Ball State University
6-6
St. John's
3-13
St. John?s Rallies Past Softball; 8-7
March 04, 2012 | Softball
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - - Despite pounding out 11 hits, including three home runs, the Ball State softball team suffered a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to St. John's Saturday evening in its first game of the second day at the Citrus Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla.
The Cardinals are currently playing Lipscomb in a game which started an hour-and-a-half behind schedule.
Leading 7-5 going into the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals (6-6) saw the Red Storm (3-13) rally for three runs in the bottom of the frame to escape with the victory.
The Cardinals started the game strong on a leadoff double from sophomore left fielder Jennifer Gilbert (McKinney, Texas/McKinney) who came around to score on a one-out RBI double from sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern). Sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel (Munster, Ind./Andrean) followed by depositing the ball over the left-center field wall to give BSU two more runs. It was Bickel's second long ball of the year, and the third of her career.
Junior center fielder Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif./Santana) gave BSU a 4-0 advantage in the next at bat with her first home run of the season, and 11th of her career. Carpenter finished the game going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI.
St. John's got two of the runs back in the bottom of the frame, thanks to a leadoff single from Ellen Czuba and a two-run blast from Kristi Cady.
The score remained 4-2 until the top of the fifth, when the Cardinals tacked on two more runs. With one out, Carpenter and freshman designated player Hanne Stuedemann (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) tallied back-to-back singles. An error on the relay throw on Stuedemann's hit would allow Carpenter to score, while Stuedemann advanced to third. That play set up a sacrifice fly from freshman shortstop Jessica Craft (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte), extending the BSU lead back to four at 6-2.
The Red Storm retaliated with three runs in the bottom of the inning, cutting the BSU edge to 6-5. With runners at first and second, a Ball State error on a fielder's choice attempt pushed the first run across and put runners at first and third. After a pass ball advanced the runner at first, a Cady groundout RBI gave SJU its second run. Another BSU error allowed the third run to score from third on the following play.
Senior catcher Amanda Montalto (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) gave BSU a two-run lead in the top of the fifth with her second homer of the season. The two-out shot was the 25th of her career.
After going down scoreless in the sixth, St. John's rallied in the bottom of the seventh starting with doubles from Dominique Marcelino and Jackie Reed to cut the Ball state lead to 7-6. An error on the next play brought Reed home and allowed Chrissy Montez to reach third. After a pop up produced the second out of the inning, but a wild pitch allowed Montez to score the game-winning run.
Senior Kim Mazzapica (Palm Harbor, Fla./East Lake) suffered the loss in the game, falling to 4-1 on the year, by allowing eight runs (three earned) and nine hits over 6.1 innings of work. She also struck out one batter. Senior Audrey Workman (Wickenburg, Ariz./Wickenburg) entered the game in relief, retiring one batter before throwing a wild pitch to score the final run.
Aleshia Link picked up the win for the Red Storm, allowing seven runs (six earned) and 11 hits over 7.0 innings of work. She would strike out five Cardinals.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Link, Aleshia (2-2)
L: Mazzapica, Kim (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Gilbert, Jenny 1 ; Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Rager, Taylor 1
HR: Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Bickel, Audrey 1 ; Carpenter, Amanda 1
RBI: Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Rager, Taylor 1 ; Bickel, Audrey 2 ; Carpenter, Amanda 1 ; Craft, Jessica 1
SF: Craft, Jessica 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gilbert, Jenny 1 ; Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Rager, Taylor 1 ; Bickel, Audrey 1 ; Carpenter, Amanda 2 ; Stuedemann, Hanne 1
HBP: Stuedemann, Hanne 1
Batting:
2B: Marcelino, Dominique 1 ; Reed, Jackie 1
HR: Cady, Kristi 1
RBI: Cady, Kristi 3 ; Reed, Jackie 2
SH: Neuroth, Mackenna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Czuba, Ellen 2 ; Neuroth, Mackenna 1 ; Marcelino, Dominique 2 ; Cady, Kristi 1 ; Reed, Jackie 1 ; Montez, Chrissy 1
