Make Sure To Listen To IU Softball This Year…EVERY GAME!
In case you have not seen the release that was just put up on IUHoosiers.com, it was announced today that each and every single game will feature an audio broadcast during the 2011 season. There are a few slight changes from last year but overall it is something that will certainly benefit the program as friends, family and all fans will be able to follow them everywhere they go throughout the year.
Here’s the text from the release that was on IUHoosiers.com with information on how to listen to games this season and where to go to listen:
“Indiana Softball fans will be able to follow the 2011 team like never before as each game will be broadcast live on IUHoosiers.com with Dave Leno doing play-by-play and assistant media relations director Nathan Wiechers providing color analysis.
“The 2010 season marked the first season with any form of audio broadcast as nearly 35 games were carried on IUHoosiers.com. In 2011 that coverage will be expanded to include each and every game that Hoosiers play – no matter where they are playing.
“There are very few softball programs across the country that can say that every single game will be broadcast on the internet and we are very proud to be one of those,” Indiana head coach Michelle Gardner said. “We started with a partial broadcast schedule last year but bumped it up to the whole schedule this year and I am really excited about the exposure that this gives our team and program.”
The team opens the 2011 season on Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and play a total of five games over four days in Arizona – all of which can be heard via the All-Access player at IUHoosiers.com. Those that wish to listen will need to purchase the monthly access pass a monthly fee in order to access these broadcasts and all broadcasts through the March 15 doubleheader.
One the team returns to Bloomington to host the Hoosier Classic on March 18, fans will be able to listen to games free of charge through Stretch Internet just as they did to select games in 2010.
To Listen:
To access the broadcasts (on both formats), go to the softball page of IUHoosiers.com and click the “Live Broadcast” link on the left side of the page above the rotating picture. Or go to the softball schedule on IUHoosiers.com (click here) and click on the game you want to listen to. When the box on the right side of the schedule comes up, click the “listen” link at the bottom of the box.
Here’s a little bit more information about the changes to the broadcast and why there is a charge for those early season tournaments.
The reason for the month access cost is because we will be broadcasting those using the “All-Access” feature on IUHoosiers.com and it is part of our contract with them that when we broadcast live events through their website we charge the monthly fee. (NOTE: this fee does NOT go to Dave or myself – a portion goes to CBS and IU Athletics as I understand it). And the reason we are using this feature is because we will be doing the broadcast using an internet connection and not a phone line like we did last year. Doing it through the internet allows us to do all of those preseason tournaments where there are no phone line available. Then once the team starts to play at the Hoosier Classic (March 18) and on through the rest of the season we will be playing at stadiums with press boxes and phone lines and thus we can go back to the free feature we utilized last year.
I know this could get a little confusing but if you just go to the schedule on IUHoosiers.com and click the “Listen” link on the right it will take you where you are supposed to go to listen to the game.
Any questions or concerns can be sent to me (nwiecher@indiana.edu) and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
As I enter my fourth year with the IU softball program, I can only remember seeing two or three other teams that had radio broadcasts of these preseason tournaments so this expanded coverage is really setting the Hoosiers apart from most teams across the country. I’m sure when other teams see that we are doing broadcasts in Tempe, Ariz., Palm Springs, Calif., Tampa, Fla., Norman, Okla., (just to name a few) they will see the dedication to the softball program at Indiana.
Dave and I have been out watching practice a lot recently trying to do our homework on the team so we are ready to go for the season opener against Arizona on Feb. 10.
Hope to see many of you out at the games this year!
Nathan Wiechers
Assistant Media Relations Director/Softball Contact
Indiana University Athletics
Email: nwiecher@indiana.edu
A Freshman’s View – Jenna Abraham
By: Jenna Abraham (Freshman from Fishers, Ind.)
