The Indiana Hoosiers will play in another warm weather tournament as softball travels to Tampa, Florida to play in the USF Tournament beginning on Friday, February 20th. The Hoosiers will play games against Colgate, Saint Joseph’s, Marist, Boston College and USF. The only game that will be televised is Monday’s game against USF.
IU is 7-3 on the season with wins over Ohio State, Nevada, Pacific, Portland State, Delaware Army and Stonehill. They lost 7-6 to then No. 22 Arizona State, Florida Atlantic and Nevada. A strong showing in Tampa will go a long way to their postseason hopes.
Indiana Hoosiers 2026 Statistical Leaders
Batting Average: Ellie Goins, .520
Hits: Alex Cooper, Aly VanBrandt
Home Runs: Avery Parker, 5
RBI: Avery Parker, 12
Runs: Aly VanBrandt, 14
Stolen Bases: Aly VanBrant, 8
Innings Pitched: Ella Troutt, 17.1
ERA: Megan Gregory, 0.00
Strike Outs: Ella Troutt 16
Wins: Aubree Hooks, Ella Troutt, Taylor Hess, 2
Game 1 Indiana Hoosiers vs. Colgate Raiders (Feb. 20th 9:00am ET)
TV: None
The Raiders are 3-7 after the first two weeks of the year. They have been run-ruled twice in their 10 games this season. Colgate is led offensively by Analisa Raffaelli and Lily Haluska who both have three home runs on the year. The Raiders have 12 home runs on the season and six players have homered this year.
In the circle Colgate really struggles with a team ERA of 7.98. Kelcie McGraw and Alexa Aker are their main two pitchers with each of them having thrown over 20 innings so far this year. Both struggle with control and have double-digit walks.
Result: Indiana 8 Colgate 0 F/6
NOTABLES
• Parker recorded two RBI while Bird, Strader, Goins and Kettleman each generated one.
• The win marked the team’s sixth by run rule.
• Goins’ triple was the second of the season for her.
• Mannon made her first start as a Hoosier and picked up her first win, going 5.0 innings and only allowing two hits and notching five strikeouts.
• Indiana outhit Colgate, 6-2.
Game 2 Indiana Hoosiers vs. St. Joseph’s Hawks (Feb. 21st 9:00am ET)
TV: None
The Hawks are 2-4 on the season and have a common opponent with the Hoosiers in the Delaware Blue Hens. St. Joseph’s lost two of three to Delaware last week while the Hoosiers pummeled them a couple weeks ago. The only other P4 school they have played was North Carolina which was a 4-1 loss.
SJU is not a power hitting team with just one home run and a team OPS of just .622. Grace Brown leads the way offensively for the Hawks hitting .400 and knocking in five runs.
In the circle the Hawks have used seven pitchers this year and they have been pretty effective. While St. Joseph’s offense may be anemic, the pitching and defense can keep them in games with a team ERA of 4.67. Julia Shearer leads the way in innings pitched with 11.1 and averages more than a strike out per inning.
Result: Indiana 10 St. Joseph’s 1 F/5
NOTABLES
• Indiana set a new single-game record for most triples hit by the team in program history (4). The previous high was three against Arkansas Pine-Bluff in 2011.
• Aly VanBrandt tied the single-game record for most triples in a game by a player with two. She tied it with eight other players.
• Ellie Goins hit her third triple of the season and Peyton Drummond hit her second.
• Aubree Hooks threw her first complete game, going 5.0 innings and picked up her third career win to improve her record to 3-0.
• VanBrandt (3), Alex Cooper (2) and Josie Bird (2) all had multiple hits in the game.
• Indiana outhit Saint Joseph’s 13-5.
Game 3 Indiana Hoosiers vs. Boston College Eagles (Feb. 22nd 10:00am ET)
TV: None
The Eagles will be the Hoosiers third game against a Power Four opponent (1-1). Boston College is just 4-6 and have scored just three runs against their three P4 opponents. They were shut out by Penn State and No.4 Tennessee.
Boston College struggles at the plate with a team average of .239 and an OPS of .641. Abby Ptak is the Eagles’ best hitter. He’s batting .433 with a 1.036 OPS with a homer and six RBI. She puts the ball in play with just four strikeouts in 30 at bats.
In the circle, Boston College does pretty well with a team ERA of just 3.78. However, they have allowed eight unearned runs this year and have committed a whopping 13 errors on defense.
Result: Indiana 12 Boston College 9
In a slugfest it was the Hoosiers who outlasted the Eagles. It’s IU’s 10th win of the year and 2nd over a P4 opponent. Avery Parker blasted two home runs and drove in four runs. Josie Bird added a home run and a double.
In the circle Taylor Hess got the win giving up two earned runs over five innings of work in relief of Jasmine Reyes. Reyes walked four batters and gave up two hits as the defense made some mistakes behind her. Reyes threw 41 pitches in her one inning of work.
Game 4 Indiana Hoosiers vs. USF Bulls (Feb. 22nd 3:00am ET)
TV: ESPN+
Result USF 5 Indiana 3
• In the second game of the day, it was a scoreless first inning with Ella Troutt throwing two strikeouts in the bottom of the first inning.
• USF opened the scoring with an RBI double and a sac fly to go up 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning.
• The Bulls added on in the fourth, with scoring on a fielder’s choice and sac fly to make it a 4-0 game.
• The Hoosiers gained some ground in the top of the fifth when Aly VanBrandt tripled and scored Cassidy Kettleman. In the next at bat, Alex Cooper grounded out to second, but scored VanBrandt to cut into the lead, 4-2.
• Alex Wilkes hit a solo home run in the bottom of the frame, bringing the lead back up to 5-2.
• The Hoosiers threatened in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded but could only score one.
NOTABLES From the Day
• Against Boston College, Avery Parker hit two home runs in a game for the second time in her career and the first time since 2024 against Purdue.
• Taylor Hess improved her season record to 3-0 in her win against Boston College. She pitched 6.0 innings and threw seven strikeouts.
• Josie Bird hit her third home run of the season.
• Alex Cooper (2), Avery Parker (3), Bird (2), Madalyn Strader (2) and Cassidy Kettleman (2) each had multi-hit games.
• VanBrandt hit her sixth triple of the season against USF.
• VanBrandt went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI in that game.
• Ella Troutt only allowed five hits in 4.2 innings of work in the circle.
Game 5 Indiana Hoosiers vs. USF Bulls (Feb. 23rd 1:05pm ET)
TV: ESPN+
The final game of this tournament will be on TV. USF comes in 10-4, but just 1-3 against Power Four opponents. They’ve dropped games to No.6 Florida, Michigan and Kansas while beating Boston College.
USF’s offense is patient, taking 36 walks and has the knack for getting hit by a pitch. Bulls hitters have been plunked 15 times so far this season. USF has 16 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs on the season and with as many runners as they get on base can really light up the score board when given the opportunity.
The Bulls can pitch too, with a 2.96 team ERA. They have allowed nine unearned runs this year. Their staff features five pitchers that they are comfortable rolling out at any time. Each pitcher has thrown at least 16.2 innings this year.
Result: Indiana 11 USF 1 F/5
The Hoosiers exploded for nine runs in the top of the fifth inning to break open a 2-1 game and run rule the Bulls. Josie Bird had a huge with three hits and five runs batted in. IU totaled 11 hits, four walks and four hit batters to score their 11 runs.
Brooke Mannon earned the win for IU with 1.2 innings, while Taylor Hess started and went 2.1 innings and Ella Troutt got the final three outs.