IU Splits Day One of Oklahoma Tournament

Friday, March 9

Norman, Okla.

1:00 PM ET

Indiana University

4-15

Illinois State

8-13

Illinois State

Indiana

3/9/2018 9:21:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (PDF) - Illinois State Box Score (PDF) - Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – Indiana Softball split day one of the Oklahoma Tournament, defeating Illinois State, 5-2, before falling to No. 5 Oklahoma, 9-3.

The Hoosiers were led by an offensive outburst from freshman Maddie Westmoreland, who went a combined 4-for-6 with two homers and three RBI on the day.

"It's nice for a freshman to have that early success in an Indiana jersey," said head coach Shonda Stanton. "When you have that success, it builds confidence and it's nice to see her barrel up and go 'oppo' on a home run. That's tough to do in this game. She's seen the ball well the last couple weeks, that's why we moved her up in the lineup. She's hitting the ball hard and I like what we're seeing in her."

Indiana 5, Illinois State 2
Indiana opened play for the weekend with a victory behind a strong outing from junior Tara Trainer, who was tossing a no-hitter until the seventh inning. Trainer finished the day with five strikeouts and three hits in 6.1 innings of work.

At the plate, the Hoosiers saw Westmoreland and sophomore Bella Norton each collect a pair of hits, while senior Taylor Uden and junior Sarah Galovich had one hit. Galovich also had a team-high two runs.

The Hoosiers looked to jump up early as Westmoreland sent a two-out single to shortstop, followed by Uden reaching on a Redbird error. However, a groundout back to the pitcher stranded both.

Westmoreland didn't waste time starting another rally for Indiana as she led off the fourth inning with a solo homer that stayed just fair in right field. It marked her first career home run in a Hoosier uniform. Uden followed that up with a single up the middle before Galovich put two on with a single to right. After sophomore Katie Lacefield successfully moved the runners over on a sacrifice bunt, Norton sent a single to short to plate freshman Mykayla Ferrari, in running for Uden. A throwing error on a grounder from senior Rachel O'Malley gave enough time for Galovich to come home and extend the lead to 3-0. The final run of the frame came on an RBI groundout by freshman Taylor Lambert to score freshman Carolyn Kuhn, in running for Norton.

In the circle, after a two-out walk in the first, Trainer retired the next 10 Redbirds she saw in order before a fielding error on a fly ball to left allowed Riley Hale to reach second base in the fifth. She advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Trainer worked out of danger as she sent down the next three batters in order.

Indiana added an insurance run in the sixth, thanks to an RBI double from Norton. The frame started as pinch hitter freshman Annika Baez was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Galovich then re-entered at first before advancing to second on a groundout by senior Aimilia McDonough, setting the stage for Norton's double to right.

The Redbirds collected their first hit of the game in the seventh on a leadoff single by Riley Strandgard. A single by Alyssa Wiebel and a walk to Riley Phipps loaded the bases before Caitlyn Daly sent a two-run single to center. Sophomore Emily Goodin then entered the circle for the Hoosiers and got them out of further danger, earning the save and securing the 5-2 win.

"Great start from Trainer," said Stanton. "One thing we talked about is that competitive excellence and when you go into the seventh with a no-hitter, obviously your defense is doing some things well behind you too for us to get to that point. I would have liked to have seen us compete a bit better in the seventh to slam that door shut. But when you combine that solid start with strong defense and clutch hits, it was an all-around great performance in game one."

No. 5 Oklahoma 9, Indiana 3
In the nightcap against the Sooners, the Hoosiers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against the two-time defending national champions, before Oklahoma put up a five-run fourth inning to secure the win.

The three runs scored by the Hoosiers is tied for the second-most the Sooner pitching staff has allowed this season and is the most allowed in a home game.

After Galovich was hit by a pitch with one away in the second, Lacefield reached on a shallow bloop single to left. A walk to O'Malley loaded the bases for Lambert, who earned a walk to bring in Galovich. Indiana looked to add on to the lead as Jenkins hit a long flyball to center, but it was brought in to leave the bags loaded.

After a quick 1-2-3 inning in the first, Oklahoma puts its first runner on in the second as Caleigh Clifton earned a walk. Clifton stole second before a fantastic grab at the wall by senior centerfielder Rebecca Blitz ended the inning.

The Hoosiers added on the lead in the third as Westmoreland knocked a solo homer to right center. Following the homer, Oklahoma pulled starting pitcher Paige Parker in favor of Mariah Lopez, who sent the next three Hoosiers down in order.

Oklahoma responded in the bottom of the third, plating a trio of runs to take a 3-2 lead. After Lea Wodach walked and Nicole Mendes singled, a double steal put both runners in scoring position for Sydney Romero, who sent a sacrifice fly to center. Jocelyn Alo then sent a two-run shot deep to left to give the Sooners the advantage.

A five-run fourth inning extended the Oklahoma lead to 8-2 on the Sooners knocked four RBI singles in the frame, highlighted by a two-run single to right center by Romero. Kelsey Arnold, Mendes and Fale Aviu also brought in runs in the frame.

Indiana got one run back in the fifth on an RBI single by Westmoreland to bring in Jenkins. Jenkins and Blitz knocked back-to-back out singles before Jenkins stole third to put runners on the corners for Westmoreland.

An RBI single to right by Alo scored Mendes, who reached on a Hoosier fielding error, to push the lead back up to 9-3.

"I was pleased that we came out and set the tone early that we were going to show up and compete," said Stanton. "How you do that is draw walks, add timely hitting and those are the little moments we are trying to catalogue so when we get to Big Ten play, we can go back and show those highlights to pinpoint what we did well in certain situations. You build those moments and you keep building those moments and all the sudden, you put a game together. I like the progress we're having in this process. I felt we got better today."

The Hoosiers return to action tomorrow as they once again face off against Illinois State. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. ET.