Indiana University Athletics
Thursday, February 8
Clearwater, Fla.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
#15 Oregon
Indiana Softball to Open Season at 2024 NFCA Leadoff Classic
2/8/2024 8:00:00 AM | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla. ––––– The 2024 Indiana Softball season is set to begin at the 2024 NFCA Leadoff Classic.
The Hoosiers will play five opponents across Feb. 8-11 from, starting with No. 15 Oregon at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. Then, they'll play No. 5 Clemson, Army, Kansas and NC Central throughout the weekend.
All games will be broadcast for free on GameChanger with live stats available via StatBroadcast.
QUICK HITTERS
• The Hoosiers battled for six innings, allowing 0 runs and held a 1-0 lead until the Wildcats scored two in the bottom of the seventh inning for the walkoff win.
•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.
• Indiana's Taylor Minnick was named to the First Team All-Big Ten in 2023, earning back-to-back All-Big Ten honors after she was named to the Second and All-Freshman Team in her first season with the Hoosiers.
• Minnick ranked second in the Big Ten in three categories: slugging percentage, OBS and OPS. In addition, she ranks in the top five in RBI and batting average.
• Redshirt-junior Cora Bassett, freshman Avery Parker and Sarah Stone earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors.
• Parker and freshman Cassidy Kettleman were also selected to the league's All-Freshman Team after stellar performances in their rookie season.
• IU closed the season with six sweeps, finishing the Big Ten regular season calendar with three consecutive series sweeps against Rutgers, Michigan and Michigan State in the last three weekends of the regular 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.
• 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 begins 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 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.
• They have tallied 374 RBI along with 209 free passes and 86 hit by the pitch.
• IU's eight stolen bases against IUPUI is the most in a game from a Big Ten school this season.
• The Hoosiers tallied 16 stolen bases at the Lady Bison Classic.
• The Pelham, Ala., native posted a 3.06 ERA with 171.1 innings pitched and 148 strikeouts.
• Offensively, Copeland hit for a .318 batting average on the season with 57 hits. She had 15 doubles, one triple and 14 home run for 48 RBI on the season.
• She threw her first career no-hitter against Prairie View A&M tallying a career-high ten strikeouts, along with no hits, one run and zero walks. After opening weekend, she has an era of .60 after pitching 11.2 innings and totaling 14 strikeouts.
• The team hit 100 doubles on the season in 2023 to set a new program record.
The Hoosiers will play five opponents across Feb. 8-11 from, starting with No. 15 Oregon at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. Then, they'll play No. 5 Clemson, Army, Kansas and NC Central throughout the weekend.
All games will be broadcast for free on GameChanger with live stats available via StatBroadcast.
QUICK HITTERS
- Team 51 enters the 2024 season coming off the program's best campaign since 2011. The Hoosiers posted a 44-18 record and an 18-5 mark in conference.
- 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.
- In 2023, Indiana set a new-program record for 23-straight wins in the regular season.
- Indiana returns the bulk of their lineup from a season ago, only losing two positional mainstays and one member of the pitching staff.
- For the second year in a row, Indiana will open the season in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla.
- In its last appearance of 2023, Indiana played in the NCAA Knoxville Regional as the region's No. 2 seed alongside host and No. 1-seed Tennessee, No. 3-seed Louisville and No. 4-seed Northern Kentucky.
- Indiana went 2-2 in regional play in Knoxville.
- The Hoosiers opened with a win over No. 3-seed Louisville, winning on the opening day of the tournament, 4-3, over the Cardinals. Then, in the winner's bracket, Indiana fell, 9-1, to the host Volunteers.
- In the elimination game and rematch with the Cardinals, Indiana won 4-2. The win marked three wins on the season over the Cardinals.
- Upon advancing to the regional final, Indiana fell to Tennessee again, 7-3.
- It was the best season for the Indiana program since 2011, the last time the Hoosiers reached the NCAAs.
