After a Big Ten Tournament run that ended with a loss to Michigan in the final, Indiana softball squeaked into the NCAA Tournament field as one of the last four teams. Now making their second consecutive tournament appearance, the Hoosiers faced off against the University of Washington in the Regional opener Friday.
Despite leading 6-4 in the top of the sixth inning, Team 51 fell to the Huskies, 8-7, at Missouri Softball Stadium in Colombia, Missouri, on Friday.
“We hit the ball well today, the defensive miscues is what, I felt, cost us at times,” Indiana softball head coach Shonda Stanton said postgame.
While senior shortstop Brooke Benson committed just seven errors over the previous 58 games this season, she racked up a pair of costly errors in the bottom of the sixth inning that allowed Washington to take a 7-6 lead.
Sophomore catcher Avery Parker responded in the top of the seventh, tying the contest at 7 with her RBI double to left field.
With Parker, the go-ahead run, standing on second base, freshman infielder Aly VanBrandt flied out to center field in the following at-bat to send the game to the bottom of the seventh.
As the Hoosiers failed to take the lead, the Huskies pounced.
With runners on first and second, Washington freshman infielder Giselle Alvarez stepped to the plate. She doubled down the right field line, driving in the game-winning run.
Although the Regional is double elimination, Indiana is now on the brink of elimination.
The other two schools in the Regional, the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska Omaha, faced off after the Hoosiers’ Friday contest. Despite No. 7 Missouri being the favorite, it fell 3-1 to Omaha in a nine-inning affair.
Indiana is now set to face off with Missouri at 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday in an elimination game.
If the Hoosiers emerge victorious against the Tigers, they will then face off against the loser of the 3 p.m. ET matchup between Omaha and Washington at 8 p.m. ET.
