Indiana (40-13, 16-7) clinched the series over Illinois (15-38, 3-19), with a 7-3 win on Saturday. Junior Brooke Mannon served as a pitcher and as the designated player for Indiana, and shined. As she has on many occasions this season, Mannon entered the action on both sides of the ball and impacted the game extensively on both offense and defense.
Mannon doesn’t often start in the circle for the Hoosiers, but she dependably delivers a strong sense of sustained authority as a relief pitcher. So far this season, she has thrown the most strikes per seven innings of anyone on the Indiana pitching staff.
Mannon’s role on defense, especially against quality opponents, is to preserve the success of the starter or to recover Indiana’s control over the contest if the previous pitcher found herself in a precarious situation.
In the middle of the season, Mannon became a regular member of the batting order in addition to her place in the pitching rotation. On Saturday, she occupied the seventh spot in the lineup. Mannon’s style and skillset in the batter’s box varies from many of her teammates.
“I think she’s a little bit different than some of our other hitters,” Stanton said, “she gives us more of the ground ball, line drive where we’re a more fly ball hitting team.”
Mannon certainly served as a source of offense through small ball and contact close to the ground on Saturday. Her line drive to right field in the second inning became an RBI single, which she followed up with a beautiful bunt in the fourth inning and an emphatic ground ball straight past the pitcher in the fifth inning. Mannon reached base with a single in all three of her plate appearances, and later turned all three of those hits into runs.
“That’s my job,” Mannon said, “I go in when I’m needed and I do the best I can.”
Mannon’s best effort on Saturday, even if limited only to her impact on offense, was more than enough. However, in addition to her three hits; three runs, and one RBI, she supplied over two quality innings of pitching.
Mannon inherited a 2-1 deficit and loaded bases in the top of the fourth inning with no outs on the board. In this case, her role was to recover Indiana’s control over the contest after redshirt junior Taylor Hess’ two walks and a fielding error put the Hoosiers in a precarious situation.
A sacrifice fly scored a run, but Mannon didn’t allow a hit and marshaled the defense to a double play. If that sequence of events didn’t swing the momentum to the side of the home team, then the explosion of production in the bottom of the fourth frame, which included Mannon’s perfectly placed bunt, certainly completed that process.
In total, Mannon allowed one hit, zero walks and zero runs by the time her stint in the circle concluded. She successfully bridged the gap between Hess, the starter, and Aubree Hooks, the closer, all while also contributing in the batter’s box.
Whether she’s asked to escape an inning unscathed with no outs and loaded bases, or to simply put a bunt down to advance a runner, the common denominator across every category of Mannon’s success is her competitiveness.
Stanton brought Mannon to Bloomington by way of the transfer portal this past offseason, in part because of Mannon’s mindset.
“She’s a competitor,” Stanton said after the win on Saturday, “she wants to win, and she’ll do whatever we ask, so that’s what I love.”
Senior Ellie Goins, who represented the run batted in by Mannon in the second inning, expressed a similar sentiment.
“I like her competitiveness,” Goins said, “she’s always on edge to win, so that’s always fun to play behind.”
The impact of Mannon’s competitiveness, pitching prowess and offensive production is extensive, as demonstrated in Indiana’s 7-3 win over Illinois on Saturday.
At 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Mannon and the Hoosiers will take the field for their final regular season game. Regardless of which medium, Mannon’s competitive presence is likely to make an impact again in the regular season finale and aid Indiana in pursuing a series sweep.
