IU returns from Texas, starts season with losing record

The IU softball team began its quest for the NCAA tournament this weekend. But last year’s success doesn’t guarantee a tournament bid for the Hoosiers, who began this season with a 2-3 record after competing at the Crowne Plaza Classic in Houston.\nIU won the first of its five games, defeating Centenary 3-0 before losing three straight games. \nSophomore pitcher Monica Wright said the weekend isn’t the way the Hoosiers expect to compete the rest of the season.\n“There was a lack of focus and first game jitters that we needed to get out of our system early,” Wright said.\nOne Hoosier who wasn’t nervous coming into the first weekend was junior Tory Yamaguchi, who blasted two home runs in her first two games back after sitting out all of last season due to illness. Yamaguchi said her early success was a product of hard work from the team as a whole.\n“The whole team worked hard to come out strong and I think it was good for us to come out and play to see what we’re made of,” Yamaguchi said.\nAfter defeating Centenary, the Hoosiers lost 6-2 to Southern Illinois, then IU lost 8-0 to No. 5 Louisiana State and 5-3 to host Houston.\nThe Hoosiers were able to get back on their feet Sunday to defeat Missouri State 6-0. IU coach Stacey Phillips said she was satisfied with the performance of her team but there is still room for improvement.\n“I was pleased with this weekend; there were some bright moments but we need to be able to capitalize on those moments to create more of them,” Phillips said.\nPhillips also said this weekend was a good way to measure where her team is at this point in the season and that she saw a big difference in her team during the two wins.\nIU began the season with two new pitchers after losing Mariangee Bogado and Megan Roark from last year’s team. Sophomore Monica Wright and junior Jennifer Moore will carry the load this year and try to fill the void left by Bogado and Roark. Phillips said she was impressed by the pitching staff but had no idea what to expect from them going in.\n“I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get from the pitchers but they did very well and were physically ready,” Phillips said. “But we need to cut down the walks. If we could have done that, we may have won two of our three losses this weekend,” Phillips said. \nDespite some early bumps in the road, Yamaguchi said she believes in her team.\n“We have a great amount of potential. It’s just a matter of putting it together on offense, defense and pitching,” Yamaguchi said. “If we’re able to do that we’ll be unstoppable.”