I have really enjoyed the first couple weeks of practice. I am working harder than I ever have in my entire life and am loving it! I feel like we are getting closer to where we need to be and taking the right steps to be a major contender in the Big Ten Conference. Since this was a completely new experience for me I have had to make a lot of adjustments in the field and hitting. It has been a lot of fun though. I have awesome teammates and coaches and the support I have received at IU is phenomenal. I am finally to the level I have always dreamed of being and starting soon we will get to play against some of the best teams in the country. It is something that I have looked forward to my entire life. I cannot wait to get the experience of playing against some of the teams I have always watched on TV and said “I want to be them someday”. We get to travel all over the country and play in California, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and Oklahoma, and that is only the first five weeks of our game schedule. What a great way to spend the months of February and early March!
This fall, when I finally got to put on the Indiana University uniform for the first time, I can’t explain the emotions that I experienced. I immediately ran and took a lot of pictures of me in my number 33 jersey. My family was there so I ran up to them and took several pictures with them also because this was a moment they also had been looking forward to. My family has taken all the steps right beside me to get me to and through the transition of IU. College is a big change from high school but I like the variety of the college schedule. However, being a perfectionist in terms of my grades and in the other parts of my life made it a little tougher to adjust. I had to learn that it is ok to make mistakes and that you learn from those mistakes to become better. This was especially true in softball. In college everything is faster and more intense. This was the hardest thing to adjust to but with practice and persistence I had a great first semester and am very happy with how things are going here early in the second semester. I am very anxious to finally get outside and start playing real softball again. There are some challenges that our team must still face to reach our goals but I believe we are strong enough to overcome them and have a great season.
And don’t forget to download Coach Gardner’s “Face-to-Face” interview with Jeremy Gray on iTunes by clicking here.
First Day of Practice – 2011
By Sara Olson (Senior from Orland Park, Ill.)
Today we were very excited, as it was our first 2011 team practice!! We have all been anxiously looking forward to getting this season going! Today’s practice was typical, working out the kinks as everyone was getting back into the groove of things. It was full of motivation, energy and we all were happy to see each other working together after our long break. I am ecstatic about my teammate’s energy and think we are definitely going to be a team to be reckoned with!
Earlier in the day, before practice I took a few minutes to reflect on my past three years here at IU and how this will be my last first practice of my IU softball career. Sounds kind of silly, but ever since my freshman year I can remember all the seniors saying all the same things that I am thinking now. Reminiscing about my past years here, so many great memories came to my mind. I can remember my older sister, Anna, talking about how she was a senior and can picture myself, three years ago today, as a little freshman playing catch with her in Mellencamp and the anxiousness I felt to get the season going. And now I am a senior, and I can’t believe it! The anxiousness I felt as a freshman is now a feeling of readiness as a senior. Every season, every year of my college career has gone by faster and faster… and in the blink of an eye, this year’s season will be over too. I have learned over the years to never take one day for granted, for it is a blessing. Everyday I pick up my glove and go play catch is a day I know I am living my dream.
My past three years have been full of wonderful experiences and life lessons, but I hope to make this year the best! It has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this program. I will wear my Indiana Softball jersey #7 for one more season with great pride; for I know that next year it will be in good hands with my little sister Lora, and it will be her turn to wear it with pride and to represent the Cream and Crimson. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s practice brings along with the rest of the year!
Go Hoosiers!
It’s 2011 and you know what that means…
Happy New Year to all of the IU Softball friends and family out there. As we turn the calendar over to 2011, that can mean only one thing and that is that it’s almost time for softball!! With classes starting back up on Monday, Jan. 10, head coach Michelle Gardner and her staff will have the team practicing by the middle of the week as they get ready for the season opener on Feb. 10 against Arizona at the Kajikawa Classic (hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.).
Here’s a link to the 2011 Schedule in case you missed it earlier. As you can tell, Coach Gardner is not afraid to play anybody at anytime anywhere. And once again the Hoosiers will be crisscrossing the map to play some of the best teams in the country at some of the best venues in the country.
