Home runs halt Illinois, Iowa

The Hoosiers kept their possibilities of making the Big Ten Conference Tournament alive by winning three of four games this weekend against conference foes Illinois and Iowa.\n“Coming in to play this weekend I thought about taking both from Illinois and stealing one from Iowa,” said IU coach Stacey Phillips. “The players showed a lot of fight and heart.”\nIn Friday’s 6-3 victory over the Fighting Illini the Hoosiers found themselves down 3-0 heading into their last at bat. IU was able to close the gap to 3-2 with a pinch-hit single to right field by senior Anna Olson. Junior Emily Bergeson followed the hit by drawing a walk to load the bases. Then freshman Sara Olson got behind early 0-2. On the next pitch, she smacked the ball straight over the center field fence for her first career home run and a walk-off grand slam.\n“I wasn’t trying to do that,” the Illinois native said. “I was just trying to get a single or put the ball in play.”\nIn Saturday’s game, a three-run home run by Bergeson wasn’t enough to catapult the Hoosiers to a win streak. The Illini outlasted the Hoosiers 15-14 in eight innings after a barrage of late runs.\nSimilar to Friday’s game, Sara Olson got another clutch hit Saturday when she sent two runs home off a bloop single to right field, shortening the lead to 11-8. After senior catcher Tory Yamaguchi’s single to center, Anna Olson appeared as a pinch hitter again with two runners on. Like her younger sister the day before, the elder Olson hit a game-tying home run.\nThe game headed to extra innings tied at 11. In the top half of the eighth, the Illini bats stayed hot as they scored four more runs. Bergeson’s third home run of the game cut the lead to 15-14, but the Hoosiers did not score another run and took their 33rd loss of the season.\nIn the two games against Iowa on Sunday, the Hoosiers prevailed by a 3-2 margin in both. In similar fashion, IU scored its three runs in each game off of three-run home runs.\nIn the first game against Iowa, Sara Olson did her part offensively and defensively. She crushed her three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth and also pitched a complete game four-hitter, allowing two earned and striking out three. In the last inning, Olson got out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation to preserve the win for the Hoosiers.\nIn the weekend finale, the Hoosiers waited until the last inning to get on the board. Yamaguchi blasted a go-ahead homer to give the Hoosiers the lead in sixth inning. The home run was Yamaguchi’s 39th of her career, making her the all-time home run leader in Hoosier history.\n“I am more excited about sweeping No. 25 Iowa,” Yamaguchi said about hitting her home run. “In my four years we have never swept a team. It’s a good feeling.”