Three Observations From IU Softball's Wins Over Bowling Green and Valparaiso

Hoosiers Sweep Falcons And Beacons To Improve to 14-4

Andy Mohr Field Before The Beginning Of Saturday’s IU Softball Games

This Up-Cycle For IU Softball Is No Morgan Melloh Fluke

The Softball team was among the best in college sports in the 1980s and very competitive through the mid 1990s. However, from the mid-90s through the late 2010s the program fell on hard times.

These struggles were consistent for 20+ seasons with the exception of 2006 and 2011 when the team went to the postseason. While I am not that familiar with the 2006 squad, I know exactly what happened for sudden success in 2011 sandwiched between some really dark seasons.

In 2011, they struggled mightily on offense hitting just .253 for the year. What 2011 had though that none of the years in between did, was the pitching of grad transfer Morgan Melloh. With the underhand throw in softball being a natural motion, it is theoretically possible to throw the same person every inning of every day.

Melloh nearly did that throwing 320.1 of the 349 innings available with an ERA of 1.64 and a program-record 494 strikeouts. Solely because of her, this squad finished 37-18 and made a postseason appearance. By comparison, in 2010 and 2012 the ERA for the program finished over 4.50.

The struggles before and after Melloh continued right up until 2018 when Indiana made a home-run hire in Shonda Stanton. While the move from a high school level stadium to Andy Mohr Field in 2013 helped as well, the winning did not come until several seasons later when Stanton came on board after success at Marshall.

Stanton has had a winning record each year she has been here getting better with every passing spring. Rather than rely on a single player to build a winner, it is contributions from everyone. The ERA was a solid 3.85 in 2023 and the lineup was strong from top-to-bottom clubbing 81 home runs and an average of .312. As a result, they made their first NCAA appearance since Melloh dominated in the circle.

The Hoosiers are expected to be able to be strong again in 2024 despite the transfer of star freshman Taryn Kern as most others are back. Because an entire program and victorious culture have been built from the bottom up, the winning should continue for the foreseeable future rather than be a single-year anomaly due to an individual player.

2024 Off To A Strong Start With A Second Straight Postseason Appearance Within Reach

The last time this squad made an NCAA Regional in two consecutive seasons was 1985 and 1986. 2023 and 2024 could well be the first time since then for this feat to occur. With the wins Saturday, the Hoosiers sit at 14-4 overall and have taken care of business outside of a fluke loss to Gardner Webb.

Where do the Hoosiers sit in the conference and nationally in 2024? Their RPI sat well inside the top 50 heading into Saturday. As for the Big Ten, the historical power in Michigan has hit hard times following the retirement of Carol Hutchins in 2022. Northwestern has also seen tons of success as a program under 20+ year veteran Katie Drohan and is coming off a College World Series appearance. As a whole, the league is wide open and Indiana will look for their first championship there since 1994.

With the return of almost the entire core, a very successful 2024 is in reach. Now the games just need to play out.

Copeland Shines Saturday As Part of A Really Strong Pitching Staff So Far

Brianna Copeland was solid in the circle in 2023. She led the Hoosiers with a 3.02 ERA in over 171 innings. 2024 has seen an even bigger step forward for her with an ERA of 1.78 coming into Saturday with 01 appearances.

The game against Bowling Green was Copeland’s best yet in an 8-0 win. She went six innings of scoreless ball giving up just two hits with 11 strikeouts. If she and the rest of the team can continue their sub-two ERA for the entirety of 2024 this should be a really good season.

The second game against Valparaiso was closer but IU prevailed 8-6 (many Beacon runs were scored on errors). This further adds to the optimism of even better pitching for this spring.