Indiana University Athletics
Friday, February 16
Troy, Ala.
12:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Florida A&M
Indiana Softball to Compete in Troy Invitational
2/15/2024 6:00:00 PM | Softball
TROY, Ala. ––––– Indiana Softball will play in its second tournament of the season at the Troy Invitational over the weekend of Feb. 16-18.
In the tournament, Indiana will play two doubleheaders, with two games on Friday and Saturday and one on Sunday. The Hoosiers will face both Florida A&M and Troy twice, while playing Gardner-Webb once.
QUICK HITTERS
•With the game tied at 1-1, Benson hit a solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the seventh inning to lead the Hoosiers to a 2-1 win.
•In the NFCA Leadoff Classic, Minnick hit for a .467 batting average with with seven hits and six RBI. The junior went for six singles and one double. She also took one walk and logged eight total bases.
•Junior Bri Copeland had a fantastic first weekend, pitching in relief in a win over No. 15 Oregon and had eight strikeouts. The junior had another eight strikeout performance in a win and complete game against Kansas. She also threw in relief against No. 5 Clemson.
•Sophomore Sophie Kleiman earned the win against N.C. Central and had a good showing against Clemson. She had 10 total strikeouts in Clearwater and posted a 0.78 ERA.
• In three innings of work, senior Macy Montgomery only gave up two hits, struck out three and surrendered no runs.
•Junior Heather Johnson made two starts in two wins against No. 15 Oregon and Army. She earned the win against Army.
•Through the first five games, Bassett is hitting for a .368 batting average with two multi-hit games against No. 15 Oregon and No. 5 Clemson.
•In her first at-bat against Clemson, she hit a lead-off home run to put Indiana up 1-0 right off the bat.
• Each appeared in D1 Softball's Preseason Top 100 Rankings, more commonly called The D100.
• Copeland slotted in at No. 45 and Minnick was at No. 79 in the rankings from D1 Softball.
• Minnick also earned national acclaim from Softball America, claiming the No. 53 spot in their preseason rankings.
•Both Minnick and Copeland experienced breakthrough seasons as sophomores.
• Copeland was a stud in the circle and at the plate. She was the pitching staff's ace with a 22-4 record and 148 strikeouts.
• At the plate, she hit for a .318 batting average at the plate, logging a team-high 15 doubles and 14 home runs to go along with 48 RBI.
• Minnick brought a lot of offensive power to the team, she hit 14 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs and 55 RBI.
• The Bloomington, Ind. local reached base in 35 consecutive games in 2023.
• Minnick also ranked second in the conference in slugging percentage (.717) and OPS (1.239).
•The top-level play from the junior duo earned both of them NFCA Third Team All-American status in 2023 as sophomores.
• Indiana is the only Big Ten team that returns two All-Americans into the 2024 season.
• The group is spearheaded by four senior leaders in Cora Bassett, Aaliyah Andrews, Brooke Benson and Macy Montgomery.
• The junior class has five members in Sarah Stone, Bri Copeland, Kinsey Mitchell, Taylor Minnick and Heather Johnson.
• The sophomore class holds four players in Chloe Geijer, Avery Parker, Cassidy Kettleman and Sophie Kleiman.
• The freshmen are Aly VanBrandt, Ella Carter, Tristian Thompson, Savannah Oden and Alex Cooper.
• The season started in Clearwater, Fla. with the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Hoosiers will return to the Sunshine State in mid-March for a road contest at FAU and a tournament hosted by the University of Florida.
• Sandwiched between those, Indiana will play in the Troy Invitational this weekend, from Feb. 16-18, against host Troy, Gardner-Webb and Florida A&M.
• In the last weekend of February, Indiana heads west for the Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucscon, Ariz. facing Arizona, Central Michigan, Drake and Marshall.
•The class features Alex Cooper, Ella Carter, Savannah Oden, Tristian Thompson and Aly VanBrandt.
• Cooper and Oden are in-state kids, hailing from Mooresville and Nashville, Ind.
• Carter is from New York City, Thompson from Waco, Texas. and VanBrandt is an Ottawa Lake, Mich. native.
• VanBrandt was named 2023 Michigan Miss Softball after her senior season.
•Alex Cooper started in every game in the infield at either second or third base. Aly VanBrandt made two starts and played in four games.
•Tristian Thompson made three appearances and got two starts as the designated player. Ella Carter got two opportunities to pinch hit.
•Cooper, VanBrandt and Thompson all recorded their first hits of their college career. VanBrandt and Cooper each had a triple, too.
