IU Softball – Through Four Weeks
Indiana went 2-1 this past weekend on its trip to Athens, Ga., – the home of the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (according to the NFCA) to improve its overall record to 10-8. That makes three consecutive weekends with a winning record for the Hoosiers, which is something that a number of teams across the country can say at this point in the year. However, given the recent track record for the Hoosiers, this is something that needs to be noted because the team has found a way to win the games they are supposed to and be in all of the games that outsiders might have written them off.
RADIO BROADCAST NOTE: The remainder of this year’s radio broadcasts will be FREE OF CHARGE and will no longer require a subscription. If you purchased a subscription, make sure to cancel it so that it does not renew for a second month because you will not need it again this season.
Let’s take a look at each of the losses for Indiana so far this year…
Feb. 10: Indiana 0, #2 Arizona 4
Arizona scored a run in the first and then Morgan Melloh went to work in her IU debut. She matched UA pitcher Kenzie Fowler strikeout-for-strikeout in the game (both finished with 12). Indiana was playing outdoors for just the second time since October (a light practice the day prior) and made a couple of defensive miscues late in the game to allow a couple of unearned runs to score.
Feb. 12: Indiana 1, Texas Tech 4
Texas Tech entered play this past weekend with an unblemished 16-0 record and had moved up to No. 20 in the NFCA rankings. In the game against Indiana, the Red Raiders scored in the first inning on an illegal pitch by Melloh and then added a second run in the next inning on a double. The game was still 2-1 going to the seventh inning before TTU got a two-run home run to make it 4-1.
Feb. 13: Indiana 0, #12 California 3
The Indiana bats went silent against Cal’s Jolene Henderson (11-2, 0.82 ERA entering play Sunday) as they manages just two hits. Melloh continued to shine against the nation’s best as she posted eight strikeouts.
Feb. 18: Indiana 3, DePaul 7
DePaul has continued to receive votes in the NFCA Top 25 and sit just outside. They jumped out to a 7-0 lead thru three innings, taking advantage of six walks by Melloh. The Hoosiers rallied back late in the game and put three runs on the board and had chances to add more in each of the middle three innings.
Feb. 19: Indiana 0, Fordham 2
Morgan Melloh had a no-hitter going through 4.2 innings and then Fordham broke through with two of their three hits in the game in the sixth inning to score two runs and get the win. This is really the only loss that the Hoosiers have had that has come to a team that has not been receiving votes for the Top 25 or is in the Top 25. Having said that, Fordham was 49-12 last year and is constantly one of the best teams on the East Coast.
Feb. 24: Indiana 0, #4 Florida 7
While the score might indicate a blowout, the game was far from it. Melloh collected a Big Ten-best 14 strikeouts against one of the best hitting teams in the country. The Gators scored twice in the third inning and then used two bases loaded walks in the sixth inning to break the game open. Melloh made the UF batters look foolish on a number of instances but Hannah Rogers was up to the task for Florida, allowing just two hits.
Feb. 25: Indiana 3, #14 California 4 (9 innings)
This is without question the toughest loss to swallow for the team so far this year. The Cal offense had done nothing against Melloh the entire game and the teams were tied at 1-1 through seven innings. With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, the Hoosiers used a pair of Cal errors to take a 3-1 lead after the top of the eighth inning. In the Cal half of the inning, the scraped together two runs of their own and seized the momentum from the IU dugout. After Indiana went quietly in the top of the ninth, Melloh appeared to be poised to send the game to a 10th inning. But a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth allowed the winning run to score from third base. It was a heartbreaker and definitely one that the team can look back on as one that got away.
March 4: Indiana 0, #1 Georgia 2
The Bulldogs scored a run in the first inning on a quirky leadoff triple followed by a wild pitch. A leadoff home run to start the second inning rounded out the scoring and the Bulldogs managed just one more hit off Melloh in the game. Unfortunately, IU could only must three hits of their own and were not able to string them together to put together any form of a rally.
Looking back at it now, six of the eight losses have come against teams that are currently ranked in the NFCA Top 25. Needless to say, the Hoosiers’ RPI will be right up there with the best of them after the schedule they have played to this point. And next weekend, the trip to Oklahoma will only add to that as Indiana will get at least one crack at No. 10 Oklahoma.
Okay, enough with the negatives. Let’s now take a look at the positives that have come from the season to this point. All four of the freshmen have come in and made a huge impact early in the year. Jenna Abraham’s first collegiate hit was a three-run homer and she has eight RBI on the season. Meaghan Murphy has show her versatility in being able to play right field and first base and is hittin .267 with two doubles, a triple and six RBI. Shelby Gogreve has struggled at the plate but she does have three doubles and has been stellar at second base with her ability to take away hits in the gaps. And Ashley Warrum was inserted into the starting lineup for the final two games at the Cathedral City Classic and has not stopped hitting since, hitting .450 since that time.
Senior Sara Olson is the leading hitter, average-wise, and her three home runs and 12 RBI lead the team as well. But she has had help. 12 different players have at least one RBI this season and 13 players have three or more hits. While no one has gaudy statistics at the plate, that has made the season all the more interesting because you never know who is going to step up and come through with that clutch hit.
Just another testament to the depth that head coach Michelle Gardner has with this team this year. There are so many interchangeable parts that she has yet to use the exact same starting lineup in two games this season.
And when you look at the pitching staff, there is depth there as well. Melloh has pitched 100 out of a possible 124.2 innings. Sara Olson is 2-0 in the circle with a 1.40 ERA in 15 innings and Jessica Dobson has made five appearances in relief and has yet to allow a run of any kind while striking out 14 in 9.2 innings. All three have the confidence that they can get anyone out at any time and Coach Gardner has confidence in all of them to get the job done. Some of it is just another year of practice for all of them but some of it has to do with the confidence that Melloh brings to the practice field and into games. The team sees her ability to dominate other teams and it brings their own level of play up.
Here are a couple of other statistical nuggets through the first 18 games:
*In five games against ranked opponents, Morgan Melloh has 50 strikeouts
*Melloh’s 144 strikeouts this season is the most by an IU pitcher in a SEASON since 2007 and she needs just five more to pass Monica Wright’s 148 from that season. The Indiana single-season record for strikeouts is 370 by Amy Unterbrink in 1986.
*Her strikeout total this year is easily the best in the Big Ten while her 100 innings pitched also leads the conference.
*Sara Olson hit her 20th career home run on Sunday against James Madison to move into ninth place on the IU career home run list.
*In games that Indiana has won, Cassie Gogreve and Sara Olson are a combined 27-for-58 at the plate. In games that the Hoosiers have dropped, they are 5-for-45.
