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Softball
Softball to face Big Ten champ

Northwestern is not a school known for its athletic dominance. But softball is a different story.

The Hoosiers (5-24, 1-3) will compete against Northwestern (20-7, 6-0) in two games this weekend in Evanston, Ill.

The Wildcats are the reigning Big Ten champions and come into the game with an undefeated conference record and a No. 7 national ranking. Senior shortstop Tammy Williams is a key reason for the Wildcats’ success.

Williams is hitting .506 with a slugging percentage of .910 for the Wildcats. The senior is also one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year award for the third year in a row.

IU coach Michelle Gardner said Williams won’t be her team’s only problem.

“Tammy isn’t their only arsenal. That’s the problem,” Gardner said.

With a .297 team batting average, the Wildcats have had few problems out-hitting teams.
 
Wildcats junior pitcher Lauren Delaney (19-6) will be looking to get her 20th win against the Hoosiers on Saturday. Delaney’s 2.13 ERA gives the low-scoring Hoosiers little room for error.

“We have to prepare for what she does well, which is good speed, good movement and good location,” Gardner said.

Sophomore Sara Olsen (4-6) will start on the mound for the Hoosiers. Gardner said she has emphasized to her team the need to limit mistakes.

“We’ve got to stay within ourselves and play clean defense,” Gardner said. “We need to have good pitching and put the ball where we want it.”

– By Connor O’Gara

Men’s golf
IU set for ‘Masters of college golf’
 
The IU men’s golf team, which has faced stiff competition throughout the season, will compete this weekend in its toughest challenge yet. 

IU will attend the United States Collegiate Championship, known by players and coaches as “the Masters of college golf.” The Hoosiers will be the first Big Ten team to compete in the tournament in Atlanta.

Called the most nationally representative tournament by the USCC, the Hoosiers will join 10 of the top 15 finishers from the 2008 NCAA Finals for the title.

Included in the field are 2008 NCAA Champions UCLA and No. 5 Stanford, both of which the Hoosiers defeated en route to a second-place finish at last week’s Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
 
IU enters the tournament with recent recognition from around the college golf world. Golfweek named IU the Team of the Week, and freshman David Erdy was named Big Ten Men’s Golfer of the Week.

– By Ryan Winn

Men’s Tennis
Tennis to play season’s first away matches in the Big Tens

Losing its first Big Ten match of the season Tuesday to No. 12 Illinois, IU (11-9, 3-1) hopes to recover with wins against two ranked Big Ten opponents.

The team’s first away match against a conference opponent begins against Minnesota on Friday, and the second takes place against Iowa on Sunday.

“Anytime you go on the road in the Big Ten, it’s very difficult,” IU assistant coach Scott Linn said. “We’ll have to be a very unified team to be successful, because both matches will be tough.”

No. 33 Minnesota, like IU, is 3-1 in conference play.

“Both teams are playing at home so they’re going to come out fired up, and we have to be ready for that,” Linn said.

Both No. 43 IU and Minnesota are coming off crushing losses to top 20 opponents.
Minnesota and IU also have one ranked player on each team, with Minnesota freshman No. 60 Ishay Hadash and No. 85 IU sophomore Lachlan Ferguson.

Ferguson, who has beaten four ranked opponents in the last three months, is ranked for the second time this season.

Linn said IU will need a determined mind-set this weekend.

“We’ve got to come out believing that we can win the matches,” he said.

After Friday’s match, the Hoosiers will continue Sunday at Iowa. Coming off two conference losses to Ohio State and Penn State, No. 64 Iowa is 2-2 in the Big Ten.

The cream and crimson are 45-16 all-time against the Hawkeyes.

“We’re a good enough team to beat the top teams that we’ve lost to this year,” Linn said, “It’s just a matter of the guys saying to each other, ‘Hey, we’re good enough to win this match.’”

– By Stephanie Kuzydym

Track and Field
Second scored meet for comes in invitational
 
Scored meets are usually saved for postseason play in track and field.

However, the Hoosiers will participate in a rare in-season scored meet Saturday when they head to Eugene, Ore., for the Pepsi Invitational.

Not only will the meet be scored, the Hoosiers will play against top competition.

Oregon, which won the men’s indoor national championship, will be joined by a Kansas State men’s team that finished 16th at the national championship, one spot behind the Hoosiers. Utah State, which placed 59th in the national championship, will also compete.

Oregon’s women’s team placed ninth at the national championship, while the Hoosiers placed 56th. Kansas State and Utah State did not score.

IU coach Ron Helmer said playing against top competitors will be a good measuring stick for where his team is.

“(This meet) gives us a chance to go up against three very good teams in a very controlled event,” he said.

The meet will be televised in the northwest on Comcast SportsNet Northwest.
“(The TV coverage) provides West Coast exposure,” said Helmer, “and in terms of recruiting, it opens up that part of the country for us.”  

– By Ari Shifron

Water Polo
Hoosiers look to finish regular season strongly

With the Collegiate Water Polo Association Western Division championships about two weeks away, the IU water polo team will go to Pennsylvania  to finish off its regular season this weekend.

The Hoosiers will travel to Erie, Pa., on Friday night, where they will finish the CWPA Western Division schedule against Gannon and Mercyhurst. 

On Saturday morning they will take on Salem International in Erie before heading to Lewisburg, Pa., to play George Washington later that evening. Rounding out the weekend, the Hoosiers will play Bucknell on Sunday in Lewisburg, Pa.

IU coach Barry King said he doesn’t think the extra travel Saturday will affect his team.
 
“We have traveled in all kinds of various manners,” King said. “We are the planes, trains and automobiles team, and I think we’re good at traveling and that lessens the effect.”

Even with the extra travel, King said he thinks playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is a good preparation for IU.

“That’s the way the conference tournament is,” King said. “You’re playing one game a day for that extended period of time, and you have some down time in between contests.”

– By Andrew Wyder

Women’s Tennis
IU searches for its first home Big Ten win

Hoosiers and Hawkeyes and Badgers, oh my.

This weekend No. 41 IU will challenge No. 69 Iowa at 11 a.m. Saturday and No. 65 Minnesota at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Center.

“Both these teams are a little unpredictable,” IU coach Lin Loring said. “They have had some hard-to-explain losses. They’ve (had) some really good wins. Teams like that are a little hard to prepare for because you’re not sure who’s really going to show up.”

The Hoosiers (10-7, 2-2) are heading into the match with momentum after a 4-3 win against in-state rival Purdue. Both Iowa and Minnesota suffered losses in their last matches against Big Ten opponents, Penn State and Ohio State, respectively.

Loring said the only thing that concerns him is the academic work his team had this week.

“We’ve got a lot of kids missing practice, and I can tell they’re staying up late and a little stressed out from tests, so hopefully we’ll get those behind us and be able to concentrate on our tennis,” Loring said.

The cream and crimson’s matchup against the Hawkeyes is IU’s first home Big Ten match. IU, 2-2 in Big Ten action, has a bit of an edge against Iowa, 2-3.

The Hawkeyes venture to Bloomington with a lone ranked freshman, No. 87 Sonja Molnar.

The weekend competition increases against the Badgers. Minnesota, 2-3 in Big Ten play, has the No. 52 doubles team. But IU has the advantage in matches, 29-6 all-time against the Badgers.

“We had very good matches with both of them last year, so we know that we’re going to be in for a fight in both matches,” Loring said.

– By Stephanie Kuzydym