Taylor Minnick was already having an excellent Sunday on the diamond. She opened up the scoring in the final game of a weekend series against Minnesota with a solo home run. She then got hit by a pitch in the third and doubled in the fifth. That might’ve been why she was confident that she would end the game in the bottom of the seventh.
“I looked at (assistant coach) Kendra (Kirchoff), and I was like, 'I’m gonna walk it off right here,'” Minnick said.
And that she did. Minnick hit her second home run of the afternoon to knock off the Golden Gophers 5-4 completing Indiana’s series sweep over their Big Ten opponent.
“I can’t be any more proud of this group and the resiliency we showed today,” Indiana head coach Shonda Stanton said. “Back-to-back sweeps gets us back in it, and we know we have the talent.”
The series began on a rain-filled Friday evening where Indiana narrowly outlasted Minnesota 5-3 due to the longevity of Brianna Copeland in the circle and sophomore Avery Parker’s clutch long ball.
Copeland tallied a complete game, only allowing three runs on six hits.
“I always keep my body ready to throw seven," Copeland said. “I was utilizing some different pitches, so I felt great about myself.”
Parker had the deciding moment when she hit a three-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth to break the 2-2 tie.
“I was really just thinking I needed an RBI in that situation,” Parker said. “I got a pitch down the middle and I took advantage of it.”
Then on Saturday, Indiana lit up the scoreboard. Eight different Hoosiers had a hit and their 15 runs on 15 hits were more than enough to back up Sophie Kleiman’s phenomenal performance.
Kleiman threw a complete game shutout, just giving up a single hit in five innings.
“I know what I’m gonna throw and then I just execute that,” Kleiman said.
The Hoosiers will look to keep the momentum rolling during a busy week where they have six games in six days.
“We’re pretty lockdown on defense and we know we can score runs so let’s play ball,” Stanton said. “Let’s play our tails off this week.”
