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.