•Indiana will host the Hoosier Classic from March 1-3 and the Indiana Invite from March 8-10.
•The Hoosier Classic will pit Indiana in four games, playing Bowling Green and Valparaiso.
•The Indiana Invite will feature 12 total games in Bloomington amongst all participating teams.
•Indiana will play against Oakland, Dayton, IUPUI and Howard throughout the weekend.
In the tournament, Indiana will play two doubleheaders, with two games on Friday and Saturday and one on Sunday. The Hoosiers will face both Florida A&M and Troy twice, while playing Gardner-Webb once.
QUICK HITTERS
- Indiana posted a red-hot start to the 2024 campaign, going 4-1 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. It was the second year in a row that the team started the season in Clearwater, Fla. with that tournament.
- In its next outing, Indiana will play in the Troy Invitational in Troy, Ala. It'll be the first time facing off against the Trojans since 2014.
- The Hoosiers had their best season in 2023 since 2011, going 44-18 overall and 18-5 in conference play.
- In 2023, Indiana finished second in the Big Ten regular season standings and reached the Big Ten Tournament final before falling to No. 1-seed Northwestern, 2-1. The Hoosiers also reached their first NCAA Regional since 2011, falling in the Regional final.
- Indiana returns the bulk of their lineup from a season ago, only losing two positional mainstays and one member of the pitching staff.
- Indiana opened the season at the 2024 NFCA Leadoff Classic from Feb. 8-11 in Clearwater, Fla. The Hoosiers played to a 4-1 start.
- Indiana opened the season with a 7-5 win over No. 15 Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 8. The Hoosiers were led by junior Bri Copeland who dominated both at the plate and in the circle. She recorded a triple and a home run in her first two at-bats. She pitched in relief and dominated, throwing eight strikeouts and collecting the win.
- On Friday night, Indiana fell to No. 5 Clemson, 3-2, in a very close game. The Hoosiers tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth inning, but Clemson scored one more run in the fifth inning to edge the Hoosiers.
- On Saturday, Indiana went 2-0 in its doubleheader, topping Army, 11-3 (F/5) and Kansas, 2-1.
- In the final game of the weekend, Indiana shut out N.C. Central, 4-0, and only allowed three hits.
- In the Troy Invitational, Indiana will play against three different opponents in a five-game set for the weekend over the course of Feb. 16-18.
- Indiana will start with Florida A&M and Troy on Friday. On Saturday, it'll be Gardner-Webb and Troy again, before playing against Florida A&M for a second time on Sunday.
- Florida A&M is off to a difficult start to the season, posting an 0-5 mark in their opening weekend in Tallahasse, Fla. They lost to Florida State and Texas Tech twice, while also losing to Charlotte.
- Troy will play host for the second weekend in a row. Last weekend, Troy went 5-2 with wins over UT Martin, North Alabama and Samford, The Trojans also dropped games to North Alabama and Samford.
- Gardner-Webb enters the weekend with a 4-1 mark, owning wins against Delaware and ETSU and a loss to Youngstown State.
- Indiana's all-time records against their Troy Invitational opponents are found below:
- Florida A&M: 2-2, Gardner-Webb: 0-0, Troy: 2-1-1.
BENNY BOMBS
• Senior infielder Brooke Benson came through for the Hoosiers when they needed it most in their game against Kansas on Saturday, Feb. 10.•With the game tied at 1-1, Benson hit a solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the seventh inning to lead the Hoosiers to a 2-1 win.
MINNICK MANIA
• Junior Taylor Minnick picked up right where she left off from her All-American sophomore season in 2023.•In the NFCA Leadoff Classic, Minnick hit for a .467 batting average with with seven hits and six RBI. The junior went for six singles and one double. She also took one walk and logged eight total bases.
CONTROL IN THE CIRCLE
•Indiana's pitching staff had a very solid first weekend in Clearwater.•Junior Bri Copeland had a fantastic first weekend, pitching in relief in a win over No. 15 Oregon and had eight strikeouts. The junior had another eight strikeout performance in a win and complete game against Kansas. She also threw in relief against No. 5 Clemson.
•Sophomore Sophie Kleiman earned the win against N.C. Central and had a good showing against Clemson. She had 10 total strikeouts in Clearwater and posted a 0.78 ERA.
• In three innings of work, senior Macy Montgomery only gave up two hits, struck out three and surrendered no runs.
•Junior Heather Johnson made two starts in two wins against No. 15 Oregon and Army. She earned the win against Army.
