Hoosier victory snaps losing streak

Senior Rachel Terry hit two home runs, including the game-winner, as the IU softball team managed to salvage a win against Illinois after a disappointing three-game skid to start the Big Ten season.\nThe Hoosiers (18-16, 1-3 Big Ten) fell down early 4-0 to the Illini but bounced back largely thanks to Terry’s hitting and junior Jennifer Moore’s pitching. Terry hit a home run in the fifth inning to tie the game at four and then hit a two-run shot in the top of the seventh to put the Hoosiers on top for good, 6-5.\n“Jen Moore came in and just pitched phenomenal,” Terry said. “She’s pitching very, very well.”\nAfter Terry’s home run put the Hoosiers on top, Illinois loaded the bases in the bottom half of the seventh inning. With two outs and a full count, third baseman Shanna Diller knocked the ball to right field, and it appeared as if it were going to fall for a hit.\nBut freshmen Jennifer Glueckert made a diving, game-winning catch. \n“You know, Jennifer Glueckert, who played a very good right field – she’s actually struggled with diving for a ball,” IU coach Stacey Phillips said. “And when she came up with the adrenaline pumping and went after that ball and got it, that’s huge. That’s just huge. I commend all our players a great deal. They won that game. They took their game and they won it.”\nBefore the win, the Hoosiers’ offense was nonexistent.\nThey managed only three hits apiece in the doubleheader against Iowa and were shut out in both games, 4-0 and 9-0, respectively. The Hoosiers were shut out in three games of their four-game losing streak before stopping the skid with the win against Illinois. \n“We just need to be able to make adjustments better, not put the weight of the world on our shoulders,” Phillips said. \nIllinois came in with a reputation for hitting the long ball, and they lived up to expectations in the first game between the two Sunday. The Illini pounded out 11 runs on 11 hits en route to an 11-1 win against the Hoosiers. Six of their 11 hits were home runs, and 10 of their runs came via the long ball.\n“They (Illinois) are a very good hitting team,” Moore said. “They hit the ball really good today.”\nThe Hoosiers showed poise and resolve in battling back after losing their first three games of the Big Ten season and then falling behind early to Illinois in the second game of the doubleheader. \n“I have all the confidence in the world that the team is going to take this and kind of really live it up a bit and understand that this isn’t a fluke,” Phillips said. “We didn’t get lucky. It’s a matter of us playing Indiana softball.\n“I think this is symbolic to turning the corner and moving on to bigger and better things.”