Indiana Softball to Host Penn State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Coming off of a thrilling 3-2 victory at Notre Dame, Indiana will host Penn State for their second Big Ten weekend of the season from Friday through Sunday (March 21-23).

The Hoosiers enter the series with a 20-7 overall record and an 0-2 conference mark.

QUICK HITTERS:

Team 52 holds a 20-7 record and 0-2 mark in Big Ten play entering the home series against Penn State.
Indiana leads the nation in batting average, hitting .387 at the plate, as of their last game against Notre Dame (March 18). The next closest is Texas, who is hitting for a .379 average.
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.
Indiana has won eight of their last 10 games with six of those wins coming by run rule.
Brianna Copeland, Taylor Minnick and Avery Parker were all named to the Big Ten's preseason Players to Watch List.

LAST TIME OUT:

Indiana got a much-needed road win over in-state rival Notre Dame on Tuesday, winning 3-2 in South Bend over the Fighting Irish.
The game was tied late at 2-2 through six innings before junior Avery Parker hit a home run just over the right field wall to put Indiana ahead 3-2 and secure the victory.
Senior Brianna Copeland threw five strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work in relief of Jasmine Reyes who started the game.
Aly VanBrandt went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored a run in the win.
The win marked back-to-back years of Indiana defeating Notre Dame in dramatic fashion. In 2024, Alex Cooper hit a walk-off grand slam to give Indiana the 5-3 win.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:

Penn State is entering the weekend with a 13-14 record and a 1-3 mark in the Big Ten. Most recently, Penn State played in the inaugural B1G Softball at Devon Park event in Oklahoma City from Thursday to Sunday last week.
Penn State lost both games to Northwestern in Oklahoma City and split their two games against Minnesota.
The Nittany Lions started the season 3-7 after their first two weekends, but since then have gone 10-7 to pick back up.
As a team, they hit .341 at the plate. Brooke Klosowicz leads the way, posting a .500 average and seven home runs along with 27 RBI.
Penn State pitches Mady Volpe and Abigail Britton most often in the circle with Volpe holding a 5-6 record and 2.57 ERA and Britton going 3-8 with a 5.19 ERA.

SERIES HISTORY NOTES:

Indiana leads the all-time series against Penn State, 46-34. Last year, Penn State won the series in a sweep in Happy Valley. Prior to that, Indiana won in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament over Penn State, 5-4 (9).

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Players Mentioned

Alex Cooper

Brianna Copeland

Taylor Minnick

Avery Parker

Jasmine Reyes

Aly VanBrandt

Melina Wilkison

Indiana University Athletics