Indiana University Athletics
Thursday, February 13
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
8:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
North Dakota State
Indiana Softball to Compete in Puerto Vallarta Challenge
2/12/2025 10:00:00 AM | Softball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana Softball will head south of the border for its second weekend of the season as it will take part in the Puerto Vallarta Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The Hoosiers enter the weekend with a 4-1 record after their first weekend of play at the Felsberg Invitational at FIU.
In the tournament, Indiana will play four games, facing off against North Dakota State, Illinois State, Boise State and BYU.
QUICK HITTERS:
LAST TIME OUT:
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
SERIES NOTES:
The Hoosiers enter the weekend with a 4-1 record after their first weekend of play at the Felsberg Invitational at FIU.
In the tournament, Indiana will play four games, facing off against North Dakota State, Illinois State, Boise State and BYU.
QUICK HITTERS:
- Indiana opened the season with a 4-1 weekend at FIU in the Felsberg Invitational. After dropping a 4-3 game on opening night, the Hoosiers have won four in a row, including three by run-rule.
- Indiana returns seven of its nine starters in the field from 2024 with a plethora of new talent coming in, including eight new freshmen and two transfer from Power-4 schools.
- Melina Wilkison, a redshirt junior outfielder from Greensburg, Ind. joins the Hoosiers after spending three seasons at Ohio State. Wilkison was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes, including being an NFCA All-Region and All-Big Ten performer in 2023. She missed almost all of 2024 due to injury.
- The eight freshmen make up the No. 28 ranked recruiting class on Extra Innings Softball for the class of 2024.
- Brianna Copeland, Taylor Minnick and Avery Parker were all named to the Big Ten's preseason Players to Watch List.
LAST TIME OUT:
- After a 4-3 loss at FIU on the opening night of the Felsberg Invitational (Feb. 6), Indiana put together a stout weekend of softball.
- The Hoosiers won the next four games to close out the weekend with a 4-1 record. Three of those four wins came by run-rule, including a 10-0 win over Stony Brook (Feb. 7) in five innings, a 9-1 win over Iowa State (Feb. 8) in five innings and a 10-1 win over Stony Brook (Feb. 6).
- To close out the weekend, Indiana held on to thanks to some clutch play down the stretch from senior Taylor Minnick to defeat Iowa State 7-5 (Feb. 9). With the game tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Minnick knocked a triple to right center field and cleared the bases to put the Hoosiers up 7-5.
- Minnick, Melina Wilkison and Brianna Copeland each hit a home run on the weekend. Freshman Jenae Berry made a strong first impression in the circle for the Hoosiers, going 2-0 and only allowing two hits and no runs.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
- North Dakota State opened the season 3-2 at the Charleston Invitational with two wins over host Charleston and a win over Fordham.
- Illinois State is 1-4 through its opening weekend at USF's tournament their win coming against Delaware in eight innings.
- Boise State went 4-1 to start the 2025 campaign at the NorCal Kickoff. The Broncos defeated Saint Mary's, two wins over Sacramento State and UC Davis.
- BYU went 3-0 at the La Jolla Invitational winning at UC San Diego and defeating Winthrop and Portland State.
- None of the teams Indiana is playing reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament but Boise State was in the Mountain West Championship before falling to San Diego State. Boise State had 36 wins and BYU notched 31 in 2024.
SERIES NOTES:
- Indiana has not had to play its opponents this weekend in some time. The Hoosiers have not played North Dakota State or BYU since 2015, Illinois State since 2019 and Boise State since 2020.
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballSB: 5-17-25 NCAA Fayetteville Regional Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, May 18
SB: 5-16-25 Postgame Press Conference
Friday, May 16
Softball: NCAA Fayetteville Regional Media Availability
Thursday, May 15
NCAA Columbia Regional Day 2 Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, May 18