Ball State University
32-23
No. 4 Central Michigan
27-22
Cihlar?s Eighth Inning Double Sends Softball To MAC Softball Championship Game
May 09, 2015 | Softball
AKRON, Ohio - - Senior left fielder Loren Cihlar (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) lined an RBI double over a drawn in Central Michigan defense to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run as the Cardinals earned a berth in Saturday's Mid-American Conference Softball Championship game with a 3-2 (8) victory over the Chippewas Friday at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio.
Ball State (32-23), which advances to the title game for the first time since winning the tournament championship in 2010, will face the winner of Saturday morning's 10:30 a.m. elimination game between Central Michigan (27-22) and Western Michigan (24-25).
“Today's game was spectacular,” Ball State head coach Tyra Perry said. “That is the kind of atmosphere you can expect in the MAC Tournament. It was awesome to be in a situation like that and come out with a win. Right now, we are focusing on staying together as a team. That has consumed everyone's attention, just playing for and being there for each other as a team. It's been a while since Ball State has won the tournament and our seniors have taken control and are being great leaders trying to guide us back to the title.”
After a perfect first two innings, the Cardinals got the game's first baserunner in the top of the third when junior first baseman Sammi Cowger (Fenton, Mich./Fenton) battled for a nine-pitch walk to open the inning. After sophomore pinch runner India Steward (Matteson, Ill./Rich South/Western Kentucky) entered the game at first, a CMU error on an attempted sacrifice bunt from sophomore third baseman Amanda Arnett (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) gave Ball State a pair of base runners. Two batters later, another Chippewas' error allowed the Cardinals to plate the game's first run as Steward came around to score from second.
Ball State's upperclassmen came through with a pair of big plays in the top of the fourth to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage. Junior second baseman Emily Dabkowski (Plainfield, Ind./South Putnam) opened the frame with a crafty bunt single, and then caught the defense napping on the next pitch and stole second uncontested. That play proved large, as senior right fielder Hanne Stuedemann (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) followed with a RBI double to the temporary fence in right-center field to double Ball State's advantage.
Central Michigan got its first baserunner off junior pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker (Belton, Mo./Belton) with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and added a second two batters later with a RBI single to right field to cut the Ball State lead in half.
CMU looked poised for more runs in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with two