The Indiana softball team lost its final regular season series 1-2 over the weekend at Nebraska. Indiana finished with a 27-21 record and 10-13 in the Big Ten for the 2022 season.
The Hoosiers won the first game of the series on Friday by shutting out the Cornhuskers 5-0. Indiana got on the board in the top of the first when freshman left fielder Taylor Minnick’s single scored two runs, notching an early 2-0 lead.
Minnick continued her hot streak in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-0. Sophomore center fielder Aaliyah Andrews drove in the final run of the game with an RBI double in the top of the seventh inning.
Indiana lost the second game of the series 2-7 on Saturday. Sophomore catcher Lindsey Warick scored the first run of the game by hitting an RBI single in the top of the second inning to take the lead 1-0. However, Nebraska responded at the bottom of the third inning with a five-run rally, taking a lead that it maintained until the end.
Andrews hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning, but it wasn't enough to get the momentum going. Nebraska extended its lead with two runs in the bottom half of the same inning.
The Hoosiers lost the last game of the series on Sunday 4-5. A solo home run from senior second baseman Cam Ybarra in the bottom of the third inning put the Cornhuskers on the board first. In the bottom of the fourth, senior right fielder Peyton Glatter hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0.
Indiana responded in the top of the fifth inning with a three-run home run by senior designated player Brittany Ford. Nebraska sophomore shortstop Billie Andrews evened the score with a solo home run in the bottom half of the same inning, and Nebraska sophomore third baseman Sydney Gray hit the second solo home run of the inning for a 4-3 lead.
Minnick grounded out in the top of the seventh, but drove a run in to tie the game 4-4 and force extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Nebraska junior first baseman Mya Felder hit an RBI single to seal a 5-4 Cornhusker win.
Indiana heads to East Lansing, Michigan, where it will play as the No. 10 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana will face No. 7-seeded Penn State in the first round of the tournament at 11 a.m. on May 11. The winner of that game will play No. 2-seeded Nebraska at 11 a.m. on May 12.
