Winning ways need to continue

After obtaining the most wins since 1997, the IU softball team now looks to make a run at the Big Ten Tournament. The Hoosiers will face Penn State and Ohio State twice this weekend, and will make the tourney with a sweep.\n"We're hitting the ball hard right now and scoring lots of runs," sophomore pitcher Megan Roark said. "Hopefully that can carry over and get us into the Big Ten tourney…We just need to win four of our next six games, and we hope to get two of those wins against Purdue."\nThe team has already been able to hold its own relatively well against some of the Big Ten's more formidable opponents. By keeping themselves right at the .500 range, IU remains in decent position to make it into the postseason with a decent run.\n"Now it is a little easier to relax," freshman third baseman Rachel Terry said. "We have nothing to lose, so we can just go out and have a good time now. We have already faced the top four teams in the Big Ten."\nWith the 29 wins the team has achieved to date, the 2004 Hoosier squad became the most successful team in seven years. For many of the players, this season has presented them with opportunities for success like no other before it.\n"This is the best team I have played on in four years," senior utility player Abby Stark said in an April 28 Indiana Daily Student article. "We are in a position where we handle our own destiny."\nThe Hoosiers have gone 6-5 since they dropped five in a row in early April, and their season was on the line, taking wins from Big Ten opponents Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota. But consistently splitting match-ups won't cut it this weekend or the rest of the year.\n"The defense has come together in the last couple weeks," Roark said. "These are strong teams we have coming up, but we are capable of taking all four."\nIU faces Penn State at 4 p.m. Friday and again at noon Saturday. The Hoosiers then play host to Ohio State for a doubleheader noon Sunday.\n"It's the stretch run, and we need to step up, be ready to compete and give it our 'A' game," Terry said. "This is it for the seniors, so we want to play well."\n-- Contact senior writer Brian Janosch at bjanosch@indiana.edu.