Softball thumps Indiana State, 7-0

The IU softball team kept its winning streak at Andy Mohr Field alive Tuesday, defeating Indiana State 7-0. The win marked the Hoosiers’ 10th straight victory against Indiana State,as IU improved to 4-0 at home.

The Hoosiers (17-19, 1-5 Big Ten) struck early, driving in three runs in the bottom of the first to take the early lead.

“Scoring first, no matter what game it is, just takes pressure off of us
defensively and kind of gives us a little bit more room to relax and play loose,” junior pitcher Meaghan Murphy said. “I think when we score first really early in the game it gives us the confidence to know that we can score through the entire game.”

Extending the Hoosier lead in the bottom of the second, sophomore infielder Brianna Meyer scored on an RBI single up the middle by senior infielder Amanda Wagner to increase the lead to 4-0.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth, when the Hoosier offense caught fire. Wagner started things with her 11th double of the season to right center, then scored off of a single by sophomore Shannon Cawley.

Junior Shelby Gogreve then sent the ball flying to right field for a double, advancing Cawley to third. Both Cawley and Gogreve would score off of a single by freshman pitcher Brooke Boetjer, bringing the score to 7-0. Neither team scored for the rest of the game.

IU posted eight hits in the game with multihit games from Wagner and Gogreve. Boetjer drove in a career best two RBI for the Hoosiers.

Allowing one hit, no earned runs, and no walks in four innings of work, Murphy received the win to improve her record to 10-11 on the season. Boetjer closed out the game for the Hoosiers, allowing one hit and no earned runs with four strikeouts in three innings pitched.

“I wanted to split the game up and give both Meaghan and Brooke some innings,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “Both of my pitchers did a great job today.”

Murphy and Boetjer came into the games with ERAs of 2.76 and 4.82 earned run average, respectively, for the 2013 campaign.

“Going into this game I had the mindset that I needed to keep my ball in the corners off the plate and kind of out of the zone,” Murphy said. “(I needed to) make them chase the pitches that I wanted them to chase and keep my ball moving.”

The win marked the Hoosiers’ seventh straight win at home dating back to last season, as they swept Nebraska in their final home series of the 2012 season and went undefeated in the Hoosier Classic earlier this year. The Hoosiers are now 42-6 at home since the 2011 season.

“We have to have all three parts working: pitching, hitting and defense,” Gardner said. “Today we had that.”