Wagner fills leadership role

As the Hoosier softball team practiced Tuesday afternoon, the bases were loaded, and junior Amanda Wagner was up to bat.

This type of situation is one that IU Coach Michelle Gardner said she looks
forward to.

Wagner drove a pitch right back up the middle just over the pitcher’s head into a gap in left center.

“It definitely makes a difference that she is hitting so consistently,” Gardner said. “Every time she is in the box, she gives us a chance, and that is what I’m asking her to do. I’m not asking her to do any more or any less. I just want her to give us that opportunity.”

Coming off an impressive 2011 sophomore season with 20 RBI and 20 hits, the junior has consistently hit well the entire 2012 season. Currently, Wagner leads the team with 38 hits, 30 RBI and eight home runs. Her .349 batting average and .633 slugging percentage is also the top among the team’s starting players.

Wagner attributes the increase in hitting to her summer motivation leading to a change in her game.

“I spent this summer really thinking about what I wanted for the team and what I wanted to do for the team,” Wagner said. “Basically, it was just a big change in my mental game and my approach to things.”

Wagner said that throughout the summer, she vouched to stay in town and complete her workouts alone.

“Just being alone but still being on campus really allowed me to think about what I needed to do,” Wagner said. “I’m trying to fill the leadership role that was left behind from last season.”

Thus far this season, that is exactly what Wagner has done in the box. Gardner said she believes that, at this point in Wagner’s career, the junior is coming into
her own.

“She has been a really good leader for this team,” Gardner said. “I think she’s going to keep doing well because she’s in a good place. She’s not trying too hard. She’s just staying with what she can control.”

To Wagner, the sense of leadership is fulfilled when she is able to get on base first and give the RBI notoriety to another batter in the lineup.

“I like hitting first. I like having my teammates bring me in,” Wagner said. “I like it when my teammates can gain some confidence because I don’t always need to be the person that they rely on. We have a team full of good hitters.”

Gardner said she could count on Wagner to get the hits that are needed, not just the home runs.

“I think a lot of kids try to end the game with one swing as opposed to putting back-to-back hits together,” Gardner said. “Yes, a home run is great, but at the end of the day, I’ll take three runners on and a base hit, also.”

Wagner said base hits are what win ball games but that it is nice knocking one out of the park once in a while.

“There’s a point when I connect really well that I know the ball is gone,” Wagner said. “It’s a feeling I could never get acquired to because it’s one of the best feelings ever — when you grab the whole ball and catch every piece of it.”

The Hoosiers (21-20, 5-7) resume play against Ball State (27-12, 6-2) at 4 p.m. today in Muncie.