Indiana softball fought through several ups and downs and suffered a tough one-run loss to No. 21 California on Sunday en route to a 2-3 record this weekend at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona.
On Friday, the Hoosiers opened up their 2016 campaign with a 5-3 defeat at the hands of IU Coach Michelle Gardner’s former team, the Nevada Wolf Pack. In the second game of the day, IU fell behind early to Fresno State and was ultimately shut out 7-0.
Saturday marked the second day of collegiate action for freshmen pitchers Josie Wood and Tara Trainer, as Wood replaced fellow pitcher Emily Kirk to toss 5.1 scoreless innings in a 5-2 victory over Utah State.
Trainer threw a complete game with 10 strikeouts as IU took down Georgia State 4-1 in the second game of the day.
“I felt like we got off to a little bit of a slow start. I would’ve liked at least a split on Friday,” Gardner said. “But we came out Saturday and really just did things well all the way around.”
After a two-day stretch with highs and lows for the Hoosiers, they took on the Golden Bears of California on Sunday morning and battled back from a 6-3 deficit to tie the game up in the 5th inning on an RBI single from senior infielder Michelle Huber.
The Hoosiers ultimately gave up the game-winning run on an infield single later that same inning and fell 7-6 to the Golden Bears. Trainer came on to provide relief for Wood and didn’t allow a run in the final 2.1 innings of the game, but IU failed to produce a run in the last two frames.
Trainer spoke after the game about the ever-changing responsibilities of the pitching staff. All three Hoosier pitchers were used as both starters and relievers this weekend.
“It’s a little different mentality depending on what you’re doing,” Trainer said. “But we’re a pitching staff, so we need to help each other out whenever we can.”
Trainer struck out 20 batters on the weekend in a litle more than 13 innings of work, including posting the first 10-strikeout game by a Hoosier since April 2014.
The offense, which was the hallmark of last year’s team, struggled in its first weekend despite returning eight starters.
Junior infielder CaraMia Tsirigos led the team with a .417 batting average, along with a home run and three runs batted in. Fellow junior Erin Lehman also hit a home run in the tournament, and senior outfielder Shannon Cawley led IU in hits with six.
Wood said she was pleased both with how her first official college experience went and how the team gelled as the weekend progressed.
“There was a lot of learning involved, but I think we played pretty well,” Wood said. “Each day we got better, and it was nice to see how we came together.”
The Hoosiers have begun each of the past four season at the Kajikawa Classic, which is hosted by Arizona State. Last year they went 1-4 at the tournament, so they move on to their second tournament of 2016 in Florida next weekend already in a better position than last year.
IU will play in Miami at the Panther Invitational Tournament next weekend. Gardner said she is focused on limiting walks for opponents and awakening what she knows can be the team’s strongest asset — the offense.
“We obviously can still make some better pitches, I want to really keep attacking the zone,” Gardner said. “And on the offensive side we certainly have work to do. We need to score some more runs.”
