Hoosiers look for Big Ten win on road trip

After losing a nail-biting, 3-2 game against Michigan State Saturday, the IU women's softball team will hit the road looking for its first conference victory of the season Friday against Illinois.\nThe Hoosiers' first stop will be today, when they travel to Kentucky to face Louisville in a nonconference game before continuing Big Ten play. The Cardinals have won their last six games, including back-to-back shutouts of Mississippi State University during which the team managed to put up 22 runs on 23 hits. \nIU pitcher Megan Roark, a junior, will have some help out of the bullpen as junior Mariangee Bogado returns to the lineup after being sidelined with a wrist injury. \n"Megan and I are going to split the games this week," Bogado said. "And if the other girls bring the bats, we can get it done."\nIU also will look to continue its solid hitting, which kept Saturday's game against the Spartans close. Sophomore Kim Richards continued to step up for the Hoosiers, connecting for four hits in seven at-bats in last weekend's games.\n"The first two games were a little nerve-racking, but I think everyone got that out of their systems," Roark said. "We've been looking forward to these Big Ten games all year, and we'll be ready."\nAfter Wednesday's game against Louisville, the Hoosiers will travel to Champaign to face an Illinois team that has struggled lately. The Illini have lost five of their last seven games, including their first four Big Ten games. In a doubleheader with Michigan Sunday, the Illini managed to stay close in an 8-7 loss in the first game, but they were stomped 10-0 in the second game of the day.\nFriday's game against Illinois will take place at 6 p.m., and Saturday's game will be at noon.\nFrom Champaign, the Hoosiers will go to Iowa City Saturday for a doubleheader against Iowa, who, after going 27-5 in preconference play, has earned a disappointing 1-3 start in Big Ten play.\nDespite the early falter, Hawkeye pitcher Lisa Birocci earned Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week honors for the last week of March by tossing back-to-back shutouts against Ball State and North Dakota State University.\nAlthough the Hoosiers will have to play five games in five days, the team looks forward to improving its Big Ten record.\n"We're at this point focused on playing Indiana softball," said IU coach Stacey Phillips. "We're not worried about our opponents; we just want to play the best softball we can."\nAfter the road trip, the Hoosiers will return to Bloomington to face Northwestern and Michigan in four games during the weekend of April 15-17.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Kevin Dwire at kdwire@indiana.edu.