Team 48: Celebrating a Special Season

6/10/2021 12:31:00 PM | Softball

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Led by eight seniors, the Indiana softball team provided plenty of highlights and memorable moments during the 2021 season.

"Our coaching staff is extremely proud of how our student-athletes competed this season, how they conducted themselves with great self-discipline through the covid year, how they cared for and celebrated each other, and they flat out got it done in the classroom," IU Head Coach Shonda Stanton said. "We are grateful for Scott Dolson and his team's leadership, our medical staff's efforts, and our entire pit crew's support and particularly our parents. Team 48 is an extraordinary group and it is a joy doing life with them."

The Hoosiers finished with a record of 25-19 and won or split nine of their 12 Big Ten series. They finished fifth in the Big Ten standings and just one game out of fourth.

In their doubleheader sweep over Wisconsin, the Hoosiers hit .333 and outscored Wisconsin 14-7 in two games. In a three-game sweep of Rutgers the Hoosiers stole 28 bases, including six in a game by Gabbi Jenkins.

The Hoosiers won three of four at Purdue with 33 hits in four games and outscored the Boilermakers 18-10. Coming back home the Hoosiers won three of four against Ohio State. The Indiana bats were hot as they tallied 42 hits and outscored the Buckeyes 24-11.

In the final two home series, the Hoosiers won seven of eight games. In a series win against Michigan State, Emily Goodin pitched 27 innings and gave up zero earned runs while allowing just one extra base hit.

The Hoosiers had a memorable senior weekend with a sweep against Penn State. Indiana hit .414 as a team and won the finale 17-0. Their 19 hits were the second most for a game since the 2000 season. Emily Goodin pitched 19 innings with a 0.47 era with 18 strikeouts.

The final weekend of the season the Hoosiers played Maryland and Goodin started the series by tossing her third career no-hitter to lead the Hoosiers to victory over the Terrapins. Bella Norton struck a base hit in the first game against Maryland to extend her hit streak to a season-best 14 games.

SCHOOL RECORDS/MILESTONES/ACCOLADES
• Gabbi Jenkins cemented her place in the Indiana softball record book. Jenkins broke a 25-year old record for career stolen bases and finished with 96 for her career. After totaling 14 doubles in her previous four seasons combined, Jenkins recorded 18 doubles in the 2021 season to establish a new program record for single season doubles.
• Emily Goodin dominated batters in the Big Ten all season long. She became the sixth-player in program history to reach 500 strikeouts. Goodin finished with 583 career strikeouts, which ranks as the fourth best in program history. Goodin pitched 618.2 career innings for Indiana. In her final season she posted a career best era of 2.09 with 173 strikeouts in 198 innings. Her 173 strikeouts rank as the 13^th best for a season in program history.
• Gabbi Jenkins earned Big Ten Player of the Week on April 20.
• Emily Goodin earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on May 11.
• Bella Norton earned Big Ten Player of the Week on May 11.

BIG TEN POSTSEASON AWARDS
• Gabbi Jenkins (First Team, Defensive Team, Sportsmanship Award)
• Grace Lorsung (First Team, Freshman Team)
• Emily Goodin (Second Team)
• Grayson Radcliffe (Second Team)
• Taylor Lambert (Defensive Team)

NFCA ALL-REGION AWARDS
• Gabbi Jenkins (Third Team)
• Emily Goodin (Third Team)
• Grayson Radcliffe (Third Team)
• Bella Norton (Third Team)
• The four honorees is the most for the Hoosiers since the 1994 season.

BIG TEN AND NCAA STAT LEADERS
• Emily Goodin ranked first in innings pitched at 198. Second on the list was 156.2.
• Emily Goodin ranked third in the conference in strikeouts (173).
• Emily Goodin ranked second in the conference in wins (18).
• Gabbi Jenkins ranked first in the Big Ten in doubles (18).
• Gabbi Jenkins ranked second in the Big Ten in stolen bases (24).
• Gabbi Jenkins ranked eighth in the conference in hits (48).
• Bella Norton ranked seventh in the conference in batting average (.348).
• As a team the Hoosiers had 95 stolen bases to lead the Big Ten. The next closest was Northwestern with 78. The Hoosiers ranked ninth among all NCAA DI teams in stolen bases per game at 2.16.

OFF THE FIELD/ACADEMIC SUCCESS
• Off the field the Hoosiers had great success. They had a combined team GPA of 3.69. 19 players had a GPA of 3.0 or higher, 17 had 3.5 or higher and three had a perfect 4.0 GPA.
• 12 players earned Academic All-Big Ten honors (Taylor Askland, Annika Baez, Juvia Davis, Desiree Dufek, Natalie Foor, Brittany Ford, Tutum Hayes, Gabbi Jenkins, Abby Meeks, Bella Norton, Grayson Radcliffe, Kate Rehberg).
• Brittany Ford and Juvia Davis earned IU Scholar Athlete of the Month honors.

PROGRAM OF EXCELLENCE AWARD
• Each year IU Athletics honor one of their 24 teams with the program of excellence award. The Program of Excellence Challenge allows teams to take advantage of all of the Excellence Academy resources not only for their own personal growth, but to also inspire a little insider competition between teams. There are opportunities to grow, learn, lead, support and serve – individually and as teams – upholding the Spirit of Indiana tenets and the department's goals for our students' individual journeys. This year IU softball won the award for the third straight year. Among other things they totaled 330 hours of community service this past year!

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