Ball State University
Bowling Green (DH)
Softball Dominates Bowling Green Friday With Two Wins
April 10, 2009 | Softball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio. ? The Ball State softball team improved to 18-16 and 8-1 in Mid-American Conference play after sweeping Bowling Green Friday by more than six runs in each game.
GAME ONE
The Cardinals stole nine bases in the first game of the afternoon to earn a seventh conference victory with a 7-1 margin.
After a scoreless first inning, and two outs in the top of the second, Kate Wilczynski walked which brought Amanda Montalto to the plate. Montalto logged the first hit on the day back to the pitcher and moved Wilczynski to second. An RBI single up the middle from Kamilah Holle allowed Wilczynski and the Cardinals to take a 1-0 lead before the inning ended.
Without allowing a hit for the Falcons, Ball State almost earned another run in the top of the third. Allie Pennock singled off a bunt to start the inning. She stole her second base of the day before Alicia Barkley lined out to the third baseman. Alyssa Collins's sacrifice bunt pushed Pennock to third, but she was unable to run home as Falcon pitcher Hayley Wiemer struck out her third batter in the game to end the inning.
Elizabeth Milian answered with two strikeouts of her own and threw a grounder to Jen Reifschneider at first base to close the third.
With two outs in the fourth, Montalto logged her second hit of the day with a single up the middle, but remained stranded on first as Ball State was unable to place another hit in the inning.
Bowling Green earned its first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth to left field. But a popup to Natalie Bejarano at catcher marked the first out. The Cardinals then turned a double play, their ninth of the season, to eliminate Bowling Green's scoring opportunities.
Lisa Rozanski beat out her hit to the second baseman for her first mark of the day. With Pennock up to bat, Rozanski stole second and then stole third on the next pitch for her 18th base. She scored on an RBI single by Barkley and gave Ball State a two-run cushion. Barkley stole her second base of the day with Collins up. Collins reached on an error to put two Cardinals on base. A fly out to center field earned the second out and also the third as the center fielder threw to the catcher who caught Barkley in a pickle between third and home.
In similar fashion as the third inning, Milian started off striking out the first two batters and threw a grounder to first base to end the fifth.
The Cardinals exploded with hits in the sixth inning and scored five runs. Milian started off with a single through the left center. Katelyn Gunderson pinch ran for her advanced to second on a single by Wilczynski. Jackie Durment pinch ran for Wilczynski and stole second. Montalto finished 3-for-3 as she doubled to center field, driving in Gunderson and Durment to give Ball State a comfortable 4-0 lead. After a groundout, Rozanski notched her own double, sixth of the season, to left center field and scored Montalto. Pennock reached on an error as Rozanski advanced to third. Pennock then stole her second base of the game at second. Barkley's RBI single put a sixth run on the board. She stole her third base of the game at second as Ball State accumulated a perfect 9-9 stolen bases in the game. Collins grounded out but allowed Pennock to score before the last out. The nine stolen bases was one shy of the single-game record which was set in 1997.
Three quick outs gave the Cardinals' their last at bat. Ball State tallied just one hit but loaded the bases off walks. However, Bowling Green's defense prevented any more scoring in the top of the seventh.
On a last attempt for a comeback, Bowling Green singled to right center in the bottom of the seventh. Zada Lines' RBI double to right center gave the Falcons their only run of the game. Milian struck out two batters and a line out to Pennock in left field gave Ball State its seventh conference victory 7-1.
Milian (13-10) earned eight strikeouts, allowing only one run and three hits in her 18th complete game. The Cardinals finished one shy of their season high with12 hits. They tallied 13 hits against IUPUI Februrary22 as well as Eastern Michigan on March 28.
GAME TWO
Ball State's seven runs in the second inning were the second most this season in a single inning. The Cardinals earned eight February 22 against IUPUI. Leading off for Ball State, Rozanski walked. She then stole second and advanced to third on a ground out from Pennock. Barkley's sacrifice bunt allowed Rozanski to score the first run before the last out.
Two walks and three groundouts in the bottom of the first put Ball State back in the box. The Cardinals more than matched the number of runs from the first game in the second inning alone, scoring seven runs off three hits. Durment pinch ran for Reifschneider who walked. Wilczynski also walked after Milian fouled out and advanced Durment to second. Holle joined Reifschneider on this season's home run list as she knocked a three-run homer over the left field wall for her first home run of the season, seventh in her career. Following that, both Bejarano and Rozanski were walked and each advanced a base on a passed ball during Pennock's at bat. Pennock drove two more in on a triple. After that, Barkley was hit by a pitch and stole second with Collins up. Collins also tripled, driving in two more runs before the last two batters struck out.
Bowling Green earned one run in the bottom of the second with a solo home run by Haleigh Bielstein over the left field wall as the Falcons trailed 8-1.
The heavy rain caused an hour and a half delay before the start of the third inning. Play resumed and with one out, Bejarano doubled off the left field wall. Rozanski singled back to the pitcher to advance Bejarano to third. Rozanski stole second for a perfect 20-20 in stolen base attempts. Bejarano scored on a ground out by Pennock and Rozanski advanced to third. Barkley singled up the middle and scored Rozanski as Ball State expanded their lead 10-1. A popup to shortstop closed the side as Ball State led six hits to one throughout two and a half innings.
A fly out marked the first out in the bottom of the third for the Falcons. A walk followed, but the Cardinals turned their second double play of the day from Holle to Barkley at second base to Reifschneider at first base.
Milian led off with a double to right center field and a single from Wilczynski added to Ball State' hitting; however, no Cardinal was able to score in the top of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bowling Green found its second hit, first inside the park, with a double to left center field and followed with another double down the left field line to score the first runner. Masch ended the inning striking out two more batters and forcing a popup to Barkley at shortstop while leaving the Falcons trailing 10-2.
Rozanski walked to begin the top of the fifth. She was called for leaving early on her way to second. Barkley went 2-for-2 in the game with another single back to the pitcher. She also stole her fifth base of the day at second.
Bowling Green could not comeback from the eight run deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning, which gave Ball State the 10-2 win. Pennock and Holle both earned three RBI in the game.
Laura Masch improved to a 5-3 record with three strikeouts while giving up just two runs in five innings of play.
The Cardinals travel to Toledo 2 p.m. Saturday followed by a matchup with the Rockets 1 p.m. Sunday. Live stats will be available through ballstatesports.com.
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