Softball to open 40th season in Arizona on Friday

IU’s softball team will open its 40th season this weekend by participating in the Kajikawa Tournament in Tempe, Ariz.

The Hoosiers will play in their first game of the 2013 campaign 9 p.m. Friday  against No. 4 Arizona State in the Sun Devils’ home stadium. ASU is coming off of a 2012 season in which the team went 53-11 and played in the Women’s College World Series.

IU last season went 30-25 and missed a spot in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament. However, the Hoosiers gained freshman pitcher Brooke Boetjer during the offseason.

Boetjer, the 2012 Miss Softball Indiana and 2012 Gatorade Indiana Softball Player of the Year, came to IU after having been committed to ASU. After deciding to play collegiate softball closer to home, Boetjer might pitch Friday night against the team she once pledged to play for.

The Hoosiers will face another team from the 2012 WCWS field this weekend when they play last year’s No. 1 seed California 1 p.m. EST Sunday. Last season, the Hoosiers faced only one team from the 2012 WCWS field; this weekend alone they will play against two.

A major challenge for IU this weekend comes from the fact that they have been practicing on indoor turf all offseason, while teams from the West have been able to practice outdoors and on dirt.

Friday’s game against ASU will be the first time the Hoosiers have played on an actual softball field in months.

IU will play three other games this weekend in Tempe: 4 p.m. EST Saturday against Bradley, 7 p.m. EST against No. 20 Stanford and 3:30 p.m. EST Sunday against Portland State .

- Jordan Littman