No. 16 IU Splits Day Two of Purple and Gold Challenge

Saturday, March 2

Baton Rouge, La.

1:00 PM

Indiana University

16-1

USC - Upstate

13-3

Indiana

USC Upstate

No. 16 IU Splits Day Two of Purple and Gold Challenge

3/2/2019 6:33:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (PDF) - USC Upstate Box Score (PDF) - Illinois State

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 16 Indiana Softball split the second day of the Purple and Gold Challenge, shutting out USC Upstate in game one, 2-0, before falling to Illinois State in game two, 3-0. The Hoosiers now stand at 16-2 on the season.

Game One: No. 16 Indiana 2, USC Upstate 0
KEY MOMENTS
• After getting a batter on with two outs in each of the first two innings, IU finally capitalized in the third as sophomore Grayson Radcliffe knocked a two-out double to right center to score sophomore Taylor Lambert, who reached on a walk.
• USC Upstate put together its biggest threat in the fifth after back-to-back singles and a stolen base put two in scoring position with no outs. Senior Tara Trainer forced a pop-up at second and collected a strikeout to put two away before a two-out walk to Sarah Price loaded the bases. However, the Hoosiers got out of danger as Trainer collected a grounder sent back to her for the final out.
• The Hoosiers tacked on another run in the sixth as sophomore Camryn Woodall sent a sacrifice fly to deep center to plate Radcliffe, who reached on a leadoff walk.
• One last rally came from the Spartans in the bottom of the sixth as a pair of Hoosier errors had Brittany Case on third with one out before Trainer sent the next two she faced down swinging.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Trainer tossed a complete game shutout, striking out seven and allowing just four hits in her 11^th win of the season. It was her third shutout of the year and the seventh complete game outing.
• Junior Bella Norton led IU at the plate with two hits, also drawing a walk.
• Indiana and USC Upstate will face off once again next week as the teams will battle on March 9 in Tampa, Fla.

Game Two: Illinois State 3, No. 16 Indiana 0
KEY MOMENTS
• The Redbirds jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, stringing together four hits, including an RBI single by Andrea Coursey and two-run single from Alyssa Wiebel.
• In the fourth, the Hoosiers put two on to lead off the inning as Radcliffe was hit by a pitch and Lacefield drew a walk. A flyout by Norton moved both runners into scoring position but they would be stranded.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Sophomore Emily Goodin had a solid relief outing in the circle, going 5.1 scoreless frames and striking out seven while allowing just two hits.
• Illinois State pitcher Morgan Day went all 7.0 innings against Indiana, collecting seven strikeouts.
• Norton picked up her fourth hit in the last three games on a double in the second. Lacefield also recorded a hit for the third straight game. Junior Gabbi Jenkins knocked the other IU hit on a single in the fifth.

HEAD COACH SHONDA STANTON
"Tara got us out of a couple of jams and our defense made some plays in game one. Offensively, Grayson and Bella clutched up and got the run support we needed against a good Upstate team. They're going to win a lot of ball games this year and we'll get to see them again in Tampa. I thought Bella saw the ball really well all day and we're really pleased with what we're getting out of her right now.

Game two, we obviously didn't get the start we wanted and offensively their pitcher did a great job of attacking the zone. We continued to chase pitches that were out of the zone and let the good pitches go that we needed to hunt. We just need to be better offensively, we lost that ball game because we didn't have enough quality at bats and we didn't have enough productive hard outs. We were easy outs at the plate. The great thing is we get another shot at them tomorrow and we want to come back out and finish the weekend strong."

UP NEXT
Indiana and Illinois State will face off again Sunday in a rematch with first pitch slated for 10 a.m. ET.