Northwestern sweeps past Hoosiers in 2-game set

The IU softball team dropped a double-header against the eighth-ranked Northwestern Wildcats on a frigid afternoon Sunday at the IU softball field.\nWhile the weather was dreadfully cold, the offense sizzled for both teams in the opening game. \nThe Wildcats pounded out 14 runs on 10 hits in the 14-7 victory. \nEven though the Hoosiers out-hit the Wildcats 11-10, they were unable to overcome the walks and powerful bats of Northwestern. \n“You have an opportunity to make a play and get yourselves out of something,” IU head coach Stacey Phillips said of the excessive walks. “Then you don’t make that play and you don’t minimize that damage, that’s what it looks like.”\nThe Hoosiers fell behind 10-0 by the third inning and looked well on their way to putting the mercy rule into effect early. However, the Hoosiers showed resolve by climbing back into the game with a five-run third inning to make it 10-5. \n“We never give up and we just wanted to give them a run for their money,” junior Jennilee Huddleston said. “We showed them that we’re not going to lay down.”\nWhile the offense exploded in the first game, the opposite played out in the second game. Northwestern and IU each had great pitching performances backed by stellar defensive plays by both teams. \nSophomore Monica Wright went six innings, gave up five runs on seven hits, walked four and struck out six. \n“I think the defense definitely was a spark plug to our team in the second game keeping us in it,” Wright said.\nWhile Wright was good, Northwestern freshman Lauren Delaney was even better. \nShe surrendered only one run on two hits, walked three batters and recorded 10 strikeouts. Huddleston was the only IU batter to get a hit off Delany as she managed an infield single and a solo home run to dead center field. \n“She’s a good pitcher,” Phillips said. “She throws a rise ball and she gets ahead of batters. Good pitchers get ahead of batters, bottom line. She got ahead of us and we weren’t being as aggressive as we should have at that point.”\nAlthough it was not the desired outcome, the Hoosiers emerged from the double-header sweep with a vote of confidence as their season progresses.\n“There’s never really a good loss, but we did good on defense and we did good on hitting and there was some good pitching moments during the game,” Huddleston said. “So take that on and say we played great against the number-eight team in the country, so that gives us a lot more confidence going into the rest of the season.”\nPhillips said the Hoosiers have not competed well against Northwestern in the past couple of years, but that was not the case Sunday. \n“Today was a sign that we’re competing with a team that’s in the top 10 in the country,” Phillips said. “I think that’s a huge thing for our program. If I could take anything good away from today, that’s what it is. I mean, it’s not OK to lose ... but on the upside, this is the first time we competed and had a chance to honestly beat Northwestern.”