LEADING IT OFF
•Indiana redshirt senior Cora Bassett has been a sparkplug in the Hoosier lineup, hitting leadoff in every game thus far.•Through the first five games, Bassett is hitting for a .368 batting average with two multi-hit games against No. 15 Oregon and No. 5 Clemson.
•In her first at-bat against Clemson, she hit a lead-off home run to put Indiana up 1-0 right off the bat.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
• Juniors Bri Copeland and Taylor Minnick both earned national acclaim entering the 2024 season.• Each appeared in D1 Softball's Preseason Top 100 Rankings, more commonly called The D100.
• Copeland slotted in at No. 45 and Minnick was at No. 79 in the rankings from D1 Softball.
• Minnick also earned national acclaim from Softball America, claiming the No. 53 spot in their preseason rankings.
•Both Minnick and Copeland experienced breakthrough seasons as sophomores.
• Copeland was a stud in the circle and at the plate. She was the pitching staff's ace with a 22-4 record and 148 strikeouts.
• At the plate, she hit for a .318 batting average at the plate, logging a team-high 15 doubles and 14 home runs to go along with 48 RBI.
• Minnick brought a lot of offensive power to the team, she hit 14 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs and 55 RBI.
• The Bloomington, Ind. local reached base in 35 consecutive games in 2023.
• Minnick also ranked second in the conference in slugging percentage (.717) and OPS (1.239).
•The top-level play from the junior duo earned both of them NFCA Third Team All-American status in 2023 as sophomores.
• Indiana is the only Big Ten team that returns two All-Americans into the 2024 season.
ROSTER BALANCE
• Indiana's 2024 roster features a nice mixture of young talent and a strong veteran presence. Of the 18 on the active roster, there is a mixture where each class has either four or five players.• The group is spearheaded by four senior leaders in Cora Bassett, Aaliyah Andrews, Brooke Benson and Macy Montgomery.
• The junior class has five members in Sarah Stone, Bri Copeland, Kinsey Mitchell, Taylor Minnick and Heather Johnson.
• The sophomore class holds four players in Chloe Geijer, Avery Parker, Cassidy Kettleman and Sophie Kleiman.
• The freshmen are Aly VanBrandt, Ella Carter, Tristian Thompson, Savannah Oden and Alex Cooper.
STAYING WARM
• For four of the team's non-conference weekends, Indiana will play in warm climates.• The season started in Clearwater, Fla. with the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Hoosiers will return to the Sunshine State in mid-March for a road contest at FAU and a tournament hosted by the University of Florida.
• Sandwiched between those, Indiana will play in the Troy Invitational this weekend, from Feb. 16-18, against host Troy, Gardner-Webb and Florida A&M.
• In the last weekend of February, Indiana heads west for the Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucscon, Ariz. facing Arizona, Central Michigan, Drake and Marshall.
51 YEARS
• Indiana Softball is celebrating 51 years as a varsity sport this season. In fall 2022, the program hosted a celebration, inviting alumni to celebrate 50 years of Indiana Softball and its storied history and bright future of the program.FAB FRESHMEN
• Indiana boasts five-woman freshmen class for the 2024 season.•The class features Alex Cooper, Ella Carter, Savannah Oden, Tristian Thompson and Aly VanBrandt.
• Cooper and Oden are in-state kids, hailing from Mooresville and Nashville, Ind.
• Carter is from New York City, Thompson from Waco, Texas. and VanBrandt is an Ottawa Lake, Mich. native.
• VanBrandt was named 2023 Michigan Miss Softball after her senior season.
HOOSIER DEBUTS
•Four of the five Indiana freshmen made their collegiate debuts in Clearwater.•Alex Cooper started in every game in the infield at either second or third base. Aly VanBrandt made two starts and played in four games.
•Tristian Thompson made three appearances and got two starts as the designated player. Ella Carter got two opportunities to pinch hit.
•Cooper, VanBrandt and Thompson all recorded their first hits of their college career. VanBrandt and Cooper each had a triple, too.
AWAITING ANDY MOHR FIELD
•After three weekends on the road to start the season, Indiana will get to host games at Andy Mohr Field in Bloomington for two weeks in a row.•Indiana will host the Hoosier Classic from March 1-3 and the Indiana Invite from March 8-10.
•The Hoosier Classic will pit Indiana in four games, playing Bowling Green and Valparaiso.
•The Indiana Invite will feature 12 total games in Bloomington amongst all participating teams.
•Indiana will play against Oakland, Dayton, IUPUI and Howard throughout the weekend.
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