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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

sports softball

Hobbs strikes out 15, leads IU to 1st sweep since 2005

Junior Kelli Ritchison fouls off against Ohio State on Wednesday afternoon at the IU Softball Field. The Hoosiers have a doubleheader in Champaign, Ill. on Wednesday.

The Hoosiers (7-28, 3-7) couldn’t have asked for a better weekend at Michigan State (13-22, 0-9).

Led by dominant starting pitching and clutch hitting, the Hoosiers knocked off the Spartans and gained their first Big Ten series win.

The victory marked the first Big Ten road victory for the Hoosiers this season and the first Big Ten road sweep since 2005. They beat Michigan State 3-1 in game 1 and followed with a 5-2 game 2 win.

In game 1 on Saturday, sophomore Sara Olson followed up her Wednesday no-hitter by pitching a complete game in which she gave up only one run en route to a 3-1 win for the Hoosiers. Olson’s record improved to 5-9 with an ERA of 2.98.

Senior Emily Bergeson and sophomore Brittany Stein came through with RBI doubles to lead the Hoosiers past the host Spartans.

Game 2 was very similar to the first.

This time, senior Ashley Hobbs went the distance, allowing two earned runs and striking out 15. Hobbs’ strikeout mark was a tie for eighth on IU’s all-time list for strikeouts in a game.

While Hobbs was able to stifle the Spartans, the Hoosiers still needed an extra frame for their 5-2 win.

With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, junior Kristin King hit a line drive to the left center-field gap, bringing home two runs that put the Hoosiers ahead for good.

“We used the momentum from (Saturday) in (Sunday’s) game, and we’re going to use it the rest of the way in the Big Ten, starting with Illinois on Wednesday,” King said.

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