After an early exit in the NCAA tournament regional in mid-May, Indiana softball has experienced changes in the roster for next season. The transfer portal is playing a significant role in reshaping the team.
To start off the Hoosiers’ offseason, head coach Shonda Stanton saw significant losses to some of the team’s younger players. The most notable name is rising junior pitcher Sophie Kleiman.
Last season, Kleiman's performance was commendable. She started 23 games in the circle, maintaining a 2.69 ERA and a 14-5 record. Her 87 strikeouts and consistent pitching made her a key player in the Hoosiers’ bullpen. Her departure to Virginia Tech is a loss for the Indiana softball program.
Other players entering the portal are upcoming sophomore infielders Tristian Thompson and Ella Carter and upcoming junior infielder Chloe Geijer.
Thompson had 31 at-bats last season with a .226 average in 24 games played. Her most memorable moment in a Hoosiers jersey was against Valparaiso University during the Hoosier Classic on March 3. When Thompson came in to pinch hit, she struck the ball to dead center field to give the Hoosiers a 10-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. The home run was her first and only as a Hoosier, and Stanton had nothing but praise for her post-game.
“Every game we’re like, ‘How do we insert Tristian in the lineup?’” Stanton said March 3. “My message to her is just to stay patient. You can have a huge future in this program, and I know it’s hard to stay ready on the bench, but not if you are ready for the right things. I thought she did an exceptional job today, staying ready, getting in there, shining, and staring in her moment.”
Now Thompson recently announced that she will be taking her softball talents to Oklahoma State University with three years of eligibility.
Carter, however, saw the field less often this past season, with only five at-bats and one RBI. Many times, Carter would be coming onto the field if catcher Avery Parker wasn’t on the field, which was rare this past season. While she will be transferring for her sophomore season, she has yet to announce where she is headed.
Geijer, in her two seasons for Indiana, played 40 games with 33 at-bats. She had seven hits, nine RBIs, and a batting average of .152. She recently announced she is transferring to East Carolina University to continue her softball career.
Despite the losses in the program, Stanton and the team have also made notable additions.
It started with the signing of transfer Melina Wilkinson, a Greensburg, Indiana, native. Wilkinson spent three seasons at Ohio State. She played her freshman and sophomore seasons in 2022 and 2023 before redshirting in 2024 due to injury. She is now returning to her home state for this upcoming season.
Wilkinson will have two years of eligibility remaining at Indiana as she is coming in for her junior year. Softball America ranked her in the top 50 available portal prospects in the 2024 cycle. As a sophomore in 2023, she started all 53 games in right field and led the Buckeyes in batting average (.373), RBIs (44), runs scored (50), hits (66), home runs (11), slugging percentage (.718), on-base percentage (.439) and stolen bases (13).
As a freshman, Wilkinson put up similar numbers for the Buckeyes, hitting .342 at the plate with 34 runs scored, 11 doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs. The 2023 first team All-Big Ten honoree is an excellent addition to the Hoosiers transfer portal additions.
Stanton also announced the signing of incoming freshman Hannah Haberstroh, another Indiana native from Greenwood. She will be the eighth freshman to come to Indiana next season, joining Jenae Berry, Josie Bird, Sydni Burko, Peyton Drummond, Alli Gavin, Jasmine Reyes and Madalyn Strader. Haberstroh is one of three in-state recruits for 2024, along with Drummond and Gavin.
Haberstroh attended Center Grove High School, where she hit .490 with 180 hits, 144 runs scored, 64 RBI, 22 doubles and three triples in her career. In her senior year, she hit .542 at the plate and drove in 25 runs while leading the team to a semi-state appearance in the IHSAA State Tournament.
She played in the outfield throughout high school and was a three-time all-state selection and two-time county player of the year. In addition, she set a single-season school record in her junior year for stolen bases with 30 and had 94 in her career. The newest addition to the filled freshman class is another big recruit from Stanton and her staff.
Indiana’s most recent signing was transfer Taylor Hess, who comes from the University of Kentucky. She spent the first two seasons of her career as a left-handed pitcher at Kentucky, making six appearances in the circle, with two starts and 13 innings pitched. She will be coming to Indiana as a junior.
Her best outing was her freshman year against the University of Mississippi, when she pitched 4.1 innings and allowed only two runs while striking out a pair. She had a standout career in high school when she earned 2019 and 2021 first team all-state and first team all-conference honors at Maple Lakes High School in Minnesota.
As a junior in high school, she had a .061 ERA with five no-hitters, 18 shutouts, three perfect games and 249 strikeouts. She also hit .449 at the plate. With the loss of a crucial pitcher from last season in Kleiman, the addition of Hess is big for the program.
