Elevated Expectations’ – IU Hopes Fourth Regional Time is the Charm
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- History awaits -- well, the potential for history awaits -- and Shonda Stanton is on the move, getting ready for a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, and, perhaps, rock the college softball world.
Indiana has a program-record fourth straight NCAA tourney regional shot and Stanton is clear about Hoosier intentions.
“Your expectation is to win a regional,” IU’s nine-year head coach says. Because of IU’s unprecedented run of success, including three 40-victory seasons in the last four years, she adds, “Your expectations are elevated.”
Elevation meets this reality -- the Hoosiers have won only two regionals, in 1983 and ’86. Seven NCAA opportunities since then have failed to deliver a third regional championships.
And yet …
“They just get it,” Stanton says about the Hoosiers. “They show up. They take care of business. They’re competent. They care about winning at a high level. They care about each other. And they care about the Indiana Hoosiers. I think that’s huge.”
IU (42-14) opens Friday night against second-seeded Virginia (38-13) in the double-elimination event. Also in the field are host and regional top-seed Tennessee (42-10) and fourth-seed Northern Kentucky (26-23), which clinched its NCAA tourney bid by winning the Horizon League title.
Stanton says facing Nebraska in last week’s Big Ten tourney semifinals (a 5-0 loss) helped.
“It was exactly what you want to see in the Big Ten Tournament to prep you and get you ready for a regional.
“It felt like a regional final game. There were a couple of thousand people there. It’s a very good Nebraska team that deserved better than a No. 4 seed. They have legit pitching.”
The Hoosiers lost in part, Stanton says, because they lost their hitting discipline and chased pitches out of the strike zone. Still, it was an invaluable look at what the NCAA tourney will bring. This weekend is a chance to prove lessons were learned.
“What’s the challenge?” Stanton says. “It’s staying aggressive but not running into outs on the bases. It’s understanding counts. We have to be disciplined hitters and make better swing decisions. I think we will.”
Statistics back her up. IU has one of the nation’s top offenses, ranking No. 12 in team batting average (.349), No. 4 in stolen bases, No. 4 in triples (25) and No. 7 in RBI (410).
Finding an edge takes many forms. Take, for instance, getting hit by pitches. The Hoosiers have been hit 72 times, the most in the nation. Catcher Avery Parker has the second most for an individual with 26.
It’s not an accident.
“Part of that is a fundamental philosophy that we want to own the inner half of the plate,” Stanton says. “Sometimes, you need to crowd the plate and sometimes you need to be off the inner half.
“When you’re smothering the plate, it can make pitchers a little tight. It benefits us when we can own the inner half. That’s a credit to our hitters to be comfortable moving in the box. We’ve seen a lot of growth there. They are coachable in that area.”
Coachability is everywhere you look.
Second baseman Aly VanBrandt (.399 average, 15 home runs, 15 doubles, seven triples, 61 RBI), shortstop Alex Cooper (.368, 19 doubles, eight homers, 48 RBI) and third baseman Madalyn Strader (.322) earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, while Parker hit a team-leading 19 home runs to set the program career record with 53.
Then there’s do-it-all Brooke Mannon in the “designated player” position. The Arizona transfer is hitting .365 while also going 7-3 as a pitcher with a 3.29 earned run average.
“That was a great pickup,” Stanton says. “What I love about her is she’s a great competitor and wants to win.
“In this day and age, there are a lot of great athletes on every roster who are competitive, but there’s a little different competitive character for her. She wants to do whatever it takes to help our team be great. Whether it’s coming in for a few outs or being a firewoman or being the bridge.
“Offensively, she gives us something a little different. If you follow our team, we’re more of a flyball hitting team. She gives us that hard ground ball. She has tremendous exit velocity. Plus, she runs. She can steal; she can go first to third; we can do hit and runs with her. She can bunt for a base hit. She has a lot of tools in her toolbox.”
So do Cooper and Strader.
“It’s so cool they’ve been in the lineup every day of their careers,” Stanton says. “They’ve always been in that five to nine (batting order) range.
“They’ve got good arms. They’ve got good feet and good range. They play lockdown defense. They’re both lefty sticks in the lineup that can drive it out of the park. They run decently. They can drop down a bunt, so they’re multi-faceted. They have the makeup of exactly what you want.”
As for Virginia, it has four players with at least 10 home runs. Macee Eaton has 12 while hitting a team-leading .443 with a team-high 61 runs batted in. Bella Cabral is hitting .376 with a team-leading 13 homers and 47 RBI.
Cavaliers pitching is led by Courtney Layne (12-4, 2.31 earned run average, 96 strikeouts) and Eden Bigham (14-4, 3.28 ERA, 102 strikeouts).
“They got good pitching,” Stanton says. “They’ve got a couple of arms that we could face.
“They’ve got a couple of good hitters at the top of the lineup that are pretty hot. For them, when you look at these teams, everybody can hit at this level. And just like anybody at this time of year in the circle, you're gonna face good arms.”