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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

IU softball loses series against Maryland

The Hoosiers were hosts to Maryland this weekend, dropping two of three games to the Terrapins in their first-ever Big Ten series meeting.

IU dropped the first game of a doubleheader Friday by a final score of 6-3.

After falling behind early from surrendering four runs through three innings, the Hoosiers finally got on the board in the fourth inning on an RBI single from junior Kassi Farmer that scored junior Kelsey Dotson.

Maryland would make it 6-1 on a fifth inning home run before IU started to make a run. Dotson continued her brilliant season, hitting a home run, her fourth consecutive game with a long bomb, to bring in senior Shannon Cawley to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Dotson’s 10 home runs this season lead the team and rank seventh all-time on the IU single season home run list.

“It comes with maturity,” Gardner said. “Some things just start to click, and she has learned to be patient, seeing more pitches, and she is just a very talented kid.”

However, the Hoosiers would fall short as the Maryland defense and pitching shut the doors on any opportunity the rest of the game and secured a game one victory 6-3.

Game two of a Saturday doubleheader would be the Shannon Cawley show. Her six RBIs, which tied for second on the all-time Indiana single game list, lifted IU to an 11-8 victory.

“She’s a competitor,” Gardner said. “She is swinging the bat well, and she is being a leader to the players on this team.”

Starting exactly how game one did, the Terrapins jumped out to an early 4-0 after the first inning.

The Hoosiers would close that gap in the second inning, scoring three runs on a bases-loaded walk from sophomore Erin Lehman and a two-run RBI single from Cawley, her first two RBIs of the game.

After Maryland extended its lead to 5-3 in the third inning off a solo home run, IU would explode for a six-run inning, tying their season-high. After a pair of walks scored a run, Cawley would get four RBIs in one swing of the bat, her second grand slam of the season.

Later in the sixth inning, Dotson would score on a wild pitch to extend the Hoosiers’ lead to 9-5.

The Terrapins would tally up two more home runs in the fifth inning before IU regained their four-run lead on a two-run RBI single from Lehman, scoring freshmen Rebecca Blitz and Rebecca O’Malley and securing the 11-8 game two victory.

Sunday’s series finale was an up-and-down roller coaster for IU, as IU would lose 21-8.

Maryland got on the board first in the first inning to take the early 1-0 lead before Cawley sent a two-run home run to left field to give the Hoosiers a 2-1 advantage.

The pitchers on both sides settled in after allowing early runs, not allowing another runner to cross the plate until the fourth inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Terrapins would take the lead 3-2. Shortly after, IU would tie the game off junior Kassi Farmer’s solo shot to center field.

Senior Miranda Tamayo entered the game for the Hoosiers in the fifth inning. She faced six batters, giving up five runs on three hits without recording a single out. Senior Lora Olson would re-enter the game for the Hoosiers and surrender two runs of her own, allowing the Maryland offense to explode for seven runs in the inning and take a commanding 10-3 lead.

Although the momentum was clearing the favor of the Terrapins late in the game, IU refused to back down. Junior Katelyn Conenna answered in the bottom half of the fifth inning with a three-run home run, which was followed by a pair of RBI singles the next inning from Lehman and Cawley to cut the Terrapins’ lead down to 10-8.

The Hoosiers headed into the last inning with the crowd and momentum on their side. However, the Maryland offense would again explode for a huge inning, this time sending 11 runs across the plate, giving them a 21-8 victory and a series win this weekend.

The Hoosiers will look to rebound from this series and get ready to host the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday and Thursday in a midweek two-game series.

“Every game is important now,” Gardner said. “This all begins to set things up for the Big Ten Tournament.”

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