In its final regular season series, IU will travel to play Maryland this weekend for a three-game set before beginning postseason play.
IU (26-23, 8-12) enters the series with Maryland (11-38, 3-17) following a series win against then-No. 25 Ohio State in which the Hoosiers took two out of three games against the Buckeyes.
In the Hoosiers’ final home series of the season, both of their victories came in style, with an extra inning walk-off in game one and a sixth-inning go-ahead grand slam to help win the series finale.
“We knew this series would kind of set a statement going into Maryland,” senior outfielder Michelle Huber said. “One win at a time, but hopefully we can get all three and then just go into the Big Ten Tournament.”
Huber delivered the grand slam Sunday for IU, her third home run of the season. With a strong performance in the series, she raised her batting average to .259 and tied herself with senior outfielder Shannon Cawley for the second-most home runs on the team.
Cawley also had a standout weekend, delivering Friday afternoon’s walk-off in the eighth inning, and batting 6-for-10 in the series. Her average spiked to .270, a big improvement after entering Big Ten play with a .189 mark.
The impressive wins against Ohio State, a top-five team in the conference, would have made it easy for IU to overlook Maryland and shift its attention to the better opponents they will likely face in the Big Ten Tournament next week.
But IU Coach Michelle Gardner stressed that every win counts and noted the Hoosiers have a great chance to get three more wins against the Terrapins.
“We’ve got to keep things in perspective, because the truth of the matter is we need to come out and take care of business this weekend,” Gardner said. “Then we need to see where we end up in the seeding.”
IU is in a logjam in the bottom half of the standings and sits in a three-way tie for ninth with Purdue and Rutgers. Only the top-12 teams make the conference tournament, but IU has clinched at least a top-12 finish.
For Maryland, who has been eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention, it will enter the series with nothing to lose. The pitching staff has been the Terrapins’ most glaring weakness, with a 7.20 staff ERA, the highest in the league by nearly three runs.
Offensively, the Terrapins sport a respectable .273 team batting average led by sophomore infielder Skylynne Ellazar’s .381 mark. Last weekend, Maryland was swept by No. 23 Minnesota.
The series begins at 6 p.m. Friday, followed up by a 2 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
Even though Gardner said she wanted to maintain focus on the Maryland series, she was quick to point out her confidence she has in her team when the conference tournament does roll around.
“I think we can beat anybody in the conference,” Gardner said. “And if these kids come out and play like they did (against Ohio State), we can beat anybody. And I mean that wholeheartedly.”
