Indiana University
Michigan State
IU Returns Home to Host Michigan State
3/28/2019 4:05:00 PM | Softball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Softball (25-10), who received 22 votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, returns home to Andy Mohr Field this weekend as the Hoosiers resume Big Ten action by hosting Michigan State (11-18). Due to the projected weather forecast, first pitch of the series has now been moved up to Friday at 1 p.m. Admission to all regular season home games is free of charge.
Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed on BTN Plus. Sunday's game marks the first of four nationally televised contests of the season for Indiana as Big Ten Network will carry the match-up with Dean Linke and Jennie Ritter on the call.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State opened conference play last weekend by playing host to Penn State. The Spartans took the series opener against the Nittany Lions before falling in the final two games. Indiana and Michigan State have played three common opponents already this season - Saint Francis (MSU won both meetings), Mercer (MSU won both meetings) and Louisville (MSU lost, 14-1). The Spartans are batting .274 as a team with five hitting .300 or better led by Ebonee Echols (.360, 27 hits, 21 RBI) and Katie Quinlan (.357, 30 hits, 20 runs). Michigan State's team ERA stands at 4.31 with Alli Walker (3.45 ERA, 6-5, 71.0 IP) carrying most of the innings. Jordan Watson (4.30 ERA, 1-3, 40.2 IP) and McKenna Gregory (4.97 ERA, 3-6, 49.1 IP) have also seen a lot of time in the circle.
Indiana leads the all-time series, 68-58. Last season, the Hoosiers swept the Spartans in East Lansing. Gabbi Jenkins batted .500 in the series with five hits and four runs while Maddie Westmoreland went .455 at the plate with five hits. Tara Trainer earned two of the wins with a 1.50 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 14.0 innings. Emily Goodin earned the other win as went 5.2 innings with a 1.24 ERA.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana fell in a midweek contest to Louisville on Tuesday evening, 5-2. Sophomore Taylor Lambert knocked an RBI triple in the game while sophomore Grayson Radcliffe collected her fourth home run of the season.
The Hoosiers opened Big Ten play last weekend, dropping all three games of the series to Ohio State.
NON-CONFERENCE WRAP-UP
Indiana wrapped up non-conference action against Louisville as the Hoosiers went 25-7 in that stretch of the schedule, the best regular season non-conference mark since 1986 (26-7). Highlights of the non-conference slate include:
• Breaking the record for the best start in program history, going 14-0 to begin the 2019 campaign. The mark bested the 1990 team's 11-0 start.
• That 14-game winning streak was the longest for the program since the 2011 squad put together a 15-game streak from April 9 to May 7 and stands as the fifth-longest winning streak in school history.
• For the first time in Indiana history, the Hoosiers defeated two top-10 teams in one season. IU bested then-No. 6 Georgia, 6-4, on Feb. 10 before defeating then-No. 10 LSU in Baton Rouge on March 1, 7-3.
• IU knocked seven home runs during the Hoosier Classic, including five in the final two games on Sunday. Freshman Juvia Davis went yard twice in Indiana's 13-6 win against Saint Francis, including a grand slam on her first career homer. Sophomore Grayson Radcliffe also knocked a grand slam against the Red Flash.
NEWS AND NOTES
• The Hoosiers checked in at No. 34 in this week's NCAA RPI.
• Indiana's streak of being ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll came to an end at six weeks, however the Hoosiers did pick up 22 votes.
• IU remain ranked by Fastpitch News, who put the Hoosiers in the 23rd spot.
• The Hoosiers are taking over the NCAA Softball Instagram account this Friday. Follow along at @NCAASoftball.
• Approximately 200 extra seats were added to Andy Mohr Field since the Hoosier Classic. The new bleachers are on the concourse level down the first base line.
• Junior Gabbi Jenkins is currently leading the Hoosier bats with a .320 average and 31 hits, which is tied with sophomore Taylor Lambert for the team high. She collected a season-high three hits on Saturday at Ohio State and has at least one hit in 12 of the last 15 games.
• Jenkins has stolen 13 bases this season, bringing her career total to 52, which is tied with Jenny McDaniel (1985-88) for sixth-most in Indiana program history.
• The bat of sophomore Annika Baez has also been hot lately as she has eight hits over the last six games, including three home runs. Against Ohio State on Friday, she tied her career high with three RBI as she put up three hits in the contest. Her solo home run against the Buckeyes marked the third straight game with a home run and a stretch of four in five games. Baez now leads the team in long balls this season with six.
• Sophomore Maddie Westmoreland currently has a four-game hitting streak going, as well as a six-game reached base streak.
• Indiana has stolen 90 bases this season, more than double any other Big Ten program as Rutgers has the second-most with 43. The Hoosiers are third in the nation in total stolen bases and rank eighth with a 2.57 stolen bases per game average. In addition, the 90 stolen bases in a single season already ranks fourth all-time in Indiana history. Sophomores Taylor Lambert and Makayla Ferrari both lead the Hoosiers with 17 stolen bags apiece.
• Friday's loss to Ohio State was the first time this season the Hoosiers have dropped a game when leading after the fifth inning. For the season, Indiana is now 19-1 when leading after five. The Hoosiers remain a perfect 21-0 when leading after six frames.
• Senior Tara Trainer is currently tied with Louisiana's Summer Ellyson for the most victories in the country with 18. In addition, her 157 strikeouts is good for third in the country.
• Trainer's 157 strikeouts this season ranks 14th most in a single season at Indiana. Trainer now owns four of the top 14 spots in the record book for single season strikeouts. Her 729 career strikeouts continues to stand as the second-most in program history.
• Trainer has made 140 appearances in her IU career, which is good for fifth all-time. In addition, her 117 games started is fourth all-time while her 60 career victories is also fourth.
• Junior Emily Goodin and redshirt junior Josie Wood both had productive outings in Columbus. Goodin went 10.0 innings over the weekend, striking out 10 and collecting a 1.40 ERA. Wood came in to Sunday's game in a relief outing, tossing 2.2 hitless frames and allowing just one baserunner. Goodin returned to the circle Tuesday against Louisville, going 3.0 innings in relief and allowing just one run with four strikeouts.
