Credit to: iuhoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana travels to Evanston, Ill. this weekend to take on No. 20 Northwestern in the final regular season series of the 2024 campaign.
The Hoosiers enter the series with a 36-15 mark on the regular season and an 11-9 record in conference play.
QUICK HITTERS:
- There is a lot on the line heading into the final weekend of the regular season as Indiana is in pursuit of the best possible seed for the Big Ten Tournament and to bolster their resume ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
- Currently, Indiana is in sixth in the conference, but is only one game out of third place Rutgers who is 12-8 in Big Ten play. There is a serious logjam in the Big Ten standings as every team who is between third and ninth in the standings has between 10-12 conference wins and eight to 10 conference losses.
- Seven different Hoosiers in the lineup have posted 20-plus RBI on the season, including Taylor Minnick (51), Sarah Stone (41), Avery Parker (41), Alex Cooper (31), Brianna Copeland (30), Cora Bassett (26) and Brooke Benson (26). Minnick’s 51 are the third-most in the conference.
- Three Hoosiers are hitting .340 or better from the plate: Aly VanBrandt (.382), Taylor Minnick (.381), and Brianna Copeland (.348).
https://iuhoosiers.com/documents/2024/5/1/Indiana-Northwestern_Game_Notes.pdf
LAST TIME OUT:
- Indiana came up short last weekend against Wisconsin, dropping two of three games to the Badgers after winning the Friday game, 6-5.
- The win on Friday provided plenty of excitement for Indiana fans as after trailing 5-0 through four innings, the team mounted a comeback to win 6-5. The game was decided in the bottom of the seventh inning when freshman Alex Cooper hit a walk-off single to score two runners and give Indiana the win.
- On Saturday and Sunday, the Hoosiers did not generate enough offense to pull through, falling 8-6 on Saturday and 7-1 on Sunday.
- Despite the difficult results, a number of Hoosiers had good individual weekends. Senior Aaliyah Andrews hit .500 on the series, including making an impressive diving catch in center field on Sunday. Freshmen Aly VanBrandt and Alex Cooper each played well, too, hitting .444 and .400 in the series, respectively.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
- Northwestern enters the weekend with a 31-9 record and 17-2 showing in the Big Ten. The Wildcats won the two games they played in last weekend at Nebraska, but the third game was cancelled due to inclement weather.
- Northwestern currently leads the Big Ten in a tight race for the regular season title. Northwestern’s 17-2 mark barely edges Michigan’s 17-3 conference record. The Wildcats do have the head-to-head advantage as they swept Michigan earlier this season.
- In addition to the Michigan sweep and Nebraska wins, Northwestern owns notable wins over Georgia Tech, No. 24 Boston, Minnesota and No. 23 South Carolina.
- The Wildcats’ Kansas Robinson is second in the Big Ten in batting average, hitting .418. Kelsey Nader and Angela Zedak also are hitting .367 and .328, respectively.
- Ashley Miller is the team’s ace, owning a Big Ten best 1.31 ERA along with a 16-4 record and 157 strikeouts.
SERIES NOTES:
- Northwestern leads the all-time series over Indiana, 38-74.
- The last meeting between the two teams was in the 2023 Big Ten Championship when Northwestern won, 2-1.