Ball State University Athletics
Softball Sweeps MAC West Weekly Honors
March 22, 2011 | Softball
MUNCIE, Ind. - Junior catcher Amanda Montalto (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) and sophomore pitcher Audra Sanders (Lynnville, Ind./Tecumseh) have earned Mid-American Conference West Division Player and Pitcher honors, the league office announced Tuesday.
Montalto earned MVP honors on the Radford Invitational All-Tournament Team and joined Sanders with all-tournament team honors after their performances in the three-day event at the Botetourt Sports Complex in Botetourt, Va.
On the weekend, Montalto batted .500, recorded four runs, seven RBI, one doubles, one triple, two home runs and an astonishing 1.250 slugging percentage. Against Delaware, she blasted a 3-RBI home run into right field in the fifth inning to score sophomore Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif./Santana) and freshman Katrina Morales (Whittier, Calif./St. Paul), who was pinch running for freshman Audrey Bickel (Munster, Ind./Andrean).
Versus Pittsburgh, Montalto got Ball State off to a hot start with a home run in the bottom of the second inning. The physical education major paces the squad with a .727 slugging percentage and five home runs on the season.
Sanders tallied a perfect 3-0 mark during tournament play with a 1.47 ERA, pitching 19.0 innings and allowing for 15 hits and six walks, in addition to recording 13 strikeouts in wins against Delaware, Pittsburgh and Robert Morris. Versus the Blue Hens and Panthers, Sanders allowed for a combined nine hits and four walks, in addition to striking out nine batters.
The pre-medicine major improved to 9-6 on the season with her win against the Colonials, allowing for six hits and two walks in seven innings and striking out four. From the circle, Sanders leads the Cardinals in 17 appearances with a 2.97 ERA in 92.0 innings.
Head coach Craig Nicholson and the team open the home portion of the 2011 season in a doubleheader versus Dayton at the BSU Softball Complex, beginning at 3 p.m. on March 24. Then, Ball State will travel to Oxford, Ohio this weekend for the Miami Tournament where the squad will face Toledo, Marshall and Purdue.
