Indiana Softball to Host Michigan for Home-Opening Big Ten Series

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Coming off a dominant 11-6 win over Louisville on Tuesday, Indiana looks to continue its strong play in its first home Big Ten series of the season when it hosts Michigan from March 29-31 at Andy Mohr Field.

The Hoosiers enter the weekend with a 23-9 record and 0-3 conference mark.

QUICK HITTERS:

Indiana enters the weekend coming off a dominant 11-6 win over Louisville. It was Indiana's fourth consecutive win over the Cardinals dating back to last season when the Hoosiers won once in the regular season and twice in the NCAA Tournament's Knoxville Regional.
The Hoosiers boast seven players in their regular lineup who are hitting for a .300 or better batting average, led by freshman Aly VanBrandt who has posted a .380 average in her first collegiate season.
Indiana will welcome its 1983 College World Series team to Andy Mohr Field this weekend as part of the program's alumni weekend. Ten of the 14 players from the team and head coach Gayle Blevins will be there.
Against FAU earlier this month, Indiana defeated the Owls, 4-1. In the game, redshirt senior Cora Bassett recorded her 200th career hit. The hit occurred on the same field as her first career hit as Bassett began her college career playing in a tournament at FAU in 2020 when she was a student-athlete at Purdue.

LAST TIME OUT:

Indiana put an offensive clinic on in their last game at Louisville, posting 11 runs on 16 hits. The Hoosiers opened the game up 9-0 through the first 4-and-a-half innings before Louisville scored two in the bottom of the fifth.
The Hoosiers set the tone early against the Cardinals, scoring six runs in the top of the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
Three different Hoosiers recorded three hits in the game (Brianna Copeland, Avery Parker and Cassidy Kettleman). Each of them had two RBI. Parker had two doubles on the night, as well.
In the circle, a combined effort from Copeland, Sophie Kleiman and Alex Cooper got the job done pitching. Copeland started and threw five innings for three strikeouts and only allowing two hits.
Indiana is outscoring its opponents by nearly one hundred runs, leading the differential, 204-105 at this point in the season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:

Michigan enters the weekend playing their best that they've shown all season as winners of their last seven, including a series sweep over Purdue to begin Big Ten play.
The Wolverines are 21-11 overall and 3-0 in the conference. The most notable wins from the Wolverines include two wins over No. 9 Florida in separate tournaments.
Most recently, Michigan defeated Toledo on Wednesday at home in a 12-3 win in six innings.
Michigan's Lauren Derkowski and Erin Hoehn lead the way in the circle for the Wolverines. Derkowski has gotten the most work, throwing 94 innings with 105 strikeouts and posting a 9-5 record and 1.41 ERA. Hoehn has thrown 47 strikeouts and recorded a 2.84 ERA and 10-3 mark.
Ellie Sisler is Michigan's most consistent hitter with a .363 batting average. Maddie Erickson, Lilly Valimont, Jenissa Conway and Keke Tholl all have 16-plus RBI on the season.

SERIES NOTES:

Michigan leads the all-time series against Indiana, 32-94.
Indiana has won three in a row over Michigan as last season, it swept Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Indiana University Athletics

Indiana Softball to Host Michigan for Home-Opening Big Ten Series

Players Mentioned

Cora Bassett

Alex Cooper

Brianna Copeland

Cassidy Kettleman

Sophie Kleiman

Avery Parker

Aly VanBrandt

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