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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

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IU to play in Owl Invitational after Indiana Classic is cancelled for weather

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The Hoosiers have been itching to play at home this season, but that will have to wait at least another week, as what was supposed to be their home opener at Andy Mohr Field for the Indiana Classic has turned into another tournament away ?because of weather.

After two schedule changes in as many days, the Hoosiers will now head to Kennesaw, Ga., to compete in the Owl Invitational. All games will be played at Bailey Park.

IU was originally supposed to start regular season series play, but with weather conditions delaying travel dates and times, the Hoosiers will play four different teams in two days.

“I like playing in series matchups,” junior Kelsey Dotson said. “You get the opportunity to see more pitching and see different pitchers, and you focus on a set of games and not just one game.”

The first doubleheader will begin Saturday when the Hoosiers take the field against Austin Peay, a team IU has seen only one other time in program history, in what was an 8-3 victory ?in 2005.

The second game later that evening will pit the Hoosiers against St. Louis. IU holds the edge in the all-time series between the two, 7-2, but it dropped the last game back in 2013, 3-2.

Sunday is an early start for the Hoosiers, who begin play at 10 a.m. against Eastern Illinois. This long series between the two dates back to 1974. It’s a series in which the Hoosiers lead the Panthers 28-12, including winning 14 of the past 16 games.

IU will play its finale against Kennesaw State directly following the game against Eastern Illinois. The Owls won the only meeting against the Hoosiers 3-1 in 2008.

With history on their side, the Hoosiers will play a favorable schedule which can hopefully turn the tide on what has been a rough 3-16 start to the season.

Despite its rough start, IU is still optimistic things are going to turn around in its favor.

“We are in most of these games,“ IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “We are just trying to limit the bad innings and find a way to get over the hump.”

The Hoosiers have played in many close games during the past two weeks, competing at their highest level so far against some of the top teams in the nation.

Gardner likes the progression of these young players and said she believes it’s only a matter of time before her team pulls out these close calls.

Close calls have come thanks to solid pitching from seniors Lora Olson and Miranda Tamayo, who are coming off their best tournament pitching performances of the year.

As for solid performances, junior Kelsey Dotson is coming off a record-setting performance last week, where she tied the single game program record for seven RBIs in a game.

She is tied with Monica Armendarez, who set the record in 1996.

“The record is new to me but awesome,” Dotson said. “I always wanted to leave a lasting impression here at IU.“

The Hoosiers will look to turn their struggling season around at the Owl Invitational as Gardner emphasizes the need to keep battling.

“We are going to focus on the little things,“ Dotson said. “Go into games focusing on one pitch at a time, one groundball at a time.”

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