Indiana State allowed just three hits while recording seven strikeouts as it earned a 9-1 victory against IU in just six innings of play.
The Sycamores threatened to take the early lead in the bottom of the first inning, but a failed suicide squeeze play ended the inning.
It was the Hoosiers who struck first in the top of the second inning on a lead off home run from junior Kelsey Dotson — her 13th of the ?year — to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead. The home run from Dotson extends her hitting streak to four games.
However, Dotson’s homer would be the only run the Hoosiers would be able to push across the board as the Sycamores went on to score nine runs in the next five innings to win the game.
The Sycamores got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. An attempted bunt scored a run and almost allowed another run to score with an error from the IU defense, but a great defensive play from the Hoosiers picked off the Sycamore runner at the plate.
After the great defensive play, the Hoosiers would be taken off guard again by the next batter, who attempted yet another suicide squeeze. This time she laid it down perfectly as the Sycamores took the lead 2-1.
In the fifth inning, the Sycamores would load the bases on three straight singles to begin the frame. A two-run RBI single, another bunt to score a run and a pair of RBI base knocks increased Indiana State’s lead to 7-1, putting the game out of reach.
Sophomore Erin Lehman got things started in the sixth inning for the Hoosiers with a double to center, thus extending her hitting streak to six games.
IU then got three ?consecutive outs, leaving Lehman stranded at second. This left the score 7-1 as the Sycamores had the chance to end the game in their sixth inning at-bats.
A single and another defensive throwing error put an Indiana State runner on second, who was later plated on a single that deflected off of senior Lora Olson’s glove. The Sycamores took the 8-1 lead, one run away from ending the game on the run rule.
Olson tossed 5.2 innings, giving up nine runs — seven earned — on 15 hits with two strikeouts.
Sycamore pitcher junior Taylor Lockwood tossed a complete game, giving up just one run with seven strikeouts and limiting the Hoosiers to just three hits the entire game.
Looking forward to the Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers failed to move up any spots. They will have one last chance as they travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the last regular season series of the year against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
