Clearly, the Indiana Hoosiers had a point to make this weekend, and they used the Scarlet Knight pitching staff to make it.

Looking to improve their Big Ten record, the Hoosiers came out strong in game one of their series with Rutgers, jumping on starting pitcher Morgan Smith for five quick runs, which would be the theme of the weekend.

Down 2-0 after an RBI single by sophomore Sarah Stone in the top of the first, the Scarlet Knights got one back in the bottom of the inning. Thanks to the fleet feet of shortstop Kyleigh Sand, the Knights cut the deficit in half, 2-1, when the junior stole home.

But that would be as close as RU would come. The Hoosiers collected three straight walks from Smith in the top of the second before she was finally lifted in favor of senior Ashley Hitchcock. But when Hitchcock struck freshman Taryn Kern, it forced in a run. After an RBI single by sophomore Taylor Minnick and a sacrifice fly from Stone, RU found itself trailing 6-1. Hitchcock was able to cool the Hoosiers’ Big Ten leading offense enough to give the Knights an opportunity to climb back into the game, but they could not seem to overcome the strong pitching performance of Indiana’s Brianna Copeland.

After RU cut the lead to 6-2, freshman outfielder Cassidy Kettleman homered to put the Hoosiers up by five. But in the bottom of the sixth, the Knights attempted to rally. After Payton Lincavage walked, she advanced to second on a ground out by Smith. Catcher Katie Wingert then singled, and as Lincavage rounded the bag, Wingert saw the opportunity to advance on the throw and slid head-first into second.

With second and third with one out, senior Taylor Fawcett singled to drive home Lincavage, but was thrown out attempting to stretch the hit into two bases as Wingert had done earlier.

Junior pitcher Macy Montgomery then replaced Copeland, but she proceeded to walk Kayla Bock and when Maddie Lawson was hit by a pitch, RU had the bases loaded with two outs. But, there was to be no dramatic comeback as Megan Herka flew out to end the inning.

The 7-3 victory provided Copeland with her sixteenth win of the season, While Smith took the loss for Rutgers, lowering her record to 4-5.

The second game of the series was an offensive display by the Hoosiers, as they quickly jumped on starting pitcher Jaden Vickers for a four-run bonanza in the top of the first inning. While she did regain control in the second, Indiana knocked Vickers out of the game in the third inning as they rallied for three more to extend their lead to 7-3.

Meanwhile, Indiana starter Heather Johnson was busy mowing down the Scarlet Knights as she allowed just three hits in the shortened run-rule contest, which ended 9-0 when the Hoosiers collected two more in the top of the fifth.

Vickers took the loss for Rutgers, as she saw her record drop to 9-6. The sterling shutout effort by Johnson earned her win number 11 on the year.

Sunday’s final game of the series was easily the best of the three, with both squads providing excellent defensive gems, exceptional effort, and drama in the see-saw battle.

As they had done in the two previous games, the Hoosiers quickly jumped out in front by scoring in the top of the first, thanks to a homerun by Kern, followed by an RBI double by Copeland. When Indiana picked up another in the third inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by Stone, the Rutgers faithful could be forgiven for thinking the worst.

Despite having Montgomery on the mound, the Scarlet Knights came back against Indiana, rallying for four runs in the bottom of the third, the key hit an RBI single by Wingert that scored Sand and Lincavage.

Now up 4-3, starter Raimy Gamsby appeared to have found her groove as she set down the Hoosiers in the fourth, but she yielded a run in the fifth to tie the game 4-4.

Gamsby ran into more trouble in the sixth, and at that point RU head coach Kristen Butler turned to Vickers to quiet the Hoosiers’ rally. However, after inheriting a first and third situation with one out, Vickers proceeded to walk senior Cora Bassett to load the bases. At that point, Vickers then hit Kern with a pitch on a controversial play where both the RU pitcher and catcher protested that the Hoosier second baseman had crowded the plate and made no effort to avoid the contact.

But home plate umpire Donald Postle would hear none of it, and Indiana took a one-run lead. Johnson, who had relieved Montgomery earlier, was cruising, and with two outs in the seventh, she was lifted in favor of Copeland, who got Sand to bounce back to the circle for the final out of the game.

The 5-4 victory sealed the sweep of the series for Indiana, giving Johnson her twelfth win of the season, while Copeland picked up her second save. Gamsby, who did the best of any Scarlet Knight pitcher all weekend to control the powerful Hoosier lineup, took the loss, dropping her record to 8-7.

Now 30-20 on the year, the Knights are in the throes of an eight-game losing streak, as their conference record has slipped to 7-10. With just six games remaining, Rutgers will look to find the answers against Iowa, when they travel to start the series with the Hawkeyes on Friday, April 28. Game time is set for 7 p.m.