Indiana to Face Maryland & No. 16 Oregon

Friday, March 20

College Park, Md.

6:00 PM

Indiana University

Maryland

BLOOMINGTON, IN - March 14, 2026 - catcher/infielder #30 Josie Bird of the Indiana Hoosiers during the game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Indiana Hoosiers at Andy Mohr Field in Bloomington, IN. Photo By Spencer Meyer/Indiana Athletics

3/19/2026 10:00:00 AM | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ––– After two weeks of home Big Ten series play, the Hoosiers will hit the road for its first away series in Big Ten play this weekend (March 20-22). Indiana is set for a three-game set with Maryland in College Park.

Following the series, Indiana will have a quick turnaround as it will take on No. 16 Oregon on Monday (March 23) at Andy Mohr Field in a non-conference matchup.

Indiana enters the weekend with a 22-6 record and a 4-2 mark in the Big Ten. Maryland is 13-14 with a 1-5 conference record.

Oregon is 21-7 and is 3-0 in the Big Ten.

QUICK HITTERS:

Indiana's Aly VanBrandt earned Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season and the second time in the last three weeks. From March 10-15, VanBrandt hit .625 (10-for-16) with four home runs and two doubles. She totaled 11 RBI and nine runs scored. Against Loyola Chicago, she hit three home runs and had seven RBI.
Avery Parker and VanBrandt each have 10 home runs on the season thus far. Parker needs one home run to tie and two home runs to break the program's career record of 45.
Indiana is back on the road again after eight-straight games at home which included their first two Big Ten series of the year. The Hoosiers went 6-2 in that stretch, going 2-1 against Minnesota and Rutgers while winning both midweek games against Loyola Chicago and IU Indy.
Against Portland State in the Littlewood Invitational (Feb. 12), VanBrandt hit for the cycle as part of a 5-for-5 day where she also totaled two home runs.

LAST TIME OUT:

Indiana had a 3-1 showing in their last four games, taking a 2-1 series victory over Rutgers and a 6-3 midweek win over IU Indy on Wednesday (March 18).
Alli Gavin hit her fifth career home run in the win over the Jaguars. It was her first home run since the Elon & UNCG Tournament weekend when Gavin hit her first four home runs of her career.
In the Rutgers series, Indiana scored plenty of runs, recording at least six runs in each game and putting up double digit runs in two of the three games.
Madalyn Strader also had a strong weekend for the Hoosiers, hitting .571 at the plate and hitting a double and home run with four home runs.
Taylor Hess pitched well for the Hoosiers in the Friday (March 13) win. She went 4.1 innings while only allowing one run and two hits while picking up the win.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:

Maryland comes into the weekend at 13-14 and an 11-7 win in 10 innings over George Washington yesterday (March 18). The Terrapins were swept by No. 21 Washington last weekend.
In Maryland's first conference weekend, they took one of three games at home versus Rutgers.
The Terrapins are 7-2 in games at Maryland Softball Stadium, which includes a 4-0 showing in the Terrapin Invitational with wins over Syracuse, Providence, Fairfield and UMBC.
Oregon is nationally ranked by all major outlets and is ranked as high as No. 16 after a 21-7 start to the season with a 3-0 Big Ten record.
The Ducks have ranked wins No. 21 Liberty, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 20 Duke.
In their first weekend of Big Ten play, they swept Penn State in Eugene.

SERIES HISTORY:

Indiana leads the all-time series with Maryland, 19-7 and have won seven straight against the Terrapins. Last year, Indiana swept them in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are 2-4 all time against Oregon and this will be the third-straight year facing them. Last season, Oregon swept the series for the first meeting as conference foes.