Softball to play final home game of the season

Today’s home doubleheader with Valparaiso means more for the Hoosiers than a normal game.

IU will aim to give the senior class — pitcher Meaghan Murphy, shortstop Breanna Saucedo, left fielder Jenna Abraham, third baseman Shelby Gogreve and catcher Jena Malmen — the final home victories of their careers.

Abraham said it is going to be an emotional day for everyone, not just the seniors.

“It’s a little bittersweet,” Abraham said. “I’ve really been blessed to even play on Andy Mohr Field.”

The five seniors will lace up their cleats for the last time at home when IU (15-35-1, 5-15 conference) plays two games against Valpo (20-28, 10-6 conference).

IU will face a familiar Valparaiso team.

The first time they met, the game was postponed in the fifth inning because of poor weather conditions. IU was leading 5-0. That game will be continued at 4 p.m. today.
Abraham said the end of the season has helped her put things into perspective.

“This is going to be the last time I play on that field,” she said. “These last games really mean a lot to me.”

The two teams also played in the Springhill Suites Invitational. In that game, sophomore infielder Kassi Farmer and junior center fielder Brianna Meyer each registered two hits in a 3-1 IU victory.

The win was the 300th of IU Coach Michelle Gardner’s career.

Gardner said having already faced Valparaiso gives the team a slight advantage.

“We have a pretty good understanding of who their big hitters are,” Gardner said. “Seeing them two times has really helped us prepare for Wednesday.”

One of the hitters IU will look to stop is sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Ranieri.
Ranieri leads the team in batting average with .362, slugging percentage with .586, runs with 34 and hits with 55.  

Although Gardner hasn’t decided who will be starting in the circle for IU, she said all three pitchers will be prepared.

“I guarantee that all three of them will be seeing action in tomorrow’s games,” Gardner said.

In Murphy’s most recent performance, she pitched six innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs, and she struck out seven batters in a losing effort.

Junior Lora Olson most recently appeared in the 1-0 loss to Iowa this past Friday. She pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run, which was off of a home run in the first at-bat of the game.

Sophomore Brooke Boetjer, who has become a third starter after seeing most of her time in relief situations early in the season, was the only IU pitcher to register a win in the Iowa series. Boetjer allowed just three hits and one run in her five-run effort.

Offensively, IU will be facing off against the Valparaiso pitching duo of sophomores Sierra Pico and Taylor Weissenhofer. The pitching combination has a cumulative record of 17-21 with an ERA of 4.24. Individually, Weissenhofer has accounted for 104 of the team’s 223 strikeouts.

Gardner said she wants to see one thing out of the team: run production.

“We need to come out and play our game,” she said. “We need to make runs happen. For us, that has been our nemesis at times. No matter what we do, I want to see us put runs on the board.”

Abraham said going against a pitcher such as Weissenhofer, the team is going to have to take advantage of opportunities with runners on base.

“We really need timely hitting,” she said. “We did well with it and executed well Saturday. Offensively, it’s the most important thing. We need to score runs.”