IU finishes errorless preseason

The IU women's softball team continued its streak of errorless games Sunday, splitting its twin bill with a win over Butler University and a loss to the University of Louisville.\nThe Hoosiers defeated Butler 9-1 in five innings before losing to Louisville 4-3. During the games, the Hoosier defense allowed no errors, a streak it has carried through its preseason fall play.\n"They're not timid," IU head coach Stacey Phillips said of the defense. "They're going to go out there and work hard."\nDuring the first game against Butler, the Hoosiers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning, sparked by junior Rachel Terry's two-run home run. \nFor Terry, the home run is the climax of a lot of practice she put in this fall.\n"I've been working really hard at making my weakness not so weak," she said. \nDuring the fall, Terry said she's been working on hitting the ball more toward centerfield, the location of her home run.\nSenior pitcher Megan Roark went to work on the Butler lineup, allowing five hits in as many innings and striking out four. She only allowed one earned run and was credited with a win.\nThe Hoosiers added two runs in the second inning and scored three more in the fifth. The game was called due to the eight-run rule.\n"I loved how we hit the ball from the beginning to the end," Phillips said. Phillips also said she was impressed with how the team closed out the game even though they had a large lead.\nIn the second game, senior Mariangee Bogado struck out 10 Louisville batters, but it wasn't enough to earn an IU victory. \nBogado allowed a triple to Audrey Rendon, the first batter of the game. Rendon scored to put Louisville ahead of the Hoosiers by one run.\nIn the bottom half of the first inning, Terry walked and later scored off a double from senior Lauren Hines.\nBogado allowed two more runs in the fourth inning, but the Hoosiers tied the game in the sixth inning with junior Kim Richards' two-run home run.\nIn the seventh, freshman Aubrey Hayes relieved Bogado and gave up a run, contributing to a deficit the Hoosiers would not recover from. \nGoing into winter conditioning, Roark said the team can use the solid fall play as motivation.\n"Being a senior and having done four falls now, this is the best fall we've had," Roark said.\nThe team will train this winter in Mellencamp Pavilion, where they will focus on running and weight training.