Now, the Hoosiers will direct their attention to the Buckeyes as they travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the last regular season series of the year.
“We are in a really good place right now,” senior outfielder Shannon Cawley said. “The fact that we are already in the tournament takes a bit of the pressure off us.”
During the Hoosiers’ three-game set against the Spartans last weekend, multiple players surpassed their single-game career highs.
Cawley scored four runs in a game, and junior Kelsey Dotson scored three of her own. Junior Michelle Huber also passed her career high for RBIs in a game with four.
As for production in the box, in just her second season, sophomore utility player Erin Lehman has been really comfortable at the plate. She is riding a six-game hitting streak and is batting .647 with 11 hits, seven runs and five RBIs in her past six games.
On Tuesday, despite Dotson’s 13th home run of the season, the Hoosiers fell to the Indiana State Sycamores 9-1, but the Hoosiers expect the offense to bounce back this weekend.
In a season that has been one of the Hoosiers’ best hitting seasons in program history, they are sitting near the top of numerous statistical categories, including runs scored, RBIs, walks and hits.
Dotson has 13 home runs this season, which is just three home runs shy of the Indiana single-season record of 16, set in 1994 by Michelle Venturella. Cawley also has 10 of her own home runs this season, which is good for second on the team.
Dotson joked at practice about how she and Cawley need to have a Sammy Sosa-Mark McGwire home run race.
“I think that would be cool,” Cawley said. “Quite frankly though, I think Dotson would beat me.”
With four guaranteed games left in the season, both players still have a good chance at breaking the single-season record.
The Hoosiers will look for any offense this weekend as they look to move ahead in seeding in preparation for the Big Ten Tournament. As of now, the Hoosiers are tied with Purdue for the 10th place in the conference. They could move ahead as far as sixth place by the end of the weekend.
“If you want to win the Big Ten Tournament, you’re going to have to beat Michigan or Minnesota,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “So you have to be ready to compete and beat whoever.”
The Ohio State Buckeyes, who sit in seventh place in the Big Ten, have fallen behind in the all-time series between the two schools 58-38-1.
However, the Buckeyes have narrowed the gap in recent years, including winning 10 of the past 15 games.
Game one has a ?scheduled first pitch of 6:00 p.m. Friday at Buckeye Field.
“I’m proud of my team and where we are right now,” Gardner said. “We just have to come out and compete and give ourselves opportunities to win.”
