Members of the IUPUC softball team gather on the third base line before their game against Indiana Wesleyan in their inaugural season at Ceraland in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
History was made Thursday afternoon when the IUPUC softball team hosted the first intercollegiate softball game in the school’s and the city’s history at Ceraland.
Unfortunately for the Crimson Pride, it came against one of the best NAIA teams in the country. Sixth-ranked Indiana Wesleyan spoiled IUPUC’s party with a doubleheader sweep, winning 14-0 in five innings and 7-1 in six innings.
“It was truly amazing,” IUPUC coach Tommi Stowers said. “The atmosphere was very electric. Yes, it did make us a little more anxious and pumped up for this game, but it was a overall exciting experience, and I can’t wait for more.”
The Crimson Pride are in their first year of competition. They had opened the season on Sunday with a doubleheader loss at Kentucky Christian.
Today’s doubleheader against Calumet, which is scheduled to begin at noon, originally was to be IUPUC’s home opener. But Saturday’s games with Indiana Wesleyan were moved up to Thursday to take advantage of better weather conditions.
“It was amazing to be out here today,” Hauser graduate Katie Taylor said. “The weather was beautiful. The energy was great. It’s definitely disappointing that we lost. That’s part of it, so we’ll keep working, get better and get those W’s soon enough.”
Thursday’s second game was much closer than the first. Indiana Wesleyan led only 1-0 through five innings before scoring six times in the top of the sixth.
In the opener, the Wildcats had scored six times in the first inning.
“The biggest thing for them that I just talked to them about was, ‘Don’t let one inning affect the rest of your game,’” Stowers said. “As you can see, if we start out strong in that first inning, we can play pretty good defense. For some reason right now with us being so young and so new, I think it’s just that one bad inning where we kind of let in snowball.”
The Crimson Pride threatened to tie the second game in the fourth and fifth innings, but couldn’t get runners home from third. After Indiana Wesleyan’s big sixth, IUPUC got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Morgan Steineker led off with a single, went to third on a one-out double by Rachel Cowan and scored on a single by Elyse Goad.
After the Wildcats got out of the inning, the game was called because of darkness.
“I think that we came together a lot better in the second game,” said Taylor Hadley, a freshman from Columbus North. “The one inning always gets us, but I think we’ll eventually get past that and keep building our culture and keep striving.”
Cowan, also a freshman from North, had one of the Crimson Pride’s two hits in the first game and three of their seven hits in the second contest. She went 3 for 3 in that second game.
“Just knowing that my team always has my back, and they’re putting all effort into every play makes me pitch better, makes me hit better,” Cowan said.
“I personally have known Rachel for a really long time, so I know what she’s capable of,” Stowers added. “The fact that she performed excellent today is just amazing. She is the captain of our team and a leader, so I’m happy that she showed up today.”
Cowan also pitched the second game and did not allow an earned run. She was hurt by four errors behind her.
“Rachel pitched amazing, and it’s upsetting that we couldn’t back her up more with our defense and our offense,” Katie Taylor said.
Taylor Hadley had one hit in the second game.
“I’m very blessed,” she said. “It’s amazing to be a part of something that’s close to home. We’re making history as a team, as a family.”
IUPUC is hopeful that if it can play close for the majority of the second game with the No. 6 team in the country like it did, it can be competitive with most of the teams on its schedule.
“We can hang with anybody,” Katie Taylor said. “There’s just a couple of things here and there that we have to pull together, and we’ll be right there with everybody else.”
