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(03/18/13 8:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosier Classic marked a new beginning for the IU softball team this past weekend as it played for the first time on Andy Mohr Field. The Hoosiers completed a clean sweep of their opponents in the stadium they’ll now be calling home, going 3-0 for the weekend.The Hoosier Classic was also the home opener for the IU softball team after playing its first 25 games of the season on the road.“They finally got to sleep in their own beds,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said of the team’s first weekend home. “Notoriously we’ve always played better at home, but the best part about it was having friends and family there and everyone getting to experience the first weekend together.”In Andy Mohr Field’s inaugural game against Toledo on Friday, the Hoosiers came out swinging, posting 12 hits and nine runs to top the Rockets 9-1. Eight of the team’s runs came in the first inning alone, with freshman catcher and third baseman Kelsey Dotson posting the ninth and final run for the team in the third inning with the new stadium’s first ever homerun.“Once we got on the field and were able to see what kind of field we’d be playing on, we wanted to protect our stadium,” senior outfielder Samantha Heyman said. “We came out and did a really good job.”The team continued its dominant performance with a 2-1 win against Central Michigan Friday night, playing under the stadium lights for the first time. The Hoosiers’ two runs for the game came from solo homeruns by senior infielder Amanda Wagner and sophomore infielder Brianna Meyer. “It reenergized us getting to play in front of our home crowd and gave us a lot of drive and momentum,” Wagner said. “I just tried to play the ball well, just trying to do what I can with my bat.”Capping off their undefeated weekend, the Hoosiers posted an 8-0 win against Illinois-Chicago on Saturday. Six different Hoosiers connected on hits to give the team a total of seven hits for the game.Sunday play for the Hoosier Classic was canceled due to cold temperatures. With no matchup against Wright State, IU ended the weekend without a loss.“We came out and did what we had to do,” Heyman said. “We came out really energetic from the beginning, and I think we did an overall great job.”Senior pitcher Meaghan Murphy collected two wins during the weekend against Toledo and UIC, improving her record to 8-8. Sophomore pitcher Lora Olson claimed the other win of the weekend against Central Michigan.The trio of Murphy, Olson and freshman Brooke Boetjer combined to strike out 15 on the weekend. The team only allowed two runs in the Hoosier Classic, improving its earned run average.“We played great defense. My pitchers did a great job and did the things they need to do,” Gardner said. “I think as much as I attribute (the team’s success) to defense, I’d attribute it to pitching.”The Hoosiers are now posting a batting average of .258 after cranking out 19 runs during the weekend.“I definitely think we had a solid performance by our pitchers, defense and offense,” Wagner said. “All the components were clicking. It was just an overall great team weekend.”IU improved its overall record to 15-13, with just one game remaining before the team moves into Big Ten play.“All the way around it was good to be able to be at home,” Gardner said. “It gave a little spark that they needed and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
(03/18/13 8:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Friday was a day full of promise for IU softball. It was the team’s home opener, the end to its six consecutive weeks on the road and the beginning of its own softball tournament. But most importantly, it was the day they would finally get to play on the brand new Andy Mohr Field.“(The team) was in seventh heaven, it was absolutely amazing,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said of the Hoosiers’ first time on the field. “The kids were so excited. It was an amazing experience for them all the way around.”Andy Mohr Field was named in honor of a major gift from Mohr, the CEO of Plainfield-based Andy Mohr Automotive Group. The complex is being funded through private donations and athletic department funds.Ground was broken on the new field on May 7, 2012. Construction was a race to the finish to have the stadium up and running for the 2013 softball home opener. “It’s been such a long time coming,” senior outfielder Samantha Heyman said. “Seeing the actual field and being on it was kind of like a dream come true for us. I thought everything