. Senior Amanda Wagner drove in the Cream and Crimson's lone run on a solo shot, while Kassi Farmer went 2-for-3 in the contest.
LOOKING AT THE CARDINALS
Louisville will head to Bloomington with a 28-17 record on the year under 15-year head coach Sandy Pearsall. The Cardinals are 9-6 in the American Athletic Conference, good for third in conference standings.
Louisville's lineup has posted a team batting average of .297 and features six players hitting above .300 on the year. Katie Keller paces the Cardinal's offense in batting average (.398), hits (53), triples (2), doubles (15), runs (38), and on-base percentage (.515).
The Cardinals' pitching staff has combined for a 2.78 earned run average in 294.1 innings pitched. Maryssa Becker has taken on a majority of the team's innings in the circle, tossing 120.1 with 116 strikeouts. She also leads the staff with a 1.80 ERA and has held opponents to a .211 clip.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hoosiers wrapped up a three-game series at No. 25 Northwestern last weekend. Indiana suffered a series sweep against the Wildcats, but threated in the final two games of the weekend. In Saturday's contest, the Hoosiers were within striking distance in the top of the seventh with a runner on and the tying run at the plate, but a ground ball out would finalize the 4-2 score. Sunday's game featured another close call in late innings. After trailing 2-0 in the fifth, Shelby Gogreve cut the Wildcat's lead in half with an RBI-triple to right-center field before squeeze bunt by Kelsey Dotson tied the game at two. Northwestern looked to break the game open in the bottom of the sixth with a bases loaded single to shallow left field, but Jenna Abraham made a run-saving, diving catch in left to preserve the tie score into the seventh. Indiana nearly took the lead in the following inning. A single to center waved Gogreve around from second base; however, a perfect throw home beat her there for the final out of the inning. Northwestern would eventually comeback to plate the game-winner in the seventh to take the series finale, 3-2.
GET ON BASE
Brianna Meyer has been impressive as of late. The junior has strung together a 17-game streak of reaching base after finding her way on base in every contest since March 28 - the longest stretch since teammate Shannon Cawley strung together a 17-game reached base streak during the 2012 campaign. During Meyer's 17-game span, she has hit .353 (18-for-51) with hits in all but five contents. She has also drawn 12 walks and driven in nine RBI.
IN GOOD COMPANY
With her first hit against Penn State on April 11, redshirt senior Breanna Saucedo earned her 200th career hit, making her just one of five IU softball players to earn 200-or-more hits in a career. She currently has 208, putting her fifth on the all-time list. She needs just six more to tie her for fourth all-time (Aimee Lonigro had 214 from 1994-97). Saucedo is also tied for fourth in runs scored, matching Marjie Ledgerwood's 102 runs from 1987-90, and is only three stolen bases shy of tying for the sixth-most in program history (Julia Hamilton- 51 from 2005-08).
SOFTBALL ADDS HOME GAMES
The Hoosiers will add home games to its 2014 slate on Wednesday, April 30 when the Hoosiers host Valparaiso at Andy Mohr Field. The 4 p.m. doubleheader will open with the conclusion of the two team's rain-suspended matchup from March 1 at the Wildcat Invite in Tuscon, Ariz. The Hoosiers are will resume play with a 5-0 lead in the top of the ffith inning and a runner on third with two outs.
Game two of that twinbill be start approximately 20 minutes following the conclusion of game one.
