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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

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IU softball playing well ahead of Big Ten tournament

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It has been a roller coaster season for IU, but as the team prepares to begin the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at Penn State, IU Coach Michelle Gardner said she is relieved and excited to be where she is.

“I’m thrilled to be in the Big Ten tournament, I’m looking forward to a great weekend in a great venue,” Gardner said. “We’ve really had some people step up toward the end of the season, so we’re feeling good.”

IU (28-24, 10-13) will kick off its tournament schedule at 8 p.m. Thursday when it plays Wisconsin (28-23-1, 11-11-1).

IU won four of its final six games to end the season, most recently taking two of three at Maryland this past weekend. An offensive explosion has keyed the Hoosiers’ recent success.

Senior outfielder and infielder Michelle Huber won Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting .571 with two home runs, seven runs scored and seven RBIs against Maryland. As a team, the Hoosiers scored 28 runs in the three games.

“We knew we needed to come out and play well before the tournament,” Huber said. “And we had that momentum from the week before so it helped us keep rolling.”

IU has not played Wisconsin since 2013, and Gardner said it’s a bit energizing to see a new opponent for the first time in the Big Ten Tournament. As the eighth and ninth seeds, the two teams are similar, with nearly identical records.

Sophomore utility player Kelsey Jenkins paces the Badgers with a .411 batting average and a team-high seven home runs. Junior utility player Chloe Miller carries a .358 average into the tournament, as well as seven long balls of her own.

In the circle, a pair of pitchers have combined for the majority of the innings for Wisconsin. Senior Taylor Paige-Stewart has thrown about half the team’s innings and has posted a 2.61 ERA, the sixth-best mark in the Big Ten. Junior Kirsten Stevens, who has started 31 games this season, has a 3.19 ERA.

The Badgers’ staff ERA of 3.21 is fourth best in the Big Ten, and slightly better than IU’s 3.49 team ERA. Offensively, the teams have had similar seasons as well, with Wisconsin batting .280 and the Hoosiers carrying a .271 average.

A daunting task awaits the winner of the first round matchup, as No. 1 seed Michigan will take on the victor Friday night. The Wolverines (44-4, 21-2) won the regular season title for the ninth year in a row and swept the Hoosiers in Bloomington earlier this season.

However, Gardner is not looking ahead of IU’s first game as she knows Wisconsin will present a tough test right out of the gate. She said the team has been through a rough stretch in the middle of Big Ten play, but said she’s excited about what they’ve done the past two weekends.

“We came out last weekend and did some things offensively that we’d struggled with in the middle of the season,” Gardner said. “So coming out strong against Wisconsin is something we really need to do.”

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