Day one of the Kajikawa Classic is over, and it wasn’t exactly the start that the Hoosiers wanted to have, dropping both games to Western Michigan and Oregon State in Friday’s doubleheader.
Game one for the Hoosiers was a thrilling matchup against Western Michigan, a contest they lost 5-4.
The game started out on the right foot for the Hoosiers, scoring twice in the first inning on RBI singles from Shannon Cawley and CaraMia Tsirigos; scoring on the plays were Rebecca Blitz and Cawley.
But the Broncos answered the quick start from the Hoosiers with a three run second inning. Erin Binkowski hit an RBI single to score Keslea Cichocki, which was later followed by an RBI single by Taylor Sanicki which scored Binkowski to tie up the score at two a piece.
The Broncos then took the lead with a two out single from Gabby Shefka to make it 3-2 Broncos, scoring on the play was Sanicki.
Shefka would strike again in the top of the third inning with another two out RBI hit, this time a double to right field to extend the Broncos lead to 5-2, scoring on the play was Binkowski and Jenny Rohn.
After a rough second and third inning, Lora Olson would then settle in and pitch comfortably the rest of the game, retiring 13 of the next 14 batters onto her way to her first complete game of the season. However the Hoosiers would fall to the Broncos by a final score of 5-4.
The Hoosiers scoring their runs late in the game, Rachel O’Malley scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth inning and then Tsirigos hitting into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring Blitz, cutting the Broncos lead to one. But the Hoosiers would leave runners on second and third to end the game as Kassi Farmer grounded out to third base, and the Broncos walked away with a 5-4 victory.
Freshman Rebecca Blitz went 3-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases in her collegiate debut and Lora Olson, despite retiring 13 of her last 14 batters faced recorded her first loss of the season (0-1).
The Hoosiers finished off their double header against the Oregon State Beavers just two hours later.
The Beavers opened the game up open early, scoring four runs in the first off a Kori Nishitomi two run RBI double and a pair of RBI singles by Alysha Everett and CJ Chirichigno. A two run RBI ground-rule double in the second inning by Hannah Akamine extended the Beavers lead, 6-0.
IU would spend the rest of the game playing catch up; Brianna Meyer scored one unearned run in the second inning, and Cawley added a home run in the third inning.
After Rahcel O’Malley hit an RBI double in the fourth inning, scoring Dobson to cut the Beaver lead to 6-3, the momentum seemed to be shifting. However, the Beaver offense stuck again thanks to the bats of McKenna Arriola and Chirichigno. Oregon State was able to once again put the game out of reach, pushing their lead to 10-3.
The Hoosiers once again found a way to score some runs with their last at bats, but to no success, as the game was far to out of reach. Meyer’s RBI single and Oregon State’s error, which scored two unearned runs for the Hoosiers, was not enough to complete a comeback, as Oregon State knocked off Indiana by a final score of 10-6.
Miranda Tamayo gave up eight earned runs in just 5 1/3 innings pitched and picked up her first loss of the season (0-1).
Indiana starts off the season off 0-2 for the first time in six years. But the Hoosiers look to bounce back today as they play a doubleheader in day two of the Kajikawa Classic against San Diego and No. 16 Arizona State.
First pitch scheduled at 6:30 p.m. against San Diego, followed by a 9:00 p.m. first pitch against Arizona State.
