Ball State University
Fordham
Softball Downs Fordham 11-1
March 07, 2010 | Softball
With ace pitcher Elizabeth Milian on the mound, Ball State (10-5) beat the Fordham Rams (10-4) 11-1 in its fifth game of the Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. Sunday. The Cardinals are now 4-1 in the tournament.
The game began in a battle at the mound with Fordham's Jamie LaBovick striking out Ball State's Lisa Rozanski and Alyssa Collins in the first inning. Milian answered by pitching two strikeouts of her own before allowing LaBovick to reach second on a long hit to centerfield. The inning ended scoreless with the Rams' Erin Fisher flying out to leftfield.
The Ball State batting line-up turned the tables on LaBovick in the second inning, however, and notched four runs. The first two runs were tallied by Jessie Ware and Amanda Montalto after Amanda Carpenter singled to the Rams' shortstop for two RBI. The third and fourth runs of the inning followed Kate Wilczynski's triple to centerfield and were earned by Carpenter and Jackie Durment who was pinch running for Jen Reifschneider on base from a walk.
With Chelsea Plimpton replacing LaBovick on the mound, the Rams were able to hold the Cardinals to four runs until the sixth inning when Ware earned her fourth triple of the season and batted in Alicia Barkley. Ware currently leads the team with 12 RBI. Next up, Montalto grounded out to second base, but Ware crossed the plate making the score 6-0. Keeping the momentum alive, Carpenter slugged her first home run of the season. The inning ended with the Cardinals up 7-0.
Ball State pulled in four more runs in the seventh inning against the Rams' Wiggens who walked four batters and threw three wild pitches. Scoring runs for the Cardinals was Rozanski, Collins, Montalto and Ware. The score heading into the final inning was 11-0.
Racking up eight strikeouts throughout the game, Milian kept Fordham at zero until the seventh inning when the Rams' Jocelyn Dearborn hit a single with the bases loaded and sent Nicole Callahan home. Milian has tallied 84 strikeouts this season and with 540 in her career is the second best in Ball State history to Bernie Coffman's 628.
The Cardinals (10-5) resume play in the Under Armour Invitational sponsored by the University of South Florida in Clearwater, Fla. Monday at 11 a.m. when they take on the Boston University Terriers (4-5). The Terriers are 2-3 in the tournament with wins against Villanova and Robert Morris.
