Indiana softball will look to put Monday’s loss behind it in a two-game weekend series against the University of Detroit Mercy on Friday and Saturday.
Indiana is coming off a 24-12 defeat to Oregon on Monday, where the Hoosiers gave up 21 total hits despite having a 7-0 lead after the first three innings of the game.
Despite the loss, the Hoosiers are in the midst of an excellent 2026 season. They currently hold a 25-7 overall record along with a 7-2 mark in conference play. Indiana is second in the Big Ten in total hits this season with 300. The Hoosiers are fourth in home runs with 50, and they are second in RBIs with 259. Indiana also has the conference’s second-best batting average, with a .369 mark as a team.
The Hoosiers are led offensively by a number of contributors, but one of the most consistent has been junior utility player Aly VanBrandt. VanBrandt leads Indiana in batting average at .464. She and senior catcher/utility player Avery Parker each have 10 home runs this season, the most on the team.
Parker is hitting .419 on the year and ranks third on the Hoosiers in RBIs with 38. She is also fourth in hits with 36.
Another emerging contributor is sophomore infielder Josie Bird, who has elevated her play in 2026. After hitting just 19 RBIs all of 2025, she now leads Indiana in RBIs this season with 42. Bird is batting .359 and is tied for second on the team in hits with 37. She also ranks third on the Hoosiers in long balls with nine.
On the mound, Indiana’s pitching rotation has generally succeeded despite the struggles against Oregon on Monday. Junior pitcher Brooke Mannon leads the Hoosiers with a 1.94 ERA and currently has the lowest WHIP in the rotation with a mark of 1.03. She has made 17 appearances with two starts and pitched 36 innings while racking up 29 strikeouts and giving up 21 hits and 10 earned runs.
Sophomore pitcher Ella Troutt has also played well in 2026. Her 40 strikeouts lead the team, and she currently holds a 2.74 ERA. She has given up 58 hits and 24 earned runs so far this season.
Detroit Mercy comes into the weekend 7-18 overall and 1-2 in Horizon League play. The Titans have picked up victories over Drake University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Butler University and Youngstown State University, as well as three consecutive wins over Alabama A&M University.
The Titans are paced by senior catcher/infielder Trinity Fessler, who leads the team in batting average with a .367 mark. She also leads the Titans in hits with 22 and is second on the team in RBIs with 12.
Freshman outfielder Hannah Schlacter has been Detroit Mercy’s most consistent power hitter on the year, as her five home runs are the most among the Titans. She is tied for third-most RBIs on the team with 11.
On the mound, freshman pitcher Savannah Schultz has the Titans’ lowest ERA at 5.23. She has made 21 appearances with nine starts, and she has thrown 51 strikeouts with 77 hits and 57 earned runs in 76.1 innings pitched.
Indiana will face Detroit Mercy at 6 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be played at Andy Mohr Field in Bloomington and streamed on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Joe Elms (@JoeElms1 and @jpelms@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana softball season.