seemed perfect.”As one of the southern-most schools in the Big Ten, IU is one of the most softball friendly schools in the conference, giving it the ability to take the field earlier in the spring and practice later into the fall. The new state-of-the-art Andy Mohr Field will aid the team in recruiting top prospects, and will enable IU to be the host of Big Ten and NCAA tournaments due to its equipped floodlights. This could set the stage for the Hoosiers to become a nationally-recognized program. The building of a new facility allowed the program to add year-round training resources, such as indoor batting cages. The stadium also boasts new turf field, locker rooms, dugouts, warm-up areas, press boxes and a scoreboard, as well as many other features. “It’s got everything we need to be a competitive team and a competitive program, and I think it’s going to do wonders for us,” senior infielder Amanda Wagner said.Andy Mohr Field also benefits fans with restrooms located in the complex. In the team’s former stadium, there were no restrooms, leaving fans with the only option being to walk to the baseball stadium next door in order to use the restrooms. The facility also features parking, stadium chair seating and concessions. “I’ve had compliments on everything about it,” Gardner said. “The people truly enjoyed it.”The Andy Mohr Field replaces the IU Softball Field that was located off Fee Lane. The new stadium is located on the north edge of the IU athletics campus, northeast of the Mellencamp Pavilion.The team was host for the Hoosier Classic in their new stadium this past weekend, playing the inaugural game against Toledo on Friday.“It was good for us (getting to play at home) because being on a new field picked up the morale,” Heyman said. “I’m just glad it’s up and running, and we’re able to play on it.”
(03/08/13 3:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Softball team hits the road for the fifth consecutive weekend to compete in the Tiger Classic in Nashville, Tenn. March 8-10. The Classic marks the Hoosier’s final tournament on the road before their March 15 home opener.The team opens the tournament with a March 8 game against Nebraska-Omaha at 11 a.m. This is the Mavericks’ first season playing at the Division I level, with the team posting a 17-2 record so far. The Hoosiers complete their March 8 doubleheader with a matchup at 3 p.m. against Alabama State.Another doubleheader is set for March 9, with the team taking on Mississippi Valley State at 6:30 p.m. and Tennessee State at 8:30 p.m. They finish off their weekend of play with a game against Saint Louis at 12:30 p.m. March 10.“Anybody can beat anybody,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said of the competition the Hoosiers will face this weekend. “I think we need to prepare for them the same way we have prepared every single weekend.”Coming off an 0-5 weekend in Fullerton, Calif., Gardner said the team is hoping to see a better outcome in the Tiger Classic.“We need to come out and we need to attack early,” Gardner said. “We need to score first, because I think that really will put us in a better place. We just need to come out and play, and continue to work on the things that we’ve been working on in practice.”Senior infielder Amanda Wagner said the team is hoping to get back to their level of play they displayed at the Georgia Tech Classic earlier this season.“We need an overall solid performance by everybody, starting from pitching to defense to hitting,” Wagner said. “I think if we can get at least two of the components clicking, we’ll be OK.”Wagner scored two of the team’s seven total runs in the Easton Invitational, as she continues to play a key role in the team’s hitting game. In 19 at bats this season, she has posted nine hits and five runs. Wagner is now posting a .474 batting average for her senior campaign.Though the team has played in four tournaments in as many weeks, Gardner said the group is in a good place mentally, despite a few setbacks. “It’s kind of the nature of the beast,” Gardner said of the ups and downs in recent weeks of play. “The truth of the matter is this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we’re now getting in the middle leg of the marathon. We really need to stay focused on what we can control and move forward.”The Hoosier’s go into the Tiger Classic with a 10-10 record on the season as they look to close out their five weekends on the road on a positive note.“I hope to be competitive,” Gardner said. “Obviously I always want to win, but we need to be competitive this weekend, and I think we’re going to have a much better outcome.”
