FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Despite a sour ending to an otherwise grand day, the IUPUI softball team (20-27, 10-6) earned the opportunity to control their fate heading into the final day of the regular season, as the team pushed to a split with Fort Wayne (12-35, 4-10) Saturday (May 6), winning the first game 15-4 before dropping game two in eight innings, 3-4. If the Jags win Sunday in their last game, they'll claim the program's first ever Summit League regular season title.
A situation that comes down to winning percentage in league play, the Jags are currently sitting in first place with a 10-6 (.625) Summit League record, followed by North Dakota State at 11-17 (.611) and Western Illinois at 10-7 (.588). The Leathernecks of Western Illinois have one game remaining, and can either improve to 11-7 (.611) or fall to 10-18 (.555). North Dakota State's schedule has concluded, with the Jags having just the one game against Fort Wayne Sunday. If the Jags win, they'd move to 11-6 (.647) and win the program's first ever league regular season title. IUPUI has never finished with higher than the No. 3 seed heading into the tournament. A loss and a win by Western Illinois would drop the Jags all the way to No. 3, while a loss and a loss by Western Illinois would give the team the No. 2 seed.
Carried on the day by the steady arm of
Nickole Finch, the Jags saw the junior lefty control the circle by tossing 9.2 innings of work with one complete game start, giving up just three earned runs on 11 hits while striking out five.
Maggie Good had a monstrous day, clubbing three homeruns in a 4-for-6 effort, picking up four RBIs all while putting up a 2.167 slugging percentage. Good leads the Summit League with 14 homeruns, a .351 batting average, 35 runs scored and 43 RBIs.
A day in which the Jags knocked seven total homeruns,
Taylor Chitwood and
Roni Patterson both went 2-for-7 with a homerun and two RBIs each. IUPUI tied a single game program record with five homeruns in the opening competition. Patterson scored five runs while Chitwood came across twice.
Mandy Dallas had a strong day with a 3-for-7 performance, hitting a homerun and picking up four RBIs.
McKenzie Loge, despite having just one hit, picked up four RBIs with a homerun on a 1-for-6 day.
Delaney Thompson was 2-for-6 with three RBIs, while
Maggie Armstrong was steady in a 3-for-7 effort with two RBIs.
Alyssa Matson picked up two hits in a 2-for-8 day, improving to a league-leading 57 hits in what has been a magical senior season.
Patterson continues to close in on history in a variety of categories, as the fourth-year backstop already has a program record 138 career RBIs. She's now just one homerun shy of tying
Ali Mosier for the most homeruns in IUPUI history at 39 as Good is behind them both at 33. Patterson needs just four runs to tie the all-time mark in program history (146). Good tied history for the second time this season with two homeruns in a single game, also tying Erin Dillon for the second-most RBIs in a single season (43). Her 14 homeruns for the year ties Mosier for the most in a single season at IUPUI.
The team's 10-6 record in Summit League competition is the highest winning percentage ever in IUPUI history, as the 10 wins is the most since the 2010 season in conference games. The Jags have only four seasons with double-digit conference wins in Division I program history, dating back to 1999. With 20 wins, head coach
Heather Tarter is already eighth all-time at IUPUI in wins, and her .425 winning percentage is seventh-best. The Jags have had 10 head coaches in their program's history. No coach has ever won 20 games in their first season at IUPUI.
IUPUI will play for all the marbles Sunday (May 7) at 12 p.m. EST. A victory would make history for the Jags. The Summit League Tournament beings May 10 in Fargo, North Dakota.
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