- Indiana has a gauntlet of a schedule for its time in Clearwater this weekend. Indiana will open with No. 15 Oregon on Thursday, before facing No. 5 Clemson on Friday night.
- Saturday will be feature a doubleheader against Army and Kansas. Then, on Sunday, Indiana will close it out with an early morning game against NC Central.
- A season ago, both Oregon and Clemson reached the NCAA Super Regional in the postseason tournament.
- Oregon won the Fayetteville Regional to advance to the Supers before falling to Oklahoma State. Clemson hosted and won its own regional, but fell to eventual national champion Oklahoma in the Super Regional.
- Army had a 22-37 season in 2023, but reached the Patriot League championship. Kansas posted a 25-27 record in the 2023 season. NC Central won the MEAC Conference Tournament and reached the NCAA Athens Regional.
- Indiana's all-time records against their NFCA Leadoff Classic Opponents are found below:
- Oregon: 1-1, Clemson: 1-0, Army: 0-0, Kansas: 1-8, NC Central: 0-0.
B1G Tournament
• Indiana finished runner-up at the Big Ten Tournament in 2023, falling in a close 2-1 battle to top-seed Northwestern.• The Hoosiers battled for six innings, allowing 0 runs and held a 1-0 lead until the Wildcats scored two in the bottom of the seventh inning for the walkoff win.
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.
HOOSIERS RETURN FIVE ALL-BIG HONOREES
• Five Hoosiers who earned All-Big Ten distinctions return from the 2023 roster.• Indiana's Taylor Minnick was named to the First Team All-Big Ten in 2023, earning back-to-back All-Big Ten honors after she was named to the Second and All-Freshman Team in her first season with the Hoosiers.
• Minnick ranked second in the Big Ten in three categories: slugging percentage, OBS and OPS. In addition, she ranks in the top five in RBI and batting average.
• Redshirt-junior Cora Bassett, freshman Avery Parker and Sarah Stone earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors.
• Parker and freshman Cassidy Kettleman were also selected to the league's All-Freshman Team after stellar performances in their rookie season.
2023 SWEEPS
• Indiana opened Big Ten play with a 9-0 record on its first three series by sweeping No. 22 Maryland, Purdue and Ohio State.• IU closed the season with six sweeps, finishing the Big Ten regular season calendar with three consecutive series sweeps against Rutgers, Michigan and Michigan State in the last three weekends of the regular season.
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 begins 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 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.
(W)INDIANA
• The Hoosiers had a historic run winning 23 straight games in 2023 setting a new program record for the longest win streak.
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.HOOSIER BATS ON FIRE
• Indiana leads the Big Ten in batting with a .312 average on the season. The cream and crimson have totaled 485 hits, 100 doubles, 11 triples and 81 home runs.• They have tallied 374 RBI along with 209 free passes and 86 hit by the pitch.
THE NEXT 60 FEET
• Indiana finished second in the conference with 101 stolen bases.• IU's eight stolen bases against IUPUI is the most in a game from a Big Ten school this season.
• The Hoosiers tallied 16 stolen bases at the Lady Bison Classic.
COPELAND IN THE CIRCLE
• Junior pitcher Brianna Copeland went 22-4 inside the circle in her sophomore season.• The Pelham, Ala., native posted a 3.06 ERA with 171.1 innings pitched and 148 strikeouts.
• Offensively, Copeland hit for a .318 batting average on the season with 57 hits. She had 15 doubles, one triple and 14 home run for 48 RBI on the season.
• She threw her first career no-hitter against Prairie View A&M tallying a career-high ten strikeouts, along with no hits, one run and zero walks. After opening weekend, she has an era of .60 after pitching 11.2 innings and totaling 14 strikeouts.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Bassett and Copeland led the Hoosiers in 2023 with 15 doubles on the season followed by 14 from Minnick and 13 from Stone.• The team hit 100 doubles on the season in 2023 to set a new program record.
Players Mentioned
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