(03/04/13 4:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU softball team ran into tough competition at the Easton Invitational in Fullerton, Calif., during the weekend, going 0-5 against a field containing three top-25 teams. “We have some things to work on,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said of the weekend play. “I think we made some good plays, we had some really good innings; we just have to be able to put it all together.”The Hoosiers’ weekend started off with a 10-3 loss to Cal Poly on Friday. The team ended the day’s doubleheader with an 8-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton. Junior outfielder Jenna Abraham, freshman infielder Michelle Huber, junior infielder Shelby Gogreve, sophomore Shannon Cawley and senior infielder Amanda Wagner all drove in runs for the Hoosiers in their first day of the Invitational.Saturday gameplay began with a rematch against No. 8 California, in which the Hoosiers were dealt a 9-1 loss. Wagner scored the lone run for the team against the Golden Bears. The Hoosiers continued their Saturday doubleheader with a battle against No. 24 Oregon State, nearly pulling off an upset. The game went into extra innings, with both teams posting one run, before the Beavers sealed the deal with a walk-off single to secure the 2-1 win. Huber posted the lone run for the Hoosiers, as they continued to struggle with hitting in the Invitational.The Hoosiers closed out the tournament with a rematch against No. 15 Stanford, but fell to the Cardinal 7-0. “I think we did a lot of great things (this weekend),” Gogreve said. “Obviously we didn’t have the outcome we wanted, but we are growing in every tournament we play. Taking these losses, we realized that what we need to do is bring our moments of greatness together.”The trip out West provided many team members the chance to play in their home state again, as five of the Hoosier softball players are from the Golden State.Gogreve, who is from South Pasadena, Calif., said she is always excited to play in California in front of friends and family.“It feels incredible,” Gogreve said. “It’s nice to come home and feel like you’re performing for the people you love a lot.”Gogreve said the warm weather of Fullerton was also a plus for the team, where they were able to enjoy temperatures reaching all the way up to 82 degrees.While the team dropped to 10-10 on the season, pitchers Lora Olson and Meaghan Murphy also drop to 5-4 and 5-6, respectively. The Hoosiers are now posting an earned run average of 3.28 for the season, as well as a batting average of .238 after scoring seven total runs over the weekend.The Hoosiers return to action March 8 in Nashville, Tenn., for their first game of the Tiger Classic against Nebraska-Omaha.“We’re going to focus on the same things we focused on last week,” Gardner said going into this week’s practices. “We just have to keep working to put everything together.”
(02/28/13 8:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU softball team will have traveled 10,460 miles in four weeks of play after this weekend’s Easton Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. The Hoosiers are geared up to take on three top-25-ranked opponents, two of which they have already faced earlier this season.The team takes on Cal Poly at 2:15 p.m. Friday, followed by a matchup with Cal State Fullerton at 6:15 p.m. At noon Saturday, the team has a rematch with No. 8 California, who dealt them a 9-1 loss Feb. 10. They finish off the day’s double-header with a 4:30 p.m. game against No. 24 Oregon State. The team completes its weekend of play at 11:30 a.m. Sunday with a game against No. 16 Stanford, who dealt them an 8-2 loss Feb. 9.“The biggest challenge is always facing top-25 teams, and we have three of them, but Cal Poly and Fullerton are both very good teams,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “We just have to show up and play.”Despite having to travel more than 2,000 miles to reach Fullerton, the team said they are excited to be playing in warm weather and be in the home state of many players. Senior Breanna Saucedo, senior Samantha Heyman, junior Shelby Gogreve, sophomore Miranda Tamayo and sophomore Brianna Meyer all reign from the Golden State.“There are so many people from California (on the team) and we have all been looking forward to this trip,” sophomore and pitcher Lora Olson said. “We’re going to have a lot of fans there, so that will definitely help us.”The team is trying to stay focused and not let the four consecutive weekends of travel wear them down, Gardner said. During this week’s practice, they went back to the basics, working on fine-tuning the fundamentals for this weekend’s invitational.“We kind of went back to some mechanics and basics, just because I felt like last week we just weren’t on,” Gardner said. “It’s good when you’re not on and you can still win three games, but I want to get back to what’s right.”Pitching has played an important role in the team’s success in recent games. Prior to the Sunday game against Pacific, the team had only allowed four runs and a .99 earned run average at last weekend’s NFCA Leadoff Classic. They came out of the weekend posting a still solid 2.65 earned run average.“(We’re) focusing on only controlling what we can control,” Olson said. “My expectations are just to have fun, play loose, and make some good things happen against some really good competition that we’re going to see out there.”Olson has played an integral role in the pitching of the team thus far, posting a 5-2 record and a 1.83 earned run average on the season.The Hoosiers go into the Easton Invitational hoping to improve upon their 10-5 record. “We actually have fared well in California (in the past), just because of a lot of family around there, and the kids are excited,” Gardner said. “Of course we always want to win, but I just want to come out and play well.”
