After going 1-2 during the week, the IU softball team will welcome the Michigan State Spartans to Andy Mohr Field for a three-game series, wrapping up home play for the Hoosiers.
“We didn’t play like we know we can, but I am very proud of how they competed,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said.
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series between the two schools at 60-50, with the last meeting resulting in a 7-3 win for IU.
The pitching for IU has come along as of late, as the senior Miranda Tamayo picked up her fifth win of the season in the Hoosiers lone win of the week. Tamayo pitched a complete game, during which she gave up two earned runs on nine hits and collected four strikeouts.
Freshman Mena Fulton hit a three-run walk off home run to give IU the victory against their conference rivals the Purdue Boilermakers. She tied her career-high in RBIs with three, a record she set March 7 in a 10-7 victory against Austin Peay.
“She is a Bloomington native,” Gardner said. “So she knows very well about the IU-Purdue rivalry.”
Fulton was the second Hoosier to go long in this game as junior Kelsey Dotson hit her team-leading 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Dotson has had the best year of her career, surpassing every statistical category from last year’s totals. With two weeks still left in the season, she has recorded a team-high 41 RBIs and eight doubles, which is good for second best on the team behind freshman Taylor Uden with 10.
Senior Shannon Cawley sits behind Dotson for the home run and RBI lead with nine home runs and 37 RBIs and is tied for third with freshman Erin Lehman and junior Michelle Huber with seven doubles.
Uden also made her collegiate debut on the mound this week against Ball State. She recorded one strikeout but surrendered two hits and two earned runs, including giving up the walk-off grand slam for the Cardinals in five innings.
Play against the Michigan State Spartans will begin Friday night, with a first pitch scheduled to take place at 6 p.m.
