IU Softball

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Nebraska wins 5-0.  After leading just 1-0 after 3, Nebraska scored 3 in its 4th and another in the 5th.  In our 7th, Cooper walked and a Josie Bird double put runners on 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out.   But Strader and Goins strikeouts ended our last hopes. We managed just 2 hits off Nebraska's ace.  

 

 

  

[OliviaPope40]

Now we wait to see where we end up tomorrow night.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Women will open NCAA tournament play in Knoxville next weekend.   Waiting for the NCAA to post the full brackets and schedules.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Full tournament bracket at:  https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/print/softball/d1/2026

 

[IUHoosierJoe]

They said on the selection show we were one of the last 4 in, which is an absolute crock of s**t. 

[Aaron]

12 hours ago, IUHoosierJoe said:

They said on the selection show we were one of the last 4 in, which is an absolute crock of s**t. 

Not really with IU's resume as a whole. I had them sixth or seventh from bottom, but safely in, and if committee had them fourth from bottom, they are looking at same objective data and have them in same stratosphere. Best win was Washington in Big Ten Tournament and other than that a series win at Michigan, who was the very last team in and is in an identity crisis with their current coach not living up to her legendary predecessor.

Also got dominated by UCLA, Oregon, and Nebraska who were the cream of the league. 42-14 record looks great, but you beat up on bad teams and had a few bumps on the resume. None of this is fatal to not making it, but definitely puts you firmly at the back of the field with a mid 30's RPI. 

It was slightly closer than I thought, but only barely, and the fact we are debating if the team was a few spots to close to the bubble and a brutal draw, is the ultimate compliment to the program Shonda Stanton has built. These are first world problems for the culture Stanton has built as a yearly postseason squad based on offense with elite power and base stealing and a fun dugout atmosphere. No one has been close to this for IU since the 1980's, and what baseball was in 2010's and needs to get back to.

As long as you are in the field in softball or baseball, getting in is all that matters. Getting upset over being a couple spots closer to bubble than thought is not worth it. Instead, lets celebrate the culture and identity that the program has built now which is actually what is important.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

We're scheduled to play Virginia on Friday night at 8:00; televised on ESPN2.   Tennessee and Northern Kentucky have the early game at 5:30; televised on the SEC network.  Winners square off at 3:00 on Saturday.  Losers play at 5:30 on Saturday in the elimination bracket.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Women open NCAA tournament play this evening at 8:00 ET in Knoxville, TN vs. Virginia.  Televised on ESPN.

Preview

Live Stats 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

In our bracket at Knoxville, #2 seed Tennessee defeated Northern Kentucky 3-1.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Avery Parker doin' Avery Parker things.  A first inning 2-run HR to dead center.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Virginia pushes across a run in the bottom of the 8th to win 8-7 and we'll play Northern Kentucky at 5:30 today in an elimination game.  We had just 5 hits but 3 were HR.  Parker in the 1st, Goins in the 3rd and again in the 5th and Goins finished with 4 RBI.  VA had 8 hits but we walked 8.  

Live Stats

 

[OliviaPope40]

2 hours ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Virginia pushes across a run in the bottom of the 8th to win 8-7 and we'll play Northern Kentucky at 5:30 today in an elimination game.  We had just 5 hits but 3 were HR.  Parker in the 1st, Goins in the 3rd and again in the 5th and Goins finished with 4 RBI.  VA had 8 hits but we walked 8.  

Live Stats

 

I tried to stay awake for it.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Women stay alive with an 8-0 run-shorted win over Northern Kentucky.  Re-match with Virginia scheduled to start at 8:15.   Troutt pitched all 5 innings and allowed just 3 hits and didn't walk a batter.  We had 11 hits scattered throughout the batting order and 6 different players had at least 1 RBI.

8:15 game will be televised on ESPNU

 

Edited May 16 by Class of '66 Old Fart
Added ESPNU

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Women's season came to an end last evening in a 9-7 loss to Virginia.  But it's been a really enjoyable several months to follow this team.  Hess started but couldn't make it out of the 1st inning.  Faced 4 batters - a BB, a double, a HR and VA had a quick 3-0 lead.  We got 3 of our own in our half the 1st; 2 on a Josie Bird HR.  VA scored 4 in its 3rd; we got 3 right back in our 3rd and tied it at 4 apiece after 7 complete.   But VA scored 2 more in the 5th and that was the ball game.  VA had a total of 10 hits and we walked 6.  We had 7 hits; Bird with 2 and Bird and Haberstroh each with 2 RBI.\

Thank you IU Softball and we'll see you next spring.

[OliviaPope40]

We just simply did not have the pitching this season. Going to need some pitching we plan on making it to regionals again next season. 

[Aaron]

46 minutes ago, OliviaPope40 said:

We just simply did not have the pitching this season. Going to need some pitching we plan on making it to regionals again next season. 

Welcome to Shonda Stanton ball. Pitching would be a nice bonus to make even more noise going forward.

However, IU has been an elite offense for years now with mediocre pitching and still plows into a regional every year so def don't 'need' it to get back, but more to contend to win one.

However, how about appreciating a program that did very little for years being a postseason team now yearly. It would be great to break through and maybe win one but what coach has built is something to applaud.

Its not something to criticize when a culture is built on a strong team bond with elite offenses and power that often requires winning shootouts. It works and wins 40+ games a year and gets to postseason always. 

Great pitching needs to be treated as a bonus. Not a baseline that is on the verge of imploding when its clearly not. 

[IUHoosierJoe]

3 minutes ago, Aaron said:

Welcome to Shonda Stanton ball. Pitching would be a nice bonus to make even more noise going forward.

However, IU has been an elite offense for years now with mediocre pitching and still plows into a regional every year so def don't 'need' it to get back, but more to contend to win one.

However, how about appreciating a program that did very little for years being a postseason team now yearly. It would be great to break through and maybe win one but what coach has built is something to applaud.

Its not something to criticize when a culture is built on a strong team bond with elite offenses and power that often requires winning shootouts. It works and wins 40+ games a year and gets to postseason always. 

Great pitching needs to be treated as a bonus. Not a baseline that is on the verge of imploding when its clearly not. 

And the pitching is not bad. It’s just not elite like the hitting. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Season ending wrapup.

https://www.thehoosiernetwork.com/article/2026/05/indiana-softball-2026-in-review-ncaa-tournament-regional-shonda-stanton