(02/25/13 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The NFCA Leadoff Classic presented a challenge for the IU softball team this weekend in Clearwater, Fla., as the team’s six-game winning streak was brought to an end. The Hoosiers came out with a 3-2 record for the weekend, however. “For three games we did enough to win a ball game,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “We didn’t hit well this weekend. We’re a little disappointed, but we still came out with three wins.”The team struggled early with a loss in extra innings to the University of Central Florida in their first game. Senior Amanda Wagner had a strong performance in posting her third consecutive multi-hit game, but the effort was not enough to avoid an eventual 3-2 loss.In the team’s second game of the Feb. 22 doubleheader, the Hoosiers came out on top with a 5-1 win over Massachusetts. Sophomore pitcher Lora Olson allowed one run in seven innings, striking out seven hitters to tie her career high. “Coming back after our first loss against UCF to beat Massachusetts (was a high point for the weekend),” Wagner said. “The way we bounced back to compete for more games was good.”The team continued its winning streak by defeating James Madison 3-1 on Saturday. IU secured its third win of the tournament the same afternoon with a 1-0 finish over Fordham. Junior Meaghan Murphy held the Rams scoreless in her second shutout this season.On Feb. 24, in their fifth game of the tournament the Hoosiers fell short against Pacific with a 9-3 loss.“The first game was difficult, but [Pacific] was the hardest because it’s the fifth team and everyone’s a little bit tired and a little bit sore,” Gardner said. “We never really adjusted and then we gave up a ton.“We’ve got a good group and they’re working hard. We just didn’t click this weekend.”Gardner cited the team’s lack of timely hits as a big difference in the outcome of the NFCA Leadoff Classic versus the previous weekend in Atlanta, where the Hoosiers went 5-0 in three days of play.Though the Hoosiers had weak points, pitching remained a strong point, as they only allowed three runs or less in all but one game.The team will return to action March 1 for the DeMarini Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. “We’re going to work on executing at the plate this week,” Gardner said. “We just have to be better all around, and we will.”
(02/22/13 1:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mostly sunny skies and 80-degree temperatures await the IU softball team for this weekend’s NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The tournament marks the Hoosiers’ third weekend of play in three consecutive weeks. The Hoosiers start tournament play 1 p.m. Friday against UCF. Following its matchup with the 5-6 Knights, the team will then take on 0-3 Massachusetts at 6 p.m. Coming off of their undefeated record at the Georgia Tech Classic, the Hoosiers are looking for a repeat of their 5-0 run last weekend.“We have such momentum going into this weekend because we know we can win and we know we can sweep,” freshman catcher and first baseman Kassi Farmer said. Four of Farmer’s six runs on the season came at last weekend’s tournament, and the freshman is currently posting a .357 batting average.Hitting was a strong point for the team as a whole last weekend, as it scored 28 runs in the five games played. The Hoosiers are posting an overall batting average of .290, while holding opponents to .284.Pitching has also been a key element to the team’s recent success. While the Hoosiers allowed 32 combined runs at the Feb. 8-10 Kajikawa Tournament, they only allowed five total runs in the Georgia Tech Classic. The group is now posting a 3.08 earned run average.“Coming off a weekend where we saw a lot of success, we need to come out and make sure that we’re doing the same things and get better each weekend,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. The Hoosiers continue tournament play on Saturday with a 10:30 a.m. game against 4-1 James Madison, followed by a 1 p.m. matchup with 4-1 Fordham. They finish off the weekend with a Sunday matchup against 6-2 Pacific at 10 a.m.While there is no clear front-runner in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, the Hoosiers are preparing for tough matchups every game. “It just depends on who shows up to play,” Gardner said of this weekend’s competition. “I really want to make sure that we pitch well, play good defense and execute at the plate. The bottom line is we just have to continue to get better every week.”The team is hoping to have a repeat clean sweep performance and improve upon their current 7-3 record.“Basically, we just have the same focus of going pitch by pitch, game by game, focusing one thing at a time and just trying to get the win,” Farmer said.
