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Softball
Hoosiers break losing streak, split series against Michigan State

IU broke its four-game losing streak by splitting its two games against Michigan State in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers won 6-4 against the Spartans through tough pitching by junior Sara Olson.

“We played awesome, there was tight D, pitching was solid, and hitting was solid and we pushed the runs through,” junior catcher Cassie Gogreve said.

In the first game, Gogreve went 1-3 with 4 RBI off her grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“We needed a ball out of the infield to get runs, and that was just my mentality,” Gogreve said. “She served it up because she was down in the count, and I hit it.”

The Hoosiers excelled from the pitching of Olson, who threw six strikeouts, only allowed four hits and got her fourth complete game of the season.
Gogreve said she was impressed with Olson’s pitching.

“She was solid hitting those corners because she is that good, and she proved it today,” she said.

In the second game, the Hoosiers lost to Michigan State 5-2 on Sunday.

“Once they got ahead, we didn’t fight as well as we did yesterday,” senior infielder Kristin King said.

Sophomore Lauren Kramer’s pitching helped MSU get a victory with her 7 strikeouts and her 14th complete game.

Olson started the game allowing 6 hits and threw another 6 strikeouts, and senior outfielder Jennifer Glueckert went 2-3 in the game.

It was signing day for the Hoosiers, as young fans and students got autographs from the team.

“I love signing day and meeting the little kids,” Gleuckert said.

IU had more of a student fan base this weekend compared to others.

“The student section and the crowd is just awesome because we never really had that before,” King said. “They are fun and they get us pumped up.”
 
— Aaron Siegal-Eisman

Track and field
Despite top individual showings, Hoosiers fall in border battle

On Saturday the Hoosiers won the battle, but lost the war.

In the Border Battle featuring IU and Notre Dame taking on Kentucky and Louisville, the Hoosiers and their Irish teammates were edged out in total points on both the men’s and women’s side. The men fell by four points, 100-96, while the women lost by the same margin, 103-99.

Despite not winning in overall points, the Hoosiers posted impressive marks, culminating in 12 first-place finishes.

IU coach Ron Helmer said it was fun to reignite the Kentucky-Indiana rivalry, but the final score was not indicative of how the entire event went.

“The rivalry was a fun little twist for us,” Helmer said. “But at the end of the day, a lot of kids stepped up and put up some big-time numbers for us.”

Big numbers came from Hoosiers such as senior Sarah Pease, who improved upon
her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:05.67, the second-best in Division-I this season. Her senior teammate, Molley Beckwith, continued her string of strong performances in her last year as a Hoosier. She ran a time of 4:20.17 in the 1,500-meter to win the event.

Other first-place finishes for the women came from senior Faith Sherrill in the shot put, junior Lindsey Hartman in the 800 meters, sophomore Aireonna Bailey in the 100-meter dash and the 4x400 relay team.

For the IU men, sophomore Derek Drouin recorded a career best as he won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.45. This victory was his second of the day, to accompany his 2.20-meter winning high jump mark. The men’s 4x100 meter relay team also won with a time of 41.22.

In addition to Drouin and the relay team, freshman Andy Bayer was seemingly everywhere on the track, winning both the 1500- and 800-meter races. Bayer ran a 3:41.87 in the 1500-meter race and finished with a time of 1:50.70 in the 800 after trailing in third place with 100 meters to go.

“In addition to being a great athlete, Andy just has a will to win,” Helmer said. “He’s out there running to win, and his will helped him get that victory.”
 
— Avi Zaleon

Women’s golf
Behind Nochta, IU wins Indiana Invitational

Two years removed from its last team victory, the IU women’s golf team returned to the winner’s circle this weekend at the Indiana Invitational.

Playing on its home golf course for the first time in three years, IU held on for a six-stroke victory Sunday.

The Hoosiers struggled out of the gate on Saturday with an opening-round 304. A pair of 291’s to close the tournament sealed the victory.

Senior Laura Nochta continued her stellar senior season with a 215 total and a runner-up finish individually.

The second-place finish for Nochta is the lowest since winning the 2009 Lady Puerto Rico Classic.

The Indiana Invitational marks the eighth consecutive tournament for which Nochta has been the low Hoosier individually.

“I was playing not great during the first six holes of the first round, but I made a mental shift to kind of make every shot,” Nochta said.

With friends and family watching the home tournament, the Hoosiers held off a charging University of Colorado in the final round.

The depth of the Hoosiers can be seen first-hand when looking at the individual leader board.

Freshman Pamela Burneski finished in seventh place individually, which is her low in seven tournaments.

One spot behind Burneski were senior Kellye Belcher and freshman Kate Coons, both shooting 222 for three rounds.

Coons competed on IU’s “B” team in the tournament, but her final-round 69 tied the low score of anyone in the field for the invitational.

“Kate’s 69 was a breakout thing for her,” IU coach Clint Wallman said. “She had demonstrated periodically throughout the year that she can play at a very high level, and today she just put it together.”

In Wallman’s six years, IU had never finished better than sixth at the Indiana Invitational, and the Hoosiers had not won their own tournament since 2000.

“We had some really good momentum coming in after Mountain View,” Wallman said. “The girls practiced really well, and it was just a good week for us.”
 
— Kevin Bowen

Rowing
Hoosiers take 2nd against Michigan, Michigan State in Big Ten Double Duals

The IU women’s rowing team faced its stiffest competition of the year this weekend, playing host to the Big Ten Double Duals at Riddle Point Park on Lake Lemon.

Big Ten powerhouses No. 7 Michigan State, No. 10 Michigan and No. 13 Ohio State brought the fastest crews the Hoosiers have seen thus far, which will translate well for the team heading into conference championship season.

“Whether we’re about to race the fastest crew in the nation or the slowest, our goal is always the same — to get down the course as fast as we can,” senior captain Katie Liston said. “Top competition or not, we only have control over our boat, so each week we prepare to go our fastest on race day. Hopefully, we’ll beat some crews along the way.”

IU came out jumpy and excited during the morning races but settled down when the Varsity 8 faced Michigan in the afternoon.

Overall, the Hoosiers finished second to Michigan State in the morning, when they had 23 points to the Spartans’ 44, and second in the afternoon to the Wolverines, with a score of 42 points to 23.

IU will have a shift in competition this weekend when traveling to Oak Ridge, Tenn., to compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Championships. After that, it will need to focus its main attention on the Big Ten Championships, set to take place in East Lansing, Mich., on Lake Ovid.

“At this point in the season, we now can see where we stand against the best teams in the country,” senior Emily Kasavana said. “We feel more excitement compared to urgency.”
 
— Kyle Abrell

Women’s tennis
IU fails to finish off Iowa comeback

Several times this season, including as recently as Friday against Minnesota, the IU women’s tennis team has dropped the opening doubles point to its opponent only to come back and narrowly win the match in singles.

The team threatened to do so again Sunday against No. 22 Iowa, but it was not to be, and the team fell short in its upset bid.

For the third-straight match, IU used a different lineup from what it had used all year. While it helped key the team’s victory last week against Purdue, the revised lineups fell short in both matches this weekend.

Juniors Charlotte Martin and Katya Zapadalova took their match at No. 3 doubles on Friday for the team’s only doubles win of the weekend, helping the Hoosiers to a 4-3 victory.

While the Hoosiers were favored against the Gophers, they were significant underdogs against the Hawkeyes and, to start, the match unfolded as expected.

The Hoosiers dropped the doubles point, then two singles matches in straight sets. Freshman Leslie Hureau found herself on the wrong end of a 6-1, 6-1 match, falling to No. 55 Sonja Molnar at No. 1 singles. Only sophomore Evgeniya Vertesheva, at No. 2 singles, won her first set for the Hoosiers.

Then the comeback began. Vertesheva finished off her opponent in straight sets and Zapadalova, Martin and junior Myriam Sopel each evened their match at one set apiece.

Martin quickly took her No. 6 singles match with a 6-0 third set, pulling the team score to 3-2. However, Sopel could not hold off Jessica Young at No. 4 singles, clinching the match for Iowa.

— Max McCombs