Olson dominates in IU win

IU defeated the Indiana State Sycamores 3-0 Wednesday afternoon in a game of milestones for the Hoosiers.

In the win, freshman pitcher Lora Olson picked up her second complete seven-inning shutout while throwing a career-best seven strikeouts throughout the game. Olson caught two batters looking during the personal best.

“It is nice to get the shutout,” Olson said. “I wasn’t focusing on it too much during the game. I just knew there hadn’t been any hits, and I wanted to keep it that way.”

In a game with very few hits, the Hoosiers capitalized on their first-inning efforts from juniors Kelsey Brannon and Amanda Wagner, sophomore Jenna Abraham, freshman Brianna Meyer and senior Cassie Gogreve.

Prior to junior Samantha Heyman’s groundout to second, Brannon grabbed a leadoff single. With an Abraham walk and a Wagner error single, Brannon moved to third.

With Brannon and Abraham both in scoring position, Meyer drilled a single up the middle.

“I definitely felt pretty confident coming off of last weekend,” Meyer said. “I knew I needed to collect on that opportunity. I just zoned up and hit it right past the shortstop.”

The single scored both Brannon and Abraham. However, on a missed throw to first, Meyer moved to second, bumping Wagner to third.

“I was just reading the ball,” Meyer said. “Jenna made a great slide at home, so I was just reading that when I made my move.”

In the next at-bat, Gogreve knocked a sacrifice fly to right field to score Wagner, which put the Hoosiers up 3-0 in the top of the first inning.

As play resumed in the bottom of the second, Olson found herself with two runners on base and just one out. After the ump ruled an illegal pitch, Olson went to work, recording four strikeouts and forcing a groundout during the next six Sycamore
at-bats.

“I guess it did give me some motivation,” Olson said. “It made me realize that it’s not just me throwing to Cassie out there.”

In the late innings of the game, the Sycamores turned the bats on after two straight three-and-out innings from the Hoosier hitters.

In the bottom of the sixth, Olson hit the leadoff batter with a pitch. The Hoosier defense answered with a double play to combine with Olson’s second called strikeout of the game to end the inning without trouble.

In the bottom of the seventh, Olson walked two batters in an effort to go the distance. The Hoosier defense again answered the call, fielding two direct line drives from the Sycamore rally effort.

“It wasn’t just me out there today,” Olson said. “The defense played great all day. I could really count on them to back me up.”

IU Coach Michelle Gardner looks to ride this momentum into the Hoosiers’ three-game away stand against Big Ten rival Penn State this weekend.

“Anytime we can get a win during the middle of the week, I think it sets us up for good things on the weekend,” Gardner said. “Now we’re just looking forward to going and taking on Penn State.”