Amidst the fierce winds of an incoming storm, Indiana and Rutgers concluded their weekend series with a three-hour fireworks show. With blustering winds blasting straight through the outfield, the Big Ten foes combined for eight home runs in what would become a 14-11 Rutgers win.
It quickly became clear that no matter who stood in the circle for either team, Sunday’s result would be determined by the race for runs between the two lineups. Indiana burst out to a massive head start, leading 8-0 after two innings. In the first inning, two walks and a bunt loaded the bases to set the stage for four consecutive scoring at-bats.
Eight batters stepped up to the plate for Indiana in the first inning, and when the top of the order returned at the outset of the second inning, both Aly VanBrandt and Alex Cooper sent softballs past the fence for three combined runs. As suddenly as the wind gusts that day, Indiana reached run-rule range before six outs lit up the scoreboard.
The head start wasn’t built to last, though, and Rutgers joined the fun in emphatic fashion over the course of the next three innings. Rutgers forced a pitching change after four consecutive batters reached base in the third inning, capped off by leadoff hitter Sam Rohwer’s home run.
Freshman Aubree Hooks, who started the game in the circle for the Hoosiers, stepped to the side and allowed junior Brooke Mannon to take her place. The pitching change didn’t provide much prolonged protection from the charging Scarlet Knights, however, and Rohwer homered again in a fourth inning that contained three additional runs.
After the game, Indiana head coach Shonda Stanton spoke on the weather’s impact on the game.
“Any ball you saw that got up in the wind was doing some damage…” Stanton said. “And I think they just got a few more pop flies into it, where we got a few barrels right at them.”
Indiana sophomore Madalyn Strader responded with a two-run shot of her own shortly thereafter, but Rutgers detonated another chain of RBIs to tie the score at 10-10 with six outs left to work with on each side.
The dugouts each sent four pitchers to the circle over the course of the afternoon, frantically cycling through options and seeking an answer to the constant outpour of power hitting. In the last two innings, Indiana entrusted sophomore Ella Troutt with the throwing duties and later endorsed the return of Mannon to the same role.
Rutgers added four more runs to the scoreboard in that time frame with a two-run home run in both the sixth and seventh innings. Those scores turned out to be enough to put victory out of the reach of the Hoosiers, who sputtered down the stretch and mustered nothing more than a single in the seventh frame en route to the completion of its collapse.
After the loss, Stanton spoke on the team’s key focus for the upcoming week.
“Turn the page,” Stanton said, “that’s the focus. Don’t let this be something that brings us down.”
Rutgers outscored its hosts 14-3 in the final five innings, evaporating Indiana’s lead and causing an 8-0 head start to crumple into a clear 14-11 loss in a fireworks show of a series finale. On Wednesday, the Hoosiers will host IU Indy at 5 p.m. before heading to the East Coast for a weekend series against Maryland.
