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Men’s Tennis
Hoosiers look for 6th straight  in non-conference matchup

Louisville might be in students’ Final Four brackets, but for the men’s tennis team, the Cardinals are part of a bracket of ranked opponents left to be beaten.

Coming off a spring break win against No. 43 Fresno State, the No. 45 Hoosiers take on the No. 19 Cardinals.

“The biggest thing is we just want to come away with a win,” sophomore Lachlan Ferguson said. “We want to go to their home courts, and we want to beat them. However we do that is not a huge concern to me, as long as we get the job done.”

The Hoosiers are on a five-match winning streak compared to the Cardinals’ four straight victories. Three of IU’s wins came against ranked opponents.

“Confidence is a big part of it as this point – having the belief that we can win as a team against highly ranked opposition,” Ferguson said. “As well for the individual guys, once they start winning some matches, they build belief in their old sports.”

Louisville is stacked with two ranked singles players, No. 40 Austen Childs and No. 85 Viktor Maksimcuk.

But Ferguson is used to upsets. His recent win against Fresno’s No. 55 Rudolf Siwy is the Australian’s fourth take-down of a ranked opponent.

“I try to prepare myself as I would for any other match – look at his strengths, look at his weaknesses and see what I can do to match them up to the best-case scenario for myself,” Ferguson said.

The battle of the border will be the Hoosiers’ last non-conference matchup of the season.
“It’s nice that we get an opportunity ranked as highly as Louisville,” Ferguson said. “We lost to them 4-3 last season. We’ve got a very much different team this year. It’s a slightly different feel than playing a Big Ten match.”

– By Stephanie Kuzydym

Men’s Golf
IU falters in Callaway tournament’s final match

After defeating No. 5 Stanford and defending champion UCLA, No. 6 IU looked poised for another tournament victory.

Then Middle Tennessee State tripped IU up in its 4-1 loss in the final round of the Callaway Collegiate Match Play in San Diego. Senior Jorge Campillo was the lone Hoosier to win a match.

The Hoosiers gained an early 1-0 lead based on Campillo’s play, but couldn’t hold onto it. They found themselves losing in every other match and never recovered.

IU coach Mike Mayer said a virus ran through his team during the tournament that made freshman David Erdy and the rest of the lineup tired going into the final. Erdy played strong throughout the tournament, winning his first two matches and medalist honors, before losing against Middle Tennessee State.

Mayer said the sick bug cannot be completely blamed for their loss, crediting the opponent for a strong showing.

“In golf, there is no defense, only offense,” he said. “And their offense was just better than ours today.”

The Hoosiers started their tournament qualifying with the top seed, and won 3-2 against Stanford to advance to the semifinals. They were met there by UCLA, in an extremely close contest. The game was so competitive that IU needed a 10-foot, circus shot from Campillo. The senior hit a birdie putt  allowed IU to advance to the finals.

“That was a crucial putt,” Mayer said. “That’s what a champion does; knocks down a 10-footer to give his team the win. And that’s what Jorge is: a champion.”

IU will return to action at the United States Collegiate Championship on April 5 in Atlanta. Mayer said his team will learn an important lesson form its most recent loss.

“We have shown we belong among the elite,” he said. “A loss does not hurt us particularly bad. It just shows we have more to do.”

– By Ryan Winn

Softball
IU continues scoring drought, loses 6-1

The Hoosiers’ (3-22, 0-2) scoring drought continued Tuesday night in their 6-1 loss at Louisville (27-3, 4-0). The Cardinals were able to pile up 13 hits against the Hoosiers en route to their seventh straight victory.

“They proved to us why they’re a top 25 team,” IU coach Michelle Gardner said of the Cardinals.

After a slow offensive start, the Cardinals were able to distance themselves from the Hoosiers with a three-run fourth inning. Senior pitcher Ashley Hobbs let up five earned runs on nine hits after three and one third innings.

“They hit everything that we threw at them,” Gardner said.

The Hoosiers were only able to push one run across from Louisville’s three errors. Unfortunately, the Cardinals did not need errors to help them score runs. Louisville was able to make solid contact all game, failing to strike out once.

Lacking consistency at the mound and plate, Gardner is searching for answers.

“We need to make things happen in the first inning,” Gardner said.  “We need people to step up.”

The Hoosiers will look to shake off the Louisville loss and shift their focus to Indiana State on Thursday.

“I don’t know if it’s going to happen today or tomorrow, but I know that it’s going to happen,” Gardner said.

– By Connor O’Gara