(02/18/13 5:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU softball team swept the field Feb. 15-17 at the Georgia Tech Classic in Atlanta. The Classic marked the team’s second weekend of play of the 2013 season, in which it drastically turned around its previous losing record.The Hoosiers came out of the weekend 5-0 with two victories over Marshall and Georgia Tech each and a shutout win against Miami (Ohio).“We’ve done exactly what we needed to do to win,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “We’ve had good pitching, solid defense and just played well all the way around the field.”One of the standout performances of the weekend was junior pitcher Meaghan Murphy’s first career no-hitter against Miami (Ohio) on Friday. Murphy’s effort helped the Hoosiers win 10-0 and was the first no-hitter thrown by an IU pitcher since 2009.She was also the 11th pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter at IU, and the performance was the 24th thrown in program history.“I’m pretty proud of myself,” Murphy said. “It’s a pretty big feat for any pitcher.”The team faced a greater challenge against Marshall, led by the strong pitching of senior Andi Williamson. While the first of the team’s two-game matchup went into extra innings, the Hoosiers secured a victory in both Friday and Saturday’s games, posting 2-1 scores in each.The Hoosiers continued to have success in the Classic by pulling off an upset over No. 24 Georgia Tech, winning 4-1 on the Yellow Jackets’ home field in Saturday’s game. IU brought home their fifth and final victory of the weekend after Sunday’s 10-2 win against Georgia Tech en route to a clean sweep of the Classic.Pitching played a big role in the Hoosiers’ winning record at the Classic. The team only allowed a combined five runs on the weekend.“I think we’ve been very solid,” Gardner said. “We’ve been doing the things we need to do. When we have good pitching, there isn’t a lot of pressure to score a lot of runs, so it kind of all goes together.” Gardner attributed the Hoosiers’ success to the overall hard work of everyone on the team, citing freshman Kassi Farmer’s hitting, Murphy’s no-hitter against Miami (Ohio) and senior Jena Malmen’s first career home run against Marshall as key elements to the team’s success.“Kassi Farmer has hit the ball extremely well,” Gardner said. “(Murphy) had great presence on the mound and just had control during the whole (Miami) game. Amanda Wagner had a great weekend. Jena Malmen’s home run was enormous. Pretty collectively, we’ve had some good performances.”After the weekend in Atlanta, the team’s record stands at 7-3.“I’m really proud of the team and what we’ve done this weekend,” Murphy said. “Everybody’s done their part in contributing. Our team has had a huge tournament, and it’s exactly what we needed.”
