Hoosiers swept at home

After disappointing losses to Michigan and Ball State a week ago, the Hoosiers were looking to bounce back this weekend with their Big Ten homestand against Iowa and Illinois. \nIU (23-22,0-5) faced Iowa (25-15, 6-0) Friday and Saturday, hoping to at least earn its first Big Ten win. But IU came up short Friday in its 6-0 loss to the Hawkeyes and followed it with a 1-0 loss Saturday.\nAgainst the Illini Sunday, the Hoosiers were swept 2-1 in game one and 4-1 in game two.\nIn game one against Iowa, the Hawkeyes' offense jumped all over the Hoosiers in the first inning when they put IU in a 3-0 deficit. Iowa struck again in the second inning as senior Laura Chipman hit an RBI triple. Chipman was driven in later in the inning, giving Iowa the early 5-0 lead. Iowa sophomore Kylie Murray added to the Hawkeyes' lead with a solo homerun in the third inning. \nIowa took the field looking to shutout IU for the second straight game. The score was deadlocked at zero until the bottom of the sixth inning when senior Amanda Hentges drove in freshman Mindy Heidgerken. \nSophomore Mariangee Bogado gave IU a solid pitching performance en route to her 13th complete game of the season. Bogado struck out five batters and only allowed three hits in seven innings of work. Birocci and sophomore Ali Arnold combined to shutout IU through seven innings Saturday. \nSunday Illinois (27-14-1, 5-2) came to town for its doubleheader against IU. Illinois jumped out to an early lead in the second inning when senior Erin Jones drove in a run. In the top of the third inning, sophomore Jenna Hall drove in another run to give the Illini a 2-0 lead. \nThe Hoosiers offense was sluggish until the top of the fifth inning when senior Heather Stillians drove in a run for the Hoosiers, pulling IU within one run of Illinois. The Hoosiers were threatening with runners on the basepath later in the inning, but a failed stolen base attempt killed the momentum for the Hoosiers and got the Illini out of the inning. \nThings again got heated in the bottom of the seventh inning as IU again put runners in scoring position. But the Illini threw out an IU runner at the home plate. IU was again robbed of a run at home plate as the Illini threw out another player when senior Abby Stark singled to the right field. \nIU travels to Evansville Tuesday to take on the Aces. The game is set to start at 6 p.m.