Indiana Softball's Taryn Kern Sweeps Big Ten Awards

Indiana softball second baseman Taryn Kern is the first Hoosier in program history to win two individual postseason awards.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Wednesday, Indiana softball second baseman Taryn Kern was named both Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year. The San Jose, Calif. native was also unanimously named to the All-Freshman Team in addition to First Team All-Big Ten.

She's the only Hoosier in program history to win two individual postseason awards. Her stats reflect these honors as she's tough to beat in each offensive category. 

Kern leads the Hoosiers and ties for the nation's most home runs this season with 22 as the star is batting .438 in 137 regular season at-bats. She's on track to break the conference's all-time home run record by a freshman as she needs just one more to tie it.

Kern stacks up well in the Big as she consistently led the conference in eight categories including slugging percentage (1.022), OBS (.605), OPS (1.627), RBI (67), runs scored (65), walks (41) and hit by pitch (20).

Throughout the season, Kern earned a surplus of Big Ten weekly honors including three Big Ten Player of the Week awards and three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.

Kern is in good company with the postseason awards as teammate and outfielder Taylor Minnick also landed on the First Team All-Big Ten. Utility players Cora Bassett, Avery Parker and Sarah Stone earned Second Team All-Big Ten while Parker and freshman utility player Cassidy Kettleman were also selected to the All-Freshman Team.

Up next, the two-seeded Hoosiers will advance straight to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals and face the winner of the Penn State, Michigan matchup on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET on BTN. 

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• HOOSIERS END REGULAR SOFTBALL SEASON IN B1G WAY The Hoosiers ended their regular softball season breaking 40 wins, which led to a high seeding in the Big Ten Tournament starting Wednesday. See the full results from last weekend's series versus Michigan State plus the full Big Ten Tournament schedule. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SOFTBALL FUELED BY KERN Indiana softball second baseman Taryn Kern has left a huge mark on the Hoosiers' season, and it's not even over yet. The freshman leads the nation in home runs and her team in batting average as she looks for the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SOFTBALL STRIVES TO MAKE NCAA TOURNAMENT The Hoosiers haven't reached the NCAA Tournament since 2011 but have all the tools and fight to do so this season. They've earned their best record since that season 12 years ago with one more regular season series left to play. CLICK HERE