The Indiana Hoosiers softball team opens NCAA Tournament Regional play on Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee, against the Virginia Cavaliers. The Hoosiers are ready for the bright lights of postseason play.
Indiana head coach Shonda Stanton dubbed the 2026 season as ‘Mission 40’. As in reaching 40 wins as a program. That mission was accomplished as IU finished the regular season and Big Ten Tournament at 42-14.
“When we talked in August, we told our team it’s mission 40 and the top four seed. And as a coach, I didn’t have to blink an eye and hope, like, gosh, I hope we can get to 40, or I hope I’m just trying to puff them up a little bit. That was a realistic expectation, and our group went to work at that.” Stanton said.
Indiana was the four seed in the Big Ten Tournament. They made it to the semi-finals before falling to Nebraska (No.2 in the country), but that experience has them ready for this weekend.
“We told our team the Saturday game (Big Ten semi-final) felt like a regional feel. Yeah, a couple thousand people there. You had a very good Nebraska team.” Stanton said. “Legit pitching, exactly what you want to see in the Big Ten tournament to prep you and get you ready for a regional. Because that’s a regional final matchup, what we faced against Nebraska.”
This will be the Hoosiers’ fourth consecutive trip to an NCAA regional and the past experiences have paid off as well.
“You do wanna be comfortable, because that helps for looking around at Rocky Top and the fans and the atmosphere. You kinda know what to expect. And then you know, too, that you could have very light fans in another game. Now, because you’re in an off-site place. So, when you can just focus on your game prep and not worry about the logistical things, that gives you a leg up.” Stanton explained.
The key to winning in the NCAA tournament is pitching and Virginia and potential opponent Tennessee have it in spades. The Hoosiers are a great-hitting team, but at the same time need to balance being aggressive without giving opponents extra opportunities.
“We have got to be disciplined hitters and make better swing decisions than we did against Nebraska. And I think we will. f we do that, if we stay disciplined and don’t chase the stuff out of the zone, then we’ll be able to lock in on their pitching staff.” Stanton said.
The Hoosiers were uncharacteristically bad at the plate in their 5-0 loss against Nebraska, but Stanton believes that will change.
“I don’t know if it was anxiousness last week or wanting to prove something, we just weren’t ourselves. You could see that glazed over look and normally we pass the bat so well. I think it just got contagious the other way. It was like swing and miss, swing and miss. It was like chase pitches out of the zone.” Stanton said.
The Hoosiers take on the Cavaliers at 8 pm on Friday night. The game will be televised on ESPN.