After starting in Tempe, the Hoosiers return back to the Eastern Time Zone and hit up the Sunshine State and the campus of the University of South Florida. They then return to the West Coast for a tournament in Palm Springs, Calif., and then return east to play at national power Georgia, where they will play the Bulldogs twice. A trip to Oklahoma to play in the Sooners’ home tournament starts Spring Break for the Hoosiers with a stop in Tulsa for two games before returning home to host the Hoosier Classic at the end of Spring Break. From there, the schedule leads the Hoosiers into Big Ten play and one of the best conferences in the country. There will be a couple of non-conference games against regional opponents sprinkled in there as well.
The last time the team was all together before they left for the semester break was at Coach Gardner’s house for the team Christmas party. Cook…I mean Coach Gardner made some tremendous enchiladas that had everyone talking and everyone else brought a side dish or desert and made it a true Christmas Feast. The team then exchanged their “Secret Santa” gifts and posed for a team photo all decked out in their costumes. It as a great way to close out the year and get ready for what promises to be an even better 2011 for Indiana Softball.
Make sure to check back frequently as we will have players and coaches chime in occasionally with what’s going on in practice, games or anything that the team does off the field this year.
2010 Fall Schedule and Some Notes from the Summer
While the summer is generally considered the “off-season” for collegiate softball programs, the summer of 2010 was anything but for the Indiana softball team and head coach Michelle Gardner. There were a number of things going on from new players transferring in to former players being named assistant coaches across the country.
Gardner also announced the Fall schedule on Monday, which includes five home games and a pair of games at Indiana State. Below are the dates the Hoosiers will be competing during the Fall, starting on Sept. 25, at home against IUPUI.
Saturday, Sept. 25
Indiana vs. IUPUI (home), 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
**Note: Indiana football hosts Akron later the same day with a 7 p.m. kickoff
Indiana State University Fall Tournament
Sunday, Sept. 26
Indiana vs. Kirkwood Community College, 12:30 p.m.
Indiana vs. Butler, 4:00 p.m.
Hoosier Fall Classic
Saturday, Oct. 9 (times TBA)
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods vs. IU Southeast
Indiana vs. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
IU Southeast vs. Indiana
Indiana vs. IU Southeast
Here are some of the highlights from the summer:
Hoosiers Add Pair of Transfers for 2011 Season
Head Coach Michelle Gardner added a pair of players, Morgan Melloh and Lindsay Callanan, during the offseason that will have the ability to come in and make an immediate impact in 2011.
Morgan Melloh, a native of Fishers, Ind., played her first three seasons at Fresno State where she dominated opposing hitters. In her first two seasons with the Bulldogs, she racked up over 800 strikeouts in the circle to become just the fifth pitcher in NCAA softball history to do so. She also participated in the NCAA Tournament each of those three seasons and will look to bring that experience to a young and talented Hoosier squad in 2011.
Callanan comes to Indiana from Northern Iowa, where she spent her first two seasons as an outfielder. After seeing limited time as a freshman, she stepped up and hit .313 as a sophomore, the third-best average on the team.
Three Former Players Land Assistant Coaching Positions
Tory Yamaguchi, Monica Wright and Jennifer Glueckert all landed assistant coaching positions at NCAA Division I programs over the summer.
After serving as the volunteer assistant coach for two seasons, Yamaguchi was hired as the assistant coach at the University of Connecticut and will work with the pitchers and catchers. Yamaguchi was a standout catcher for the Hoosiers and is the all-time leader in home runs at IU with 40.
Wright will serve as the pitching coach at Elon University this upcoming season after completing a four-year pitching career at Indiana after transferring to IU from Northern Iowa following her freshman season. In her four years as a Hoosiers, Wright made 124 appearances, logged 30 wins and pitched over 550 innings.
Glueckert, a Second Team All-Big Ten honoree in 2010, will serve as an assistant coach at the University of North Dakota. A four-year letterwinner at Indiana, she posted career highs in nearly every offensive category during her breakout senior campaign. She hit .356 overall and led the team with nine double and three triples while also pacing the team with a .389 average in Big Ten play.
