IU softball’s 2017 season was marred by inconsistencies.
Whether it was in the circle or at the plate, the Hoosiers struggled to turn in complete performances each weekend.
After posting a 29-25 record in 2016, the team’s first winning season since 2012, IU took a step backwards this year by finishing with a 23-31 overall record.
More than anything, though, it was a lack of timely hitting that repeatedly hurt IU.
Of IU’s 31 losses, 23 came in games where IU scored three runs or fewer.
Compared to the 235 runs scored in the 2016 season, IU’s offensive decline was noticeable. IU scored just 209 runs this season, the fifth-fewest in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers lost three important offensive players, outfielder Shannon Cawley , catcher Kelsey Dotson and utility player Michelle Huber, to graduation last offseason.
While Huber is still with the team as a graduate assistant, IU initially struggled to replace the presence of those three players in the batting order.
Junior utility player Aimilia McDonough enjoyed a hot start to the season, but her offensive numbers declined as the season progressed. The opposite occurred for freshman utility player Gabbi Jenkins.
Jenkins enjoyed a strong finish to the season to end with a .310 batting average and the third-most hits on the team with 48.
IU’s issues at the plate were accompanied by an injury-riddled start to its season inside the circle.
A season-ending injury suffered by sophomore pitcher Josie Wood, who posted a 3.69 ERA and 13 wins last season, meant Coach Michelle Gardner had to dip into the high school ranks for a replacement.
Freshman pitcher Emily Goodin, who graduated from Evansville Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Indiana, in December, joined the team and enjoyed a stellar debut season. Goodin was thrust into the team’s No. 2 pitcher role, behind sophomore Tara Trainer, after sophomore Emily Kirk broke her nose against Seattle in the second game of the season.
Goodin compiled a 3.85 ERA and threw three complete games, including a no-hitter, in 29 appearances.
Kirk eventually returned to the IU rotation and threw nearly 60 innings for the team, although she managed just two wins.
Despite IU’s team ERA jumping from 3.54 in 2016 to 3.91 this season, Trainer improved her personal numbers.
The native of Lebanon, Ohio, averaged just under a strikeout per inning over her 174.2 innings pitched in 2017. Her 13-17 record this season gave her 25 career wins as a Hoosier.
Despite the performances of Trainer and Goodin, IU’s pitching faltered at key moments.
Losses to Penn State, Purdue, then-No. 20 Kentucky, then-No. 19 Michigan and the season-ending loss to Michigan State all occurred in part due to late-game runs allowed.
IU led Michigan State 7-4 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament before Trainer allowed four runs to the Spartans in the sixth inning.
IU also found it difficult when playing against quality opponents. Only six of IU’s 23 wins came against teams that finished with a winning record.
There were a few bright spots for IU during the season. The win on April 15 at then-No. 25 Ohio State marked IU’s first win against a ranked team since 2013.
As tough as the Hoosiers found replacing players to be this season, an even greater challenge awaits Gardner during the offseason.
Like last season, IU’s entire pitching staff returns, including Wood. However, IU will lose four seniors, most notably infielder CaraMia Tsirigos and utility player Erin Lehman.
Lehman was known for her impressive defensive plays as a four-year starter at second base for the Hoosiers.
Tsirigos, usually the team’s designated hitter, earned First Team All-Big Ten honors this season, becoming the first Hoosier to do so since 2012.
IU will have to replace both of these positions, as well as successfully readjust its pitching rotation, to get back on track next season.
