Indiana softball catcher Avery Parker clenched her fists as she rounded first base at Bob Pearl Softball Field in Iowa City, Iowa. Then, she pointed at head coach Shonda Stanton as she approached third, shook her hand and continued toward home plate where her teammates waited to clamor her in celebration. Moments earlier, Parker hit her 46th career home run, breaking the program record.
Three days off Indiana’s series win over Iowa, Parker and the Hoosiers returned to action Wednesday against Valparaiso University at Andy Mohr Field in Bloomington. The senior picked up where she left off Sunday. Stanton noticed Parker had a newfound sense of freedom at the plate. She launched two home runs to lead Indiana to a 14-1 run-rule victory over the Beacons.
“I can’t even appreciate what that’s like when you’re chasing history, and you want to perform so bad, and you’re so close to breaking it –– how that weighs on you –– and you press at the plate,” Stanton said postgame Wednesday. “And she’s handled it well. And then you could just see the freeness at the plate for her to be able to come up, she just makes it look easy.”
The Beacons got out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a solo home run. But Parker and the Hoosiers responded in the bottom of the first. Junior utility player Aly VanBrandt lined a leadoff double to left center, before junior utility player Alex Cooper reached on a bunt single.
With runners on second and third, Parker entered the batter’s box. The Westfield, Indiana, native took a first-pitch ball, before swinging on the next. She lifted the ball past the right field wall for a three-run home run to give the Hoosiers an early 3-1 lead.
The Hoosiers carried their explosive start into the second frame. Junior pitcher and utility player Brooke Mannon executed a bunt single to leadoff the inning, before VanBrandt and Cooper hit back-to-back triples to score two runs. Like she did in the first, Parker was aggressive early in the count at the plate. On the first pitch she saw, the catcher hit another home run. This one was a two-run shot to left center field to extend Indiana’s advantage to 7-1.
Indiana continued to hit for power in the third and fourth innings, picking up a home run in each. Mannon hit a solo shot to left center in the third.
But Stanton’s “favorite bomb of the day” came off the bat of sophomore infielder Josie Bird in the fourth. Early in her at-bat, Bird fouled a ball off her foot, causing her to step out and walk it off before re-entering. Stanton checked on her first baseman during this pause.
“I just wanted to give her a second,” Stanton said. “You could tell it rung her foot a little bit, and just reminding her to take her time. Sometimes you feel like you’re in a cage and everybody’s watching. And you gotta get back up there, and the game gets sped up, and it was nice for her to just take pause. I think that might have been my favorite bomb of the day.”
After Stanton’s check-in, Bird launched her 11th home run of the year and Indiana’s fourth of the game –– a two-run homer to left center field –– and pushed the Cream and Crimson’s lead to 10-1.
Senior outfielder Cassidy Kettleman and Cooper each contributed two more RBIs in the fourth inning. Meanwhile, freshman pitcher Aubree Hooks, sophomore pitcher Ella Troutt and Mannon controlled the circle for Indiana, holding the Beacons scoreless after the first inning to notch a 14-1 victory Wednesday.
But the night ultimately belonged to Parker, who led the Hoosiers with five RBIs just three days removed from breaking the program’s all-time home run record, previously taken by Taylor Minnick in 2025.
“She’s doing it all and we’re gonna miss her,” Stanton said of Parker. “But we’re glad we’re gonna hang on to her and just enjoy what we’re doing now. But that’s why we got her the captain’s jersey because we felt like she was someone that was very vocal, and able to speak the standard.”
Parker will look to extend her home run record when the Hoosiers next take the field against Michigan for a three-game series in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The series will begin at 6 p.m. Friday. It will continue at 2 p.m. Saturday, before concluding at 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be streamed on B1G+.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Joe Elms (@JoeElms1 and @jpelms@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana softball season.