(02/15/13 4:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Board breaks, joint locks and sparring are just the beginning of the activities taking place this weekend at the Martial Arts Fest.The event will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Ora L. Wildermuth Intramural Center Fieldhouse. Aikido, Brazilian Jiu Jutsu, Fencing, Filipino Martial Arts, Hapkido, Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Tai Chi Chuan clubs will all be participating in the Martial Arts Fest. “Basically we are joining all eight martial arts clubs together in one event and trying to promote our clubs to the student population, so that they’re more aware of everything that’s offered to them,” junior and Tae Kwon Do Club President Meghane Masquelin said.Each club will perform a 15-minute demo during Martial Arts Fest, showcasing what they’ve been working on in practice. There will also be tabling for each club, where members can answer questions and people can sign up for more information.“We’re trying to promote our clubs and have a greater amount of people that show up, and not necessarily students, but faculty members and people in the community as well, to increase our active membership,” Masquelin said. “It would benefit us, but at the same time it would benefit the club members involved.”Membership to the clubs is not limited to IU students. Any person older than the age of 18 with access to Wildermuth can join. The Martial Arts Festival is the first one of its kind since fall 2010, which was the last time the clubs put the event together.“It became pretty much martial arts showing off to martial artists, and that doesn’t really do anything,” senior and Hapkido Club Vice President and Tae Kwon Do club member Dan Scripter said. He said he wanted to bring the festival back, but put a different spin on it.“I brought it up as a way to build community within the martial arts groups, because it gave us a reason to come together and talk about what we were going to do,” Scripter said. “It was just a way to build community within the martial arts program and show IU at large what we do.”The festival has been a work in progress, with the various clubs working to put it together since halfway through last semester.Club members said they are hoping for a positive turnout and an excited response to their work.“We’re trying to expand,” Masquelin said. “We’re just promoting our club, having a good time and hopefully the students that show up see how we’re having fun and they want to join us.”
(02/15/13 4:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After spending last weekend in Tempe, Ariz., for the first tournament of the 2013 season, the IU softball team faces its second set of games in as many weeks at the Georgia Tech Classic in Atlanta, Ga., this weekend.The Hoosiers will face Miami (Ohio) 10:30 a.m. Friday, followed by a matchup with Marshall at 12:30 p.m. They will then play the Thundering Herd again 10:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by a game with Georgia Tech at 12:30 p.m. They will again play the Yellow Jackets 1 p.m. Sunday. Coming out of the Feb. 8-10 Kajikawa Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., with a 2-3 record, the Hoosiers displayed decisive wins against Bradley and Portland State.The team’s losses to No. 3 California, No. 4 Arizona State and No. 21 Stanford gave them an idea of what they could be up against come tournament time. “Playing some of the better teams in the country helped show us what we need to work on to improve and to end up beating those teams down the road,” senior third baseman Amanda Wagner said.Despite the team’s overall record of 2-3, they are currently third in the Big Ten Conference for batting average, coming in at .317. They are also ranked in the top five amongst Big Ten teams in nine other categories.However, IU’s pitching has allowed the second most runs in the conference thus far, with an earned run average of 5.66. Against Stanford, California and Arizona State, the group allowed a combined 25 runs.“The first weekend out is tough,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “I felt like if we just could have had a better pitching performance we could’ve stayed in those games, but from the first game to the last game we made tremendous adjustments.”Last weekend’s tournament will help the team prepare for the Georgia Tech Classic, its second of the season. Both Gardner and Wagner said the team hopes to improve on pitching and other areas of play in order to secure a winning record in Atlanta. “We’re trying to swing at better pitches, play cleaner defense, score more runs and have a better pitching performance,” Gardner said.In the most recent top 25 poll, Georgia Tech received votes. The school is 5-0 this season, and Marshall, another of IU’s opponents, is 2-3. However, Gardner said the team isn’t counting out any of the other competitors.“It’s Miami of Ohio’s first weekend out, so they’re going to be excited to play. Marshall is also a good team. Every weekend is tough competition,” Gardner said. “Just when you think it’s easy, someone picks it up and plays really well. “Everybody’s competing at a higher level right now.” With one month remaining until their home opener in the new Andy Mohr Field, Wagner said they are hoping to utilize this weekend’s games to work on some of the team’s flaws.“We just want to keep improving, cutting out some of the errors from last weekend and just really dominate the field,” Wagner said. “We want to come out on top every game.”