Ball State University
Ohio
Softball Splits Senior Day Doubleheader With Ohio Sunday
May 09, 2010 | Softball
The doubleheader marked the regular season finale for the defending Mid-American Conference Champions who repeated as the MAC West Division champions. Overall, Ball State earned its second MAC Regular Season Championship title in two years but shares the honor with Kent State who also finished MAC play at 17-5. Ball State enters the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed to the Golden Flashes who swept the Cardinals 3-2 and 6-5 in Kent, Ohio April 17-18. The Cardinals will face the No. 7 seed, Buffalo, at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Akron, Ohio.
GAME 1: Ball State 4, Ohio 0
Jessie Ware (Phoenix, Ariz./Hamilton) who was celebrating two occasions at the field - Mother's Day and her last home game as a Cardinal - started things off for the offense in the first inning notching a single to left field. Then, with Ware on second and Lisa Rozanski (Tampa, Fla./Alonso) walked, Alicia Barkley (Oklahoma City, Okla./Putnam City) slugged a double to score Ware and advance Rozanski to third. Alyssa Collins (Fortville, Ind./Mt. Vernon) is credited with driving in the second run of the day as Rozanski scored on her single. The inning ended with three runners left on base and 10 would be stranded throughout the game.
In the second inning, Barkley hit her second double of the game to score Sadie Robertson (Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit) who was on base after singling up the middle. Robertson was two for three at bat in the game and Barkley was three for four.
The Cardinals scored their final run in the fourth inning, which again began with a single by Robertson. Ware followed and reached on a fielder's choice that also advanced Robertson to second. Robertson is credited with the run and scored after Ohio's Emily Wethington made an error on first base a hit by Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif/Santana).
Ball State saw three of Ohio's four pitchers in the game, including starting pitcher Caitlin Colvin, Candace Saucedo and Melissa Bonner. Colvin was credited with the loss and is 1-6 this season.
Elizabeth Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) was in the circle for the Cardinals and allowed five hits and zero runs from the Bobcats' offense while striking out 10 batters. The shutout marks Milian's 10th of the season and the team's 13th. The ace finished the regular season with a 28-5 record on the mound.
GAME 2: Ohio 5, Ball State 4
The Ball State offense again beat the Bobcats to the scoreboard and put up a run in the first inning. Barkley is credited with the unearned run after crossing home on a fielding error by Ohio's centerfielder, Shalene Petrich. With Audra Sanders (Lynnville, Ind./Tecumseh) starting on the mound for Ball State, the Bobcats were held to no runs or hits in the first two innings.
Ohio's offenes rallied in the third inning, however, and put two players on base after Alexis Zambrana tallied a single and Brooke Morgart a double. Then, Paige Kemezis hit a home run to score three runs and give the Bobcats a two run lead on the Cardinals.
The Bobcats extended their lead in the fourth inning when Jordan Paden slugged a home run to score both herself and Elizabeth Eyrise who was pinch running for Deanna Hartsough, representing one of Sanders' two walks in the game. Following the home run, Milian took the mound in place of Sanders and would allow just one hit in her 3.2 innings in the circle.
With the scoreboard showing 5-1, the Cardinals were unable to score again until the sixth inning when Ware began the momentum with a single and was advanced to second base on a sacrifice hit by Rozanski and then third on a sacrifice hit by Barkley. Carpenter drove in Ware, but with two outs already charged to Ball State, the offense was unable to drive in another run and the Bobcats continued to lead by three runs going into the last scheduled inning of play.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals first two batters Jen Reifschneider (Wichita, Kan./Maize) and Jen Moore (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) flied out and struck out, respectively. Kristy Stratton (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw) was next up for Ball State in place of Robertson and was hit by Bonner's pitch on a full count to keep the Cardinals alive. Ware followed with a triple - her 16th of the season - to score Jackie Durment (Glenville, Ill./Glenbrook South) who was pinch running for Stratton. The Ball State rally would be continued for one more play as Rozanski singled through the left side to drive in Ware and cut the Bobcats' lead to one run. The late game drive proved too little, too late for the Cardinals, however, as Barkley flied out to Petrich to end the game at 5-4.
Up next for the Cardinals is the MAC Tournament May 12-15 at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. Ball State enters tournament play as the No. 2 seed and will play the No. 7 seed, Buffalo, in game three Wednesday at 5 p.m. Check back on www.ballstatesports.com for updates. Live stats will be provided on www.mac-sports.com and inning-by-inning Twitter updates courtesy of @BallStSoftball.
