The IU softball team dropped all three games this weekend in their Big Ten series matchup against Illinois.
Despite grabbing an early 1-0 lead off junior Kelsey Dotson’s RBI single, IU fell in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader 9-6.
The Hoosiers gave up five runs in the second inning before a home run extended the Illinois lead to 9-1.
IU would get things together and gather enough momentum to make a late push, scoring five unanswered runs off a Dotson home run and RBI singles from senior Shannon Cawley and sophomore Erin Lehman.
However, 9-6 is as close as IU would get as the rally was halted by a scoreless seventh inning to secure the Illinois win in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Hoosiers would also drop the second game Saturday despite again grabbing an early lead on an RBI double from Cawley to make it 1-0.
Illinois, however, would respond in a big way in their first two at-bats, hitting three home runs and an RBI triple to take a commanding 7-1 lead after two innings of play.
For the fans, it felt as if they were watching the same film over again, as the Hoosiers once again would start to make a late game push. This time, however, the Hoosiers were able to tie the game up at seven a piece off a three-run home run and RBI single from freshman Taylor Uden and an RBI base hit from freshman Rebecca Blitz.
Uden’s five RBIs tied for most in a single game in Indiana program history.
After the Fighting Illini took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth inning, Dotson smashed a solo home run during the Hoosiers last at-bats to tie the game up at 8-8.
The momentum clearly looked to be on IU’s side, but the Illini would hit into an unusual game-winning fielder’s choice to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader.
The stat sheet for the series finale looks a bit strange as the Hoosiers fell to the Fighting Illini in five innings by a final score of 22-12.
IU started the game in the best way possible, scoring six runs in their first at-bats, which included another home run for Dotson and a bases-clearing RBI double from Uden.
However, the six-run lead would quickly vanish as Illinois would score four runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning to make it 6-4 in favor of the Hoosiers after one inning.
The scoring would only continue as the Hoosiers added three more runs the next inning on a pair of RBI singles from senior Brianna Meyer and Uden. The Illini would strike back again over the next two innings, scoring 13 unanswered runs to take a very unusual 17-10 lead after just three innings of play.
Only two more runs would be scored for the Hoosiers and both would come in the fourth inning on an RBI walk from Cawley and an RBI sacrifice fly from sophomore CaraMia Tsirigos.
The Fighting Illini would go on to score in every inning in this game, including five more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning which put the mercy rule into effect and gave Illinois a 22-12 win in just five innings of play.
The Hoosiers look to bounce back as they look forward to playing the next five games at home. They are 5-3 this year playing at Andy Mohr Field.
The Hoosiers will welcome in Maryland this weekend for a three-game series before they welcome in longtime Big Ten rival Purdue.
