IU finishes home season against Nebraska

Nebraska (31-18, 12-5) visits Bloomington this weekend to face Indiana (24-25, 8-10) in the last two conference games for the Hoosiers this regular season.

With one game splitting the top five teams in the conference, this weekend will be important for the Hoosiers. With a successful series against the Cornhuskers, the Hoosiers could potentially move into the top group of conference teams as the season winds down.

Nebraska’s visit marks the third time this season the Hoosiers have played a team in the top three spots in the Big Ten standings — the other two being Michigan and Purdue. In those series, the Hoosiers went 1-2 and 2-1, respectively, while both were at home.

With the season winding down, Nebraska provides an opportunity for the Hoosiers to face a quality opponent before the NCAA Regionals take place in two weeks. This opportunity would give the Hoosiers a chance to tune up against a top team before heading into the postseason.

The Spartans could provide a similar opportunity next weekend. However, little can be learned while playing a team that has no Big Ten wins thus far in the season.

Nebraska’s matchup with Indiana follows a streak in which the Huskers have won five of their past seven games. Undefeated at home, the only games with which the Huskers have had trouble have been away this season. IU Softball Field poses a dangerous threat for certain Big Ten teams this year.

The field has seen two upsets against top teams Michigan and Purdue.

Nebraska brings with it the pitching talent that leads the Big Ten. Ashley Hagemann, Nebraska’s primary pitcher with 43 appearances, has the top spot in Big Ten strikeouts this season with 293 in 235 innings of work.

Nebraska will be able to go to its bullpen, also. Last week, Tatum Edwards earned her second Big Ten Pitcher of the Week mention after a five-hit shutout against Michigan State.

Her first mention came March 26 after she returned from a three-week injury to keep Northwestern to just one run. In her first start in more than a month, Edwards recorded six strikeouts and retired 13 of the last 14 Wildcat batters.

In Big Ten fashion, Nebraska has correlating skill in hitting and pitching. Nebraska is currently third in the conference with a .297 batting average. Indiana is behind the Huskers with .288.

Power hitting statistics for both teams are somewhat similar, as well.

Nebraska’s Gabby Banda is just two spots ahead of Indiana’s junior Amanda Wagner for the individual hitting standings of the Big Ten.

The matchup will be similar to last weekend’s series against Iowa. Both the Huskers and the Hawkeyes featured similar threats to Hoosier pitching and hitting.

This weekend, however, the series is in Hoosier territory.

— Justin Shockey