Ball State University
Indiana State
Softball Team Hits Nine Home Runs; Post 1-1 Mark Sunday
February 19, 2007 | Softball
HAMMOND, La. -- Five games into the 2007 season, the Ball State softball team is halfway to a school record.
Abby Gross knocked her second home run of the season Sunday morning in a 6-5 loss to Indiana State, while four Cardinals hit a home run in Sunday's second game to lead BSU to a 5-1 win over St. Louis.
For the weekend, the Cardinals recorded nine home runs in the five games. The BSU single-season record for home runs is 18.
"I thought we had much better at bats as a whole today," said BSU head coach Craig Nicholson. "In the first game today, we battled Indiana State all the way. We had a lot of good pitches and great effort, but they made the plays at the end of the game.
"I was really pleased with the good job we did of bouncing back in the second game after a tough loss," Nicholson said. "I am happy with the way we won the second game. Obviously, we had some good performances at the plate, which is encouraging this early in the season.”
In Sunday's first game, the score was tied at 3-3 through seven innings to force the extra sessions.
In the ninth inning, Ball State scored two runs to take a 5-3 lead. Taylor Yancey walked, stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch before Elizabeth Milian drove her home with a single.
The lead was short-lived though as the Sycamores' Katie Armour hit a double to drive home the winning run and the 6-5 ISU win.
Ball State's bats came alive in game two as four Cardinals hit home runs in the 5-1 win over St. Louis. Kelli Jeziorski, Yancey, Stephanie Talarek and Milian recorded homers to bring BSU's total to nine for the weekend.
Milian went 3-for-3 against the Billikens with a home run and double. Amanda Pick was the pitcher of record, pitching all seven innings with just four hits and seven strikeouts.
The Cardinals return to action Feb. 23-25 at the Middle Tennessee State Tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Cardinals play Tennessee State in the first game Friday at 10 a.m.
