Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Set for Big Ten Tournament
5/6/2015 2:33:00 PM | Softball
| 2015 Big Ten Softball Tournament | |
| Date | May 7-9 |
| Location | Buckeye Field • Columbus, Ohio |
| Round 1 (Thursday) | #11 Indiana (17-38, 7-14 B1G) vs. #6 Ohio State (29-21, 12-11 B1G) |
| Time | 5:30 p.m. ET |
| Television | Big Ten Network |
| GameTracker | Live Stats |
| Listen Live | IUHoosiers.com with Will Chukerman |
| Game Notes | Indiana | Ohio State |
| Social Media | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -The Hoosiers head back to Columbus, Ohio this week for the 2015 Big Ten Tournament. No. 11-seeded Indiana will face No. 6 Ohio State in a rematch of last weekend's regular season finale in Columbus.
| Indiana | 3 |
| Ohio State | 6 |
Columbus, Ohio
| Indiana Falls in Regular Season Finale, 6-3 Despite a pair of home runs by freshman Rachel O'Malley and junior Kelsey Dotson, the Indiana softball team dropped its final regular season game of the year to Ohio State on Sunday, 6-3. |
The winner of Thursday's game between the Hoosiers and the Buckeyes will take on No. 3-seeded Nebraska on Friday at 5:30 p.m. All games of this year's Tournament will be played at Buckeye Field.
Stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com and @IUSoftball for all the latest news and info from the Big Ten Tournament.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
Indiana has earned the 11 seed in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament, earning a tie-break against No. 12 Purdue due to more victories against the tournament field. The top 12 teams are invited to participate in the tournament.
The single elimination tournament begins Thursday, May 7 and runs until Saturday, May 9. The top four seeds have earned a bye for the first round and will see the first action of the weekend on Friday. All games of the Big Ten Tournament will be played at Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
INDIANA IN THE TOURNAMENT
• The Hoosiers will play in the Big Ten Softball tournament for the second straight season and the fifth time in program history.
• The Cream and Crimson are 3-6 at the tournament with its most recent outing in 2014 when the No. 11
seed Hoosiers fell to No. 6 Purdue, 4-2.
• This marks the is the second consecutive year the Hoosiers have earned the 11 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
• No. 4 (1996) seed highest in B1G Tournament history, 12th lowest (2013)
• This is the second time Indiana has faced Ohio State in the tournament with the last meeting resulting in a 3-2 Buckeye win in 1982 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
•The winner of Indiana vs. Ohio State will face No. 3-seeded Nebraska on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
OS-U AGAIN
Indiana will face off against Ohio State just four days after completing a three-game set against the Buckeyes in Columbus. Ohio State took all three games of the series, 7-0, 17-2 and 6-3. Freshmen Rachel O'Malley andRebecca Blitz each recorded three hits in the series.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
After dropping the first four conference games of the season, Ohio State responded with a 12-7 mark since March 27 loss against Maryland. In addition to Indiana, the Buckeyes have taken series from Maryland, Rutgers and Michigan State, who they swept in East Lansing.
Ohio State's offense has 11 different players batting above .300, led by a .392 average by Erika Leonard. Seven Buckeyes have recorded at least 40 hits with Caitlin Conrad sitting at 66 on the year. With 70 long balls, Ohio State sits in third place in the conference in home runs. Maddy McIntyre and Conrad have each hit 14 homers.
Olivia O'Reilly has the most appearances in the circle with 34, including 29 starts. O'Reilly has a 4.28 ERA with a 14-9 mark. Shelby Hursh (30 appearances, 5.44 ERA, 6-4) and Lena Springer (26 appearances, 6.45 ERA, 7-5) have also seen a lot of time in the rotation.
Last weekend against Indiana, OSU hit eight home runs, including three from Anna Kirk, a pair from both Conrad and Leonard and a shot by Alex Bayne.
HOMERING HOOSIERS
With a pair of home runs in Sunday's game at Ohio State, the Hoosiers have now recorded multi-home run games 16 times this year.
The Hoosiers now sit at a school-record 51 homers on the year. CaraMia Tsirigos' grand slam on April 11 at Penn State set a new program single-season record for home runs with 41. The previous high of 40 was set back in 2006.
Led by Dotson's 14 home runs, 10 different Hoosiers have homered this season. With a first-career grand slam by Huber in game two against Michigan State, the Hoosiers have now recorded six bases-loaded homers this season. Dotson, Conenna, Tsirigos and Shannon Cawley (2) have also smashed grand slams this year.
IMPRESSIVE HITTING
In addition to the program's home record, the 2015 Hoosiers sit near the top of numerous statistical categories, including ranking second in runs (281, record is 328), RBI (251, record is 278) and walks (189, record is 209). In addition, the team currently sits at seventh all-time in hits with 426.
DOTSON DIGGING IN
Kelsey Dotson, who homered in Sunday's finale at Ohio State, now sits just two home runs behind Michelle Venturella for the most Indiana homers in a season. Dotson has 14 on the year, which passed Monica Armendarez' 13 she hit in 1998.
Dotson has driven in a team-high 46 runs this season, which also moves her past Armendarez into third most in a single season. With 12 multi-RBI games and 16-multi hit games, Dotson also has an impressive team-best .687 slugging percentage.
In addition to home runs, Dotson has found a way to get on base any way she could this season. She carried a 31-game on-base streak that spanned from Feb. 19 to March 18, which is the longest in the last 10 years at Indiana and surpassed Bri Meyer's 25 game streak last season as the longest of an active player.
BLITZ ATTACK
Blitz is the lone Hoosier to start in all 55 games this season. The centerfielder not only makes spectacular plays in the outfield, she also gives the opponent's defense a tough assignment. The Birmingham, Ala. native leads the team with 58 base knocks and has scored 40 runs starting primarily in the lead-off spot.
Blitz is currently riding a three-game hitting streak and has recorded a base knock in eight out of the last nine contests dating back to the first game of the doubleheader against Purdue on April 22. The freshman has recorded at least one hit it 39 games and has not gone longer than two games without a hit all season.
With a .341 average, Blitz ranks fourth in the Big Ten in terms of freshmen batting average (min. 2 AB).
LEHMAN GETTING ON BASE
The sophomore has been on a tear lately, carrying a seven-game on-base streak into the Tournament. Lehman had a six-game hitting streak snapped at Ohio State, but has recorded a hit in 11 out of the last 14 games, including two 3-hit outings.
Media Contact: Caitlin Davis, davis288@indiana.edu
