IU softball played its first home games of the season Saturday and went 1-1 in the first day of the Hoosier Classic at Andy Mohr Field.
IU, now 12-14 on the season, defeated Bowling Green by mercy-rule in its first game before losing to the University of Illinois at Chicago in extra innings.
The 11-3 victory over Bowling Green came in six innings and marked the fourth consecutive win for sophomore pitcher Tara Trainer. Trainer pitched all six innings of the victory and recorded five strikeouts.
The Hoosiers trailed on two occasions, by scores of 1-0 and 2-1. However, IU ended the game on an 11-1 scoring run. This run was highlighted by five RBIs from senior utility player Erin Lehman.
Three of those five RBI came on a home run by Lehman, her second of the season, in the fourth inning.
The mercy-rule victory also came thanks to freshman utility player Gabbi Jenkins, who brought home two runs on a hit to give IU an eight-run lead in the sixth.
IU trailed by as many as seven runs against UIC, but was able to force extra innings with a late comeback.
Freshman pitcher Emily Goodin started the game for IU and pitched a total of five innings, allowing 10 hits and seven runs. She was removed in the fifth inning in favor of sophomore pitcher Emily Kirk, although Kirk lasted just one batter before Goodin reentered the game.
Goodin was pulled for good in the sixth as freshman pitcher Jessica Conenna entered, although the Hoosiers trailed 9-2 entering the bottom of that inning.
IU’s comeback began with a three-run home run by junior infielder Taylor Uden, who also hit a homer against Bowling Green earlier in the day.
After scoring four in the bottom of the sixth, IU plated three in the seventh to force extras. A two-run double by junior outfielder Sarah Thompson and an RBI single by freshman catcher Bella Norton tied the game.
The Hoosiers had two runners on base with no outs in the seventh and the game tied, but were unable to score the winning run.
UIC took advantage with a pair of RBI singles in the eighth to claim its first win against IU since 2014.
The Hoosiers will close the tournament with another doubleheader tomorrow against both teams.
Cameron Drummond
