There are a multitude of reasons for and causes of Indiana’s stellar 20-5 start to the season, which includes a 4-1 home record and a 3-1 conference record as Big Ten action begins to unfold. In particular, contagious hitting has caused runs to come in bunches for the Hoosiers, burying their opponents late in games as a result. On Friday evening, in the first installment of a three-game weekend set against Rutgers, contagious hitting was exactly what led to Indiana enacting the run rule in a 12-2 win.
Indiana put runs on the board in four of the game’s five innings with a constant sense of offensive pressure against pitcher Brooke Shifflett and the entire Rutgers defense. The fifth inning, though, contained a level of production above the rest.
Indiana led 6-2 at the outset of the fifth inning, and immediately endangered the Scarlet Knights by loading the bases with a Madalyn Strader single, Ellie Goins walk and Hannah Haberstroh single. Before Shifflett could even settle into the action, there were three runners on the base paths and no outs on the board. The decisive, run-rule enforcing run stood at the plate.
Alongside quality hitting the Hoosiers notably remained patient at the plate. Goins, for example, faced a 3-2 count and happily accepted a fourth ball. If it doesn’t need to, the Indiana lineup doesn’t chase big hits, and plants runners on base as a result. Perhaps more impressively, the Hoosiers have successfully stuck to that process through the highs and lows of the softball season and reaped the benefits in Friday’s test against Rutgers.
If an opportunity to record a hit exists, however, Indiana certainly takes it. Once one softball is sent back towards the wall, others follow in quick succession as well. The Indiana lineup is one cohesive scoring organism in that sense.
In the fifth inning on Friday, with the bases loaded and no outs, the bottom of the batting order was no more afraid to swing the bat than the middle of the order that found success before it. Sophomore Alli Gavin pinch hit for sophomore Peyton Drummond and slapped a ball to shortstop, scoring a run and reaching base herself.
Bases loaded, no outs, three runs away from the run rule taking effect.
Senior Cassidy Kettleman made contact, too, but the ball she struck landed in the glove of Rutgers left fielder Mia Mitchell.
Bases loaded, one out and the top of the order due up.
The three batters at the top of the Indiana order, which have displayed explosive and persistent offense all season, faced very similar situations in their last at-bats on Friday. All enjoyed the wiggle room of there being just one out on the board, and all eventually enjoyed the luxury of a 3-0 count.
Junior Aly VanBrandt, who hit three home runs including one in walk-off fashion to beat Loyola Chicago on Tuesday, stepped up to the plate first. With a 3-0 count and the green light to swing, VanBrandt slapped a single straight towards Shifflett, reaching safety herself and opening the door for Goins to score while the pitcher scrambled to swing the softball to first base.
Bases loaded, one out, two runs away from the run rule taking effect.
The contagious contact didn’t stop there. Junior Alex Cooper also faced a 3-0 count and dribbled a ground out to second base, but brought in a run through the feet of freshman pinch runner Jada Ellison in the process.
Two outs, two runners in scoring position, one run away from the run rule taking effect.
Evidently, it didn’t matter which bases the runners were standing by when senior catcher Avery Parker stepped into the batter’s box for the final time that night. For the third at-bat in a row, Shifflett began with three balls, granting Parker the green light to swing for the fences and the win.
Parker certainly didn’t pass up that opportunity. High above and far past the right center field fence, Parker’s home run ball capped off a delightful fifth inning of hitting and left no doubt about whether the run rule was necessary.
Game over.
Seven of Indiana’s eight batters in the fifth inning put a fair ball in play, five of which reached base and four of which drove in runs. Strader’s single set off an offensive avalanche that engulfed the Scarlet Knights in the snow.
Hoosier head coach Shonda Stanton was impressed with her offense for more reasons than just the decisive fifth inning avalanche, though, and she shared her viewpoint after the game.
“What I appreciate even more,” Stanton said, “is that in the first inning it was good team softball… even though you may not get the hit in the book, you’ve got good team softball to score runs, and that’s what it’s about. It’s Mission: Indiana, scoring runs, being dynamic as an offense, and up and down the lineup we’re hitting the ball pretty hard and doing things well.”
VanBrandt doubled to lead off the first inning and the game as a whole. As referenced by Stanton, Cooper and Parker failed to reach base, but both put the ball in play and brought VanBrandt home for the first score of the contest.
When Indiana makes contact, it makes contact in bunches. When it scores, it scores in bunches. Across innings, and more often within them, the offense works like an avalanche until the run rule takes effect or the opponent can no longer see the light of day.
For Indiana, entering the batter’s box seems to be less about personal achievement and more about creating opportunities for teammates. The Hoosiers will continue to look for those opportunities at 2 p.m. Saturday when they face the Scarlet Knights again.
It’s as if the goal isn’t to supply runs individually, but instead to accentuate the impact of a teammate’s at-bats. Instead of chasing the heavy hit, all nine members of the batting order prioritize simply reaching base, so the inevitable heavy hit of teammates packs more punch.
Frequently, as was the case on Friday, the punch a teammate packs is a resounding knockout.