Another Indiana Product Added to 2011 Freshman Class
Ashley Warrum will join the IU softball program as a freshman for the 2011 season after stellar career at powerhouse Pendleton Heights High School. Warrum was a First Team All-State player for the Arabians in 2009 and hit over .500 as a senior. She joins Jenna Abraham, Shelby Gogreve, Meaghan Murphy and Kristy Pasley in the freshman class.
Angie Funston Named Volunteer Assistant Coach
Angie Funston, a native of St. John, Ind., and 2010 graduate of Loyola (Chicago) University will take over as volunteer assistant coach in 2011. Funston’s name can be found all over the Loyola record books as she is tied for first in career RBI (93) and is fourth all-time in home runs (14). As a senior, she hit .296 and was the ace of the pitching staff, logging nearly 100 innings and pitching 10 complete games. To make that even more remarkable is that she had not pitched since her sophomore season prior to taking the circle during her senior year.
Casper, Our Team Ghost ~By: Kelli Ritchison #14
Over the course of the season, my teammates and I have bonded together not only through the unity of being a team, but also spiritually, by a ghost who mysteriously connects us all! Throughout this spring, our softball team has felt as if there were another person tagging along on our trips. We affectionately like to call him “Casper”, the team Ghost.
It all started with our trip to Mississippi. When the team travels to far off places like Mississippi, we generally fly to the location and then rent 5 mini vans to get us around town. Each van is driven by a staff member, i.e., the four coaches and our SID, Nate.
When leaving Mississippi that Sunday afternoon to head back to Bloomington, Tory’s van had a mysterious incident that had occurred. While driving to the airport, a phone connection kept arising causing someone’s phone in the van to call another person on the team’s phone, unexpectedly. Each time it occurred, it showed up as someone calling another player’s phone, but there would be no record of the call being made from the actual phone that was calling. It was like a cross-wiring of connections. For example, Tory got a phone call from Monica, but Monica’s phone never showed that it was calling Tory.
After arriving to the airport, our teammates in Tory’s van told us about how 4 out of the 6 girls’ phones were going crazy. No one on the team believed them.
However, the following weekend we traveled to California and once again the phones were possessed. It was another typical Sunday afternoon, driving to the airport, when a different van this time, Coach Hebert’s van, had the same mysterious mishap of phone calls and phones constantly calling each other unexpectedly.
After realizing our mysterious phone “connections”, we came up with the idea that there is a ghost who is constantly traveling with us when we fly. Every time we flew, there had always been some sort of delay, rerouting of landing, or phone connection craziness… and each time something occurred, we blamed it on Casper.
This past weekend we traveled to Iowa. We ended up taking a bus and driving the 7 hours to their university. Since we weren’t flying, we figured there was no way Casper would come with us… oh how we were wrong! Sunday afternoon, on the bus ride back into Bloomington, our phones started up again. I was sitting on the bus watching a movie when all of a sudden I was getting an incoming call from Amanda Wagner. I turned around and asked her why she was calling me. She held up her phone and showed me that there was no connection on her phone showing that she was calling me. After that, the mysterious phone calls kept going! All the phones in the middle of the bus started connecting and calling each other unexpectedly, randomly and without any trace of an initial outgoing call. Only incoming calls were showing up on phones. We all started joking because half the team did not believe us. It wasn’t until players who had not traveled with us this weekend, including Hebe (who was not on the bus ride back home), had their phones being possessed too. It became a mystery!
Still today, we have no idea how or why this phone issue keeps occurring. However, we do feel that Casper, our team Ghost, is trying to remind us to stick together as a team, keep communicating with each other, and stay close no matter how far we are.
Spring Break ~By: Samantha Heyman #16
Over spring break I was lucky enough to stay over at Kristen King and Kelli Ritchison’s house with fellow freshmen, Amanda Wagner and Chelsea Noble. Even though this Hoosier had to stay in Bloomington for spring break, it wasn’t all that bad. We had some really fun team bonding experiences, went on picnics, caught tadpoles, watched movies, and ended up having a really good time together. The four girls that I stayed with have become really good friends of mine after all the time that we ended up spending together. I am lucky to have them as teammates, as well as all the other girls. They are good people and very good teammates and that’s all someone could ask for!
