Ball State University
Kent State
Softball Downed by Kent State, 6-5, Sunday
April 18, 2010 | Softball
With three runs scored in the first inning on Kent State's Danielle Abernathy, the Golden Flashes called in their ace Kylie Reynolds before the end of the inning. Jessie Ware (Phoenix, Ariz./Hamilton) was the first to score for the Cardinals as she was driven in by a single compliments of Alyssa Collins (Fortville, Ind./Mt. Vernon). Kate Wilczynski (Tucson, Ariz./Canyon Del Oro) was the next to bat for Ball State and sent a double to right center that drove in Collins and Alicia Barkley (Oklahoma City, Okla./Putnam City).
Kent State didn't answer until the third inning which began with Elizabeth Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) walking Heather Duhon. Duhon advanced to second in the next play as Leah Archual hit a sacrifice bunt back to Milian. Then, Lauren Grimes hit a sacrifice fly to right field which was pursued by Lisa Rozanski (Tampa, Fla./Alonso) from the center and Collins from the right. Collins came up with the catch, but Grimes had already tagged back and found her way home for Kent State's first run of the game.
The Cardinals nearly advanced their lead in the fifth inning when Rozanski and Barkley hit back-to-back singles and then stole third and second base, respectively. Ball State was halted by two Reynolds' strikeouts and second baseman Duhon who snagged a pop-up bunt by Collins. Rozanski and Barkley were left stranded and represent two of the 10 Cardinals left on base.
Kent State's fifth inning rally began when Amy Hair was hit by a pitch from Milian. On the next play, pinch runner Lauren Brocklehurst advanced to second on a wild pitch thrown to Alyssa Frobase who was eventually walked. Next up, Duhon hit a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third and put the next batter in a position to hit a single for the RBI, which is exactly what happened when Archual stepped up to bat. Lauren Grimes repeated the action hitting a single RBI to tie the game at three apiece. Then, with two runners on base, Milian gave up her fourth home run of the weekend and advanced three Kent State runners home.
With neither team able to score in the sixth inning, the Cardinals needed three runs to tie the game headed into the seventh. Barkley began Ball State's last inning rally with a single to centerfield, which was followed by a double hit drilled down the right field line by Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif./Santana). With Barkley on third, Collins singled to left field to drive in Barkley and put action behind the Cardinals hope.
On the next play, Wilczynski took the first out of the inning on a strikeout and was followed by Montalto fouling out to the third baseman who nearly stepped into the Golden Flashes dugout to make the catch. With two outs, Nash singled through the left side to drive in Carpenter and advance Collins to second. Needing just one run to tie the game, pinch hitter Kristy Stratton (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw) stepped up to bat, but Reynolds snuck by Stratton and notched her 11th strikeout of the day to give Kent the win.
Ball State returns to the BSU Softball Complex in Muncie, Ind. for a doubleheader versus Purdue Wednesday beginning at 3 p.m. The Cardinals next MAC game is a doubleheader Friday against Bowling Green (10-16; 6-4 MAC) in Muncie. Live stats will be available for all games on www.ballstatesports.com as well as inning-by-inning updates courtesy of @BallStSoftball on Twitter.
