IU found itself on the losing end of all three games against Rutgers this weekend despite having late leads.
For IU (24-22, 6-11), the weekend presented an important opportunity to pick up a series win against Rutgers (23-26, 7-10), but the Scarlet Knights fought back to complete a perfect 5-0 week.
“It really speaks to the strength of the conference — the Big Ten is full of talented players,” senior outfielder Shannon Cawley said. “You can never take any team too lightly. Anyone can beat anyone.”
IU fell behind 2-0 in the third inning of Friday’s opener, but RBI doubles from senior outfielder Katelyn Conenna and sophomore infielder Taylor Uden gave the Hoosiers a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning.
In the bottom half of the fourth, however, the Hoosiers were undone by familiar problems. Three walks by freshman pitcher Tara Trainer and two errors allowed Rutgers to plate six runs off two hits in the inning.
A three-run homer from sophomore infielder Rebecca Hall put the Scarlet Knights up by five and ended Trainer’s day, with fellow freshman pitcher Josie Wood coming in to relieve her for the final 2.1 innings. The score would hold and Rutgers came out of game one with an 8-3 win.
On Saturday, red-hot sophomore pitcher Emily Kirk took the circle and was hit hard in the first inning. Kirk recorded just one out and allowed a run before being removed for Wood with the bases loaded.
Wood finished the game for IU and allowed two more runs to score in the first and gave up three more through the rest of the game, but she wound up with just one earned run credited to her.
With the Hoosiers trailing 6-0 in the sixth inning, Cawley delivered a three-run homer to cut the lead in half.
IU managed to get two runners on base with just one out in the seventh inning, but senior outfielder Michelle Huber and senior catcher Kelsey Dotson both struck out to end the game, ensuring a fourth consecutive series loss.
Trainer returned to the circle Sunday and tossed four scoreless innings with three hits, four walks and six strikeouts. Junior designated hitter CaraMia Tsirigos hit her team-leading fifth home run in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.
Trainer was lifted at the start of the fifth inning in favor of Wood, who came in relief for the third day in a row. Wood worked her way to two outs and two baserunners on but then allowed a three-run home run to sophomore designated hitter Sierra Maddox.
Back-to-back doubles from Dotson and Cawley in the sixth cut the deficit to one, and the Hoosiers got a runner to second in the final inning but couldn’t tie it lost the finale 3-2. Cawley’s late hit put her at 102 career RBIs, fifth-most in IU history.
IU will have no midweek game for the first time in about a month, and it will be host to Ohio State (29-12-1, 11-5-1) next weekend in its final home games of the year.
“It’s always good to get a little rest from playing because it takes a toll on you mentally,” Cawley said. “It’ll be nice for us to step back and take a little breather before we get ready for next weekend.”
