Trainer's Career Night Leads to Day Two Split of Samford Invitational

Saturday, February 24

Birmingham, Ala.

2:30 PM ET

Indiana University

1-11

Lipscomb

9-2

Lipscomb

Indiana

Trainer's Career Night Leads to Day Two Split of Samford Invitational

2/24/2018 10:17:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (PDF) - Lipscomb Box Score (PDF) - Samford

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Behind a career-high 16 strikeouts from junior Tara Trainer against the Bulldogs, Indiana Softball split the final day of the Samford Invitational. The Hoosiers fell to Lipscomb, 3-1, before bouncing back to shut out Samford, 4-0.

"How about her? She was absolutely outstanding," said head coach Shonda Stanton. "She was on, she was sharp and you have such confidence as a team when you go out there. You saw everyone else making plays behind her. It was exciting to watch. As a coach, that's so fun to be able to watch a player go out there and compete like that."

Lipscomb 3, Indiana 1
Against Lipscomb, the Hoosiers jumped to an early 1-0 lead but couldn't hold on as the Lady Bisons scored the final three runs to earn the win.

After sophomore Katie Lacefield singled through the left side with one out in the second, she was brought home on a triple by junior Sarah Galovich. The triple was the first of Galovich's career.

Samford quickly answered as back-to-back doubles by Abby Fenichel and Sarah Higgins tied the game up at 1-1 in the third. A single back to sophomore Emily Goodin in the circle put runners on the corners, but the Hoosier defense turned a huge double play to limit the damage to just one run.

After a leadoff walk and Lipscomb single put two on with no outs, redshirt sophomore Josie Wood came in to pitch relief. Wood struck out the first two she saw, but Fenichel sent a double down the first base line to score both and extended the Lady Bisons' lead to 3-1.

The Hoosiers put a baserunner aboard in every inning of the game, including the leadoff in the final two frames, but Indiana couldn't capitalize.

Wood was very sharp in relief, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out five.

Indiana 4, Samford 0
The Hoosiers bounced back against Samford, led by Trainer, who two-hit Samford on the way to her 16 strikeouts. Her previous career high was 13, which she has achieved twice. In addition, the 16 strikeouts is the 10^th most in a single game in Indiana program history.

Trainer allowed just one walk in the game as the Bulldogs only put four runners on base, one of which reached on an error.

The Indiana offense struck in the second, sparked by Lacefield's single to left center to lead off the frame. After freshman Taylor Lambert came in to pinch run, she swiped second base before a wild pitch moved her to third. A sacrifice fly by Galovich brought her in and put Indiana up early, 1-0.

The Hoosiers tacked on another run in the next inning. With one out, senior Rachel O'Malley singled then advanced to second on a groundout. Senior Rebecca Blitz used her speed to beat the throw to put runners on the corners with two away. As the two attempted a double steal, the Samford catcher overthrew trying to get O'Malley, giving her enough time to score and make it 2-0.

Head's up base running paid off for Indiana in the fifth as freshman Carolyn Kuhn, in running for sophomore Bella Norton who singled to start off the frame, plated the third IU run. Kuhn reached second on a passed ball and as she went to steal third, took advantage of a Samford throwing error to come home.

Indiana plated its final run in the sixth to push the game further out of reach. Freshman Maddie Westmoreland singled to shortstop with one out, her second hit of the game. A double by Galovich then brought pinch runner Ferrari all the way home. A Samford fielding error put freshman Annika Baez aboard, followed by a walk to Norton to load the bases with one out. But a pair of pop-ups left the bases loaded.

After a Samford single in the sixth, Trainer retired the final six batters – fanning five of them – to preserve the win. It marked Trainer's first victory of the season in the circle.

Indiana continues its 23-road game swing next weekend as the Hoosiers travel to South Carolina for the Buffalo Wild Wings Classic. There, Indiana will play a pair of games against Furman and USC Upstate, as well as a single game against Delaware State.

"I'm excited to get back to work with this group this week and build on that momentum," said Stanton. "We have three more weekends to work hard, continue to get better and continue to make progress in this process before Big Ten. But we saw a lot of bright spots in this final game so I'm excited to build on that."