Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports softball

IU softball enters difficult tournament on hot streak

Senior Pitcher Miranda Tamayo winds up for a pitch during IU's first game against Purdue April 22, 2015 at Andy Mohr Field. IU won 6-3 after freshman Mena Fulton hit a 3-run home run during the last inning of the game.

With mixed results to start the season but riding a hot streak the last few games, IU will travel to the Texas A&M Invitational this weekend with a difficult slate of games ahead.

The headline opponent for the Hoosiers in College Station, Texas, will be the host and No. 16 Aggies. IU will play against Texas A&M on Friday and Saturday evening, twice against University of Texas at El Paso and once against Texas A&M at Corpus Christi during the tournament.

“Texas A&M is ranked, sure, but they’re not unbeatable,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “But we need to put a lot of good things together on the field to make it happen.”

IU has a 5-4 record this season after its first two tournaments provided varying levels of success. Most 
recently, the Hoosiers swept their final two games of the Panther Invitational last Saturday in Miami.

The first win of the day came in a 5-0 shutout against Delaware. The second game of the day resulted in a 4-1 win over Holy Cross in 12 innings, which sent the Hoosiers home on a high note.

In the game against Holy Cross, Senior catcher Kelsey Dotson smashed a walk-off, three-run home run for her first long ball of the year. Dotson hit 14 home runs and batted .349 last season for the Hoosiers.

She has gotten off to a slower start this year, batting .320 with one home run and 7 RBIs so far. However, Dotson said she is starting to settle in at the plate, as evidenced by her current seven-game hitting streak.

“Every year, you just have to get those first few at-bats out of the way and then it starts to get going,” 
Dotson said.

But Dotson’s bat isn’t the only asset she provides the team.

She is also the primary catcher in charge of leading IU’s inexperienced pitching staff through its first year of college softball.

Dotson said she has been nothing but impressed with the pitchers thus far, but she said against No. 21 California during the opening weekend showed just how passionate the young Hoosier arms are, especially freshman Josie Wood.

“We’re in a close game with the 21st-ranked team in the country, and Josie was out there getting kind of frustrated,” Dotson said. “I was just like, ‘Josie, you’re doing great, don’t worry.’ It’s great that she was that into it.”

Wood is fresh off a Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week award following a dominant 20.2 innings pitched in Miami last weekend that included all 12 innings in the win over Holy Cross. It will be up to her and counterparts freshman Tara Trainer and sophomore Emily Kirk to continue the solid pitching for IU.

After returning from 
Florida late Saturday night, Gardner gave the players Sunday and Monday off from practice, which she said was well deserved and much needed. Although the 
daunting task of two matchups with a ranked team lies ahead for the Hoosiers, Gardner said she wants to treat every game equally and focus on just the first game of the 
 weekend for now.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe