Softball to take on Northwestern

After splitting Wednesday’s doubleheader with Ball State, the IU softball team (13-30-1, 4-10) will travel to Evanston, Ill., to take on Big Ten foe Northwestern (24-11, 6-6 conference).

IU Coach Michelle Gardner said in order for the team to be successful, it is going to have to limit the Wildcats’ big hits.

“We have been giving up big hits at inopportune times,” Gardner said. “We need to focus on the task at hand, which is not allowing extra base hits.”

Gardner said Northwestern’s offense is similar to that of Ball State.

The Wildcats’ team batting average of .325 ranks the team 16th in the statistic nationally, three slots ahead of Ball State.

After facing a Ball State lineup that has six players with a batting average above .300, IU will have to go against an even more efficient Northwestern offense.

Northwestern has seven starting players with an average above .300. The team averages six runs per game and ranks third in the conference in total runs with 233.

The offense is led by sophomore infielder Brianna LeBeau and senior infielder Emily Allard, who each have a .389 batting average. They are tied for the 10th-highest batting average in the conference.

Allard also has 22 steals, the highest amount for an individual player in the conference.

The last time IU junior pitcher Lora Olson pitched was during the first game of the Ball State doubleheader. She pitched a complete game, allowing just two earned runs on two walks and five hits.

She said in order to see a similar performance against the Wildcats, she will need to mix her pitches and keep batters off balance.

“I need to stick to the plan I had against Ball State,” Olson said. “Hit my spots, mix my speeds and keep hitters guessing. I need to use my pitches evenly and not get into a pattern.”

In the circle, Northwestern has one of the highest team ERAs in the conference at 4.14.

Sophomore pitcher Kristen Wood has become the ace of the pitching staff. Through 117.1 innings pitched, Wood has an ERA of 3.94 and has struck out 150 of the 444 batters she has faced.

IU will need to continue swinging like it did against Ball State.

The Hoosiers accounted for 20 hits in Wednesday’s doubleheader.

Although the Hoosiers were able to get on base, the team wasn’t able to bring runners across the plate. IU left 13 runners on base in Wednesday’s games and drove in six total runs.

Olson said driving in runners and limiting errors will be important against Northwestern.

“We really need to play clean defense and deliver timely hits,” Olson said. “We need to stick to our game plan.”