Hoosiers look to bounce back in Atlanta

After ending the season’s opening tournament with a 1-4 record, the IU softball team is looking to bounce back quickly as they travel to Atlanta for the Panther Invitational.

The Hoosiers will face Georgia State Friday. Saturday, the Hoosiers will play a double-header against Georgia Tech and the University of Tennessee-Martin. The weekend will conclude Sunday as IU plays in another double-header against Georgia State and East Tennessee State University.

IU Coach Michelle Gardner said though the team had solid offensive output last weekend, led by IU sophomore Kassi Farmer’s four home run weekend, pitching will be the key to IU’s success.

“We need to start off the bat with good pitching,” Gardner said. “Each week we need to step up in all of the categories.”

IU sophomore catcher Kelsey Dotson said the team is feeling confident heading into the second week of the season.

“We have confidence in ourselves,” Dotson said. “The practice and preparation that we have had has prepared us to play.”

The team IU will play twice during the weekend, the Georgia State Panthers, are opening the season hoping to improve on the 36-19 mark the team posted last season.

While the Panthers are looking to replace its most productive hitter in the lineup from last year, Jessica Clifton, the pitching duo of senior Kaitlyn Medlam and sophomore Kate Worley serves as the most stable position group on the roster.

That pitching combination had a 33-18 record last season and also finished with an ERA of 2.97.

Georgia Tech will face IU in the first game of the Saturday double-header after being added to the schedule Thursday.

The Yellow Jackets currently have a 2-1 record after defeating Missouri State in a home series in the opening weekend.

In the second game Saturday, IU will take on the UT-Martin Skyhawks.

The Skyhawks currently have a 1-3 record, with the lone victory coming over Houston Baptist University.

Skyhawk junior third baseman and pitcher not only led the team in batting average (.359), home runs (13) and RBIs (56) last season, but she was also the team’s best pitcher. She finished the year with a team-high 20-6 record and also recorded 2.79 ERA.

East Tennessee State participated in the Music City Classic last weekend and finished with a 2-2 record. One of the losses came at the hands of Butler in extra innings.

IU will face a pitching staff that allowed just 10 runs in four games this year.
Gardner said he hopes the batting lineup’s production this week is similar to last week’s.

“We need to stay disciplined at the plate,” she said. “We need to do things similar to the way that we did them last weekend. We made some good adjustments and did a very good job.”

IU sophomore pitcher Brooke Boetjer said she believes cohesiveness will be a huge factor this weekend.

“We need to get everything together,” Boetjer said. “We need our hitting, pitching and defense to come together as a unit.”

Follow reporter Dan Matney on Twitter @Dan_Matney