Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
UNC-Greensboro
Softball Notches First Win In Season Opener
February 21, 2009 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. ? The Ball State University softball team won 7-5 in its season opener against the University of North Carolina ? Greensboro 1 p.m. Friday in the Georgia Softball Classic. The team fell later in the day to No. 16 Georgia 15-3.
GAME 1 RECAP
Ball State got things started quickly in its first game, leading 3-0 in the first two innings. UNC Greensboro (6-6 overall) tried to rally back in the third with three runs of their own, but the Cardinal answered back with two more runs. The teams were scoreless in the fourth, until sophomore outfielder Lisa Rozanski (Tampa, Fla./Alonso) sent a line drive toward right center field for a double, while driving two more runners in. Rozanski would later record a stolen base for the team. Despite allowing two runs for the Spartans the next inning and two more in the sixth, the Cardinals' seven runs would prove enough to clinch the win. Seven different hitters scored for Ball State in the victory.
Junior right handed pitcher Elizabeth Milian's (Grand Blanc, Mich. /Grand Blanc) complete game included 14 strikeouts and 3 walks in 33 batters she faced. Milian struck out the first batter in every inning but two to earn her first win.
The Cardinals (1-0 overall) out-hit UNC Greensboro (6-6 overall) 10-8 even though the team had two fewer at bats.
GAME 2 RECAP
In the Cardinals' second game of the night, the team fell 15-3 to No. 16 Georgia (8-1 overall) Friday evening. Freshman right handed pitcher Kim Mazzapica (Palm Harbor, Fla. /East Lake) made her college debut against the Bulldogs and earned her first strikeout. However, Georgia would take an early 4-0 lead with a three-run homer by Alisa Goler. Senior right handed pitcher Laura Masch (Austin, Texas/Stephen F. Austin) took over for Mazzapica, pitching two and two-thirds innings striking out three batters. Goler connected on full count from Mazzapica for her second three-run home run in the third inning, tying Georgia's single-game record for RBI with seven, as well as tying the single-season record for homeruns with eight.
Georgia would score one more unanswered run until the fourth inning when junior first baseman Jen Reifschneider (Wichita, Kan./Maize) drove a three-run home run of her own out of the ballpark to put the Cardinals on the board. Senior right handed pitcher Tiffany Garofano (Alamogordo, N.M. /Alamogordo) would pitch the last out, but despite the comeback efforts, Georgia would hold strong scoring seven more runs in the fourth inning to finish the game to 15-3.
Ball State (1-1 overall) continues play 11 a.m. Friday against Marshall (6-4), followed by a match-up with Tennessee State (3-1 overall) at 3 p.m.
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