On the softball subject! Spring break wasn’t the best weekend for us, but there were positives that ended up coming out of it. We fought like crazy the last two games, but ended up beating ourselves. We are ready to go out and beat Iowa, we are ready for the Big Ten and ready to show everyone what we can do. We can be at the top and that’s where we are going to end up! We have all the potential in the world… we just have to tap into it and watch the magic happen. I trust in this team and after all that we’ve gone through together over the past couple months, I have learned about teamwork and how essential it is to help your team and the players that make up our team.
I’m so grateful to have all these girls and be able to get along and bond with them so well. I know that not only in the years to come, but in the games to come too, that we are going to develop and mature and become one of the best…if not THE best softball team that IU has seen yet. I am so grateful to have such a cool team and look forward to taking the field with them every single day. We will be winning in no time…. just gotta find our swagger!
So Let’s Go Get’em Hoosiers!
Empire State of Mind. ~By: Tory Yamaguchi.
I love this song… “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. It’s perfect. It’s inspiring. It’s motivating. It’s everything I want to hear on good days… bad days… and all the days in between. This song is about New York City and the “concrete jungle where dreams are made of” and where “there’s nothing you can’t do”. And although I’m not from the Big Apple, I’ve been there a few times with some of my summer Force buddies… and the feeling is undeniable. It’s exciting. It’s invigorating. It makes you feel brand new. And every single time thereafter, it’s different… but familiar.
Now I’m sure you’re probably thinking why am I going off about New York on a softball blog. Well, there are a few reasons. Without the love I have for the game of softball, I would have never had the opportunities to go gallivanting around in New York City with my buddies. I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to play on the Philadelphia Force and be close enough to NYC to drive out there (or rather, take a bus) on our off days. Driving up to the city, crossing into Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel, there are buildings everywhere. The skyline forms right before your eyes and all of a sudden, before you know it, you’re surrounded by a bustling city. It’s an awesome feeling. An exciting one. A million questions start running through your head… What to do next? Where to go? What to eat? Who are we meeting? How much time do we have? But then you take a breath, get off the bus, and start walking. You figure out what you’re doing and when… how to get there… and everything else. You just keep going forward. You keep making strides forward to get you where you want to go. One step in front of the other. Even if you think you’re lost. You ask questions. You look at a map. You walk to the end of the road and hop on a floating duck that tours you on land and on water (that was awesome by the way). You find your way and you end up where you wanted to be all along… even amidst all of the chaos that surrounds you in the city. It all doesn’t even matter. It’s a state of mind. You’re in the city!
Same goes for the game. It’s captivating. It’s exhilarating. It’s addicting. It’s motivating. It’s passionate. These girls have been through challenging practices… mentally and physically exhausting conditioning workouts.. tiresome nights doing homework and studying for tests that they have to take earlier than the rest of their classes, only so that they can play this game they love. It’s a challenge…. but it’s a challenge these girls live for. They all have it in them. The fight. The eagerness. The excitement. The drive. The thirst to play… to WIN. Every time they step on the field… it’s a different opponent… a different situation… but a familiar feeling… a familiar environment… The smell of dirt and grass… the sound of metal spikes on the ground… the feeling of the ball in your hand… gripping the bat in your own individual way… it’s inspiring… it makes you feel brand new.. every single time. It’s that ”empire state of mind”.
And even now, when it’s getting tougher.. there’s nothing they can’t do… they can do this… they gotta dig deep and find it within… where it all started for them… this is when we’ll see that “empire” state of mind come through…
There’s nothing we can’t do.
Our Trip to Chili’s ~By: Kelsey “Bones” Brannon #5
3.14.10 Pi Day!
Originally, we were going to get Chili’s delivered to our hotel, but I am sure glad we changed our plans. Instead, we went to Chili’s and had some good laughs. We left the hotel and headed to Chili’s in two vans. As per usual, Tory was our van driver. I am pretty sure that our van dominates all the rest because we are constantly laughing. Our van also dominates because we have been deemed the “Diversity Van”. We have Tory (the Asian), Bre (the Hispanic), Madison (the Native American), Sara (the Swede), Amanda and Monica (not really sure, they just represent “Mutt” Americans haha), and me (the local townie). The “Diversity Van” name was coined this trip, along with the name “Sand Van”. “Sand Van” is pretty unoriginal though because sand happens to be the color of our van this trip.
Anyways, back to the dinner at Chili’s. We got to the restaurant and the parking lot was pretty full, so Tory dropped us all off at the door and went to park the van. When we got inside, the hostess said it would be about 15 minutes. She also added that if we would have called earlier, we could have gotten this whole room to ourselves. Madison saw the number and actually considered calling it from inside the restaurant to make such reservation. However, she did not actually do this, but it was okay because it was not even close to a 15 minute wait.
After we sat down, we all looked through the menu and decided what we wanted to order. While we were waiting on our food, Tory began making origami figures out of the little paper that holds the napkin to the silverware. I have never been able to make these, so I asked Tory to make me one with my little paper. She just went ahead and gave me hers, so now I have a cute little origami bird!!……. However, the best part of the night is still to come!
When we got done eating, we went outside to get back in the vans. We ended up walking out a different door than when we came in, and Tory suddenly says, “I don’t think I remember where I parked the van”. I immediately responded with “That’s not a good thing considering that we weren’t with you when you parked the vans because you dropped us off at the door”. Tory starts laughing hysterically and none of us have any idea where our “Sand Van” is in this Chili’s parking lot. There was nothing we could do but start walking around the parking lot until we spotted our van. As we were walking, we were all in disbelief that Tory could not remember where the van was parked. But, we soon learn, that Tory has some short-term memory issues. We do a full lap around the parking lot (and end up starting back at the front door where we came in) when Tory finally remembers, and says, “just keep going straight.” We all were happy to hear our “Sand Van” beeping and finally seeing it parked there in front of us. Bre even said she had never been so excited to see the “Sand Van”.
Since this is our last weekend tournament trip, it is going to be a while before we have our minivans again. But, maybe when we do, our “Diversity Van” can again be the “Sand Van”!
Never Fails ~By: Amanda “Franny” Wagner #15
At 9:30am, Thursday morning, the team loaded the bus and headed to the airport in Indy for our fifth preseason tournament in Clearwater, FL. The plan was to fly into Chicago’s Midway Airport for a quick layover and then head straight into Tampa from there. However, Southwest airlines had another plan for us. Bridget, Sara, and I were looking forward to a little taste of home (i.e. Potbelly’s) while at Midway. They have the best sandwiches and we were going to have just enough time (or supposed to have) to make a quick stop into potbelly at Midway and head to our next connecting flight. Unfortunately, we left Indy slightly behind schedule and ended up spending a whole whopping 5 minutes in Midway. This was just enough time to get one picture in while boarding our next plane. As we said bye to Chicago, we were all looking forward to warm and sunny weather that was to await us down in Florida. Ha… were we wrong. Mother nature had a different idea of what the weather would be like.
As we were in the air to Tampa, the pilot announced that Tampa’s airport had been cut down to one runway and only a small number of planes were landing there now, due to the severe weather in Florida. Since we did not have enough fuel to circle Tampa, the decision was made to land in Birmingham, Alabama. After landing, we were told that we would deplane and wait until we could get back up in the air and land again in Florida when the weather was better. After waiting over two and half hours in Birmingham’s airport (probably the least exciting airport in the country), we finally got back into the air and headed towards Tampa. We finally landed in Tampa and ended our 12-hour journey to the Sunshine State.
It never fails when the Indiana softball team is traveling. In Las Vegas, President Obama diverted us to Phoenix. On the way home from California, our plane left 2-hours behind schedule, once again because of severe weather.. but that time it was from the arriving plane’s destination. This time, weather once again delayed our arrival to Florida. Hopefully this time, we’ll make it back in one shot! GO HOOSIERS!
