Ball State University
9-6
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North Florida (Game 1)
10-7
Softball Slugs Its Way Past North Florida
March 08, 2012 | Softball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - - The Ball State softball team slugged out 29 total hits in a doubleheader sweep of North Florida Wednesday afternoon at the UNF Softball Complex. Ball State tallied a 10-2 (six-inning) win in the opening game and a 9-3 victory in the nightcap.
With the pair of wins, the Cardinals improve to 10-6 this season, including a 5-2 record so far on its spring break trip. North Florida falls to 10-8 with the two losses.
In Wednesday's doubleheader versus the Osprey, freshman second baseman Taylor Cox (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica) led the Ball State offense with an .800 (4-for-5) average, while drawing two walks and scoring three runs.
Junior centerfielder Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif./Santana) hit .714 (5-for-7) over the two games, while drawing a walk. She also posted a team-high four RBI, while scoring a pair of runs.
As a team, the Cardinals hit .439 (29-for-66) in the two games with 19 total runs, compared to a .245 (13-for-53) batting average and five runs for North Florida.
The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday, when it opens play in the Stetson Classic with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch scheduled versus Northern Colorado.
In an update to the Stetson Classic schedule, the Cardinals will now play Youngstown State in its 4 p.m. game Saturday, while its game versus Northern Colorado Sunday has been changed to a 10 a.m. contest versus Stetson.
GAME 1: Ball State 10 - North Florida 2
Eight of Ball State's nine starters recorded at least one hit as Ball State scored a 10-2, six-inning victory in the opening game of a doubleheader versus the Osprey. The Cardinals tallied a season-high 17 hits in the contest, including three doubles and a home run.
Junior centerfielder Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif./Santana) led the way with her first career four-hit game, as she went 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored.
Freshman second baseman Taylor Cox (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica) also turned in a career-best performance, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk and two runs scored.
Freshman designated player Hanne Stuedemann (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) added a pair of hits, including her second career home run, as she went 2-for-4 in the game, with two RBI and one run scored.
Also posting a pair of hits for the Cardinals were senior catcher Amanda Montalo (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde), sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel (Munster, Ind./Andrean) and freshman right fielder Loren Cihlar (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North).
Ball State opened the scoring in the top of the third, with Stuedemann belting a two-run blast to right field, scoring Cox on the play who led off the inning with an infield single. Three batters later, Carpenter would slice a RBI single up the middle, plating Montalto who singled to center following Stuedemann's long ball.
Ball State added its fourth run of the game in the top of the fourth, thanks to a two-out RBI double from Montalto. Cox scored her second run of the contest on the play, after posting an infield single with one out.
North Florida cut the Ball State lead in half in the bottom of the frame, when a BSU fielding error allowed pinch runner Brittany Hendrix to cross the plate, while a Jackie Reese double to right-center field scored Kelly Dill.
The Cardinals retaliated with three runs in the top of the fifth, pulling ahead 7-2. Sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) opened the inning with a single and was pinch ran for by senior Alison Mercado (Perris, Calif./Arizona Western College). A Bickel single put runners at first and second, before Carpenter drove in Mercado for the first run of the inning with a single up the middle.
A fielder's choice from Cihlar would catch Bickel out at home, but put runners on the corners. Cihlar would proceed to steal second before a Craft single plated Carpenter. BSU's final run came on a crazy play which saw Cihlar gunned down at home by the shortstop, but allowed Craft to score on a throwing error by the catcher.
Leading 7-2, Ball State would tally the final three runs of the game in the top of the sixth. Rager walked and Bickel singled to put runners on first and second for Carpenter who deposited a two-run double into right field. Cihlar followed with a RBI single to drive in Carpenter to push the score to 10-2.
Senior pitcher Audrey Workman (Wickenburg, Ariz./Wickenburg) would then retire the side in order in the bottom of the sixth to end the contest and improve to 5-5. In six innings of work, Workman limited the Osprey to seven hits and a pair of unearned runs, while striking out five batters.
Ashley Brown (3-3) suffered the loss for North Florida, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned) over 2.2 innings of work.
GAME 2: Ball State 9 - North Florida 3
The Cardinals carried over their heavy-hitting into the second game, as it tallied 12 more hits in a 9-3 win over North Florida.
Sophomore left fielder Jennifer Gilbert (McKinney, Texas/McKinney) got the ball rolling, literally, with a single to start of the game and the Cardinals never looked back. Gilbert finished the contest 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Two batters after Gilbert's leadoff single, senior catcher Amanda Montalto (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) blasted her 26th career home run to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead it would never relinquish. The home run extended Montalto's current hitting streak to a career-best nine games and pushed her streak of safely reaching base to 20 games.
Freshman right fielder Hanne Stuedemann (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) added a pair of hits to extend her hot streak, having scored at least one hit in each of the last seven games. She finished the night cap going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel (Munster, Ind./Andrean) also collected a pair of hits and a run scored, while sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager (Fisher, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) belted her fourth home run of the season.
After BSU scored a pair of runs in the first thanks to Montalto's two-run shot over the center field wall, the Osprey responded with a run in the bottom of the frame thanks to a RBI triple from two-hole hitter Kaley Brosky.
Ball State would tack on three runs in the second, staring with an RBI single to left field from freshman second baseman Taylor Cox (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica) which plated freshman shortstop Jessica Craft (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) who tallied a one-out single. Cox would come around to score BSU's second run of the frame on an error on a Gilbert single. Stuedemann followed with a single up the middle to bring home Gilbert, who reached third on the previous play's error.
The score remained 5-1 until the bottom of the fourth, when a two-out error by the Cardinals brought home Mariah Reynolds who was hit by a pitch to reach base.
Ball State took the run back in the top of the fifth, as a sacrifice fly from Craft allowed Bickel to score from third with two outs. Bickel singled up the middle to reach base.
The Cardinals scored their final three runs in the top of the sixth thanks to Rager's fourth home run of the season and the 11th of her career. Junior pinch runner Hannah Zimmerman (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina Memorial) and Montalto scored on the swing.
Trailing 9-2, the Osprey added one final run in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to an RBI double from Alyson Bailey to make the final score 9-3.
Senior pitcher Kim Mazzapica (Palm Harbor, Fla./East Lake) picked up the win for the Cardinals, improving to 5-1 after giving up just six hits and three runs (two earned) in seven innings of work. She struck out three batters.
Kaylie Wallace (5-2) took the loss for North Florida, surrendering six hits and five runs (three earned) over the first 1.2 innings.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Workman, Audrey (5-5)
L: BROWN, Ashley (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Carpenter, Amanda 1
HR: Stuedemann, Hanne 1
RBI: Stuedemann, Hanne 2 ; Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Carpenter, Amanda 4 ; Cihlar, Loren 1 ; Craft, Jessica 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stuedemann, Hanne 1 ; Montalto, Amanda 1 ; Rager, Taylor 1 ; Mercado, Alison 1 ; Bickel, Audrey 1 ; Carpenter, Amanda 2 ; Craft, Jessica 1 ; Cox, Taylor 2
SB: Cihlar, Loren 1
CS: Carpenter, Amanda 1
HBP: Gilbert, Jenny 1
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Batting:
2B: REESE, Jackie 1
RBI: REESE, Jackie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HENDRIX, Brittany 1 ; DILL, Kelly 1
SB: REESE, Jackie 1 ; BROSKY, Kaley 1 ; MANDARANO, Danica 1
HBP: REYNOLDS, Mariah 1
