IU faces Tulsa on Saturday

Heading into this weekend’s doubleheader against Tulsa (26-14, 10-4), IU (7-30, 3-9) will attempt to shake off a couple of road losses at Illinois.

After playing four games in four days on the road, the Hoosiers will get a break from conference play. However, they will not get a break from quality opponents.

IU will face Tulsa at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the IU Softball Field. Tulsa comes into Saturday sitting near the top of the Conference USA standings as its second-winningest team. The Hoosiers are also likely to face junior pitcher Jackie Lawrence, who was the Conference USA Co-Pitcher of the Week last week.

The junior boasts an ERA of 1.65 in 106 innings of work on the year.

Quality pitching is something the Hoosiers have run into all season.

While Lawrence has been the leader of Tulsa’s team, there is no guarantee the Hoosiers will face her. The Golden Hurricanes have three pitchers who have started double-digit games this season.

The Hoosiers have recently struggled to get clutch hitting out of the middle of their order with runners on base.

Senior shortstop Emily Bergeson said IU will have to improve within the batter’s box – a discussion that has come up among teammates.

“We agreed that we have to step up and at least put the ball in play when we got the bases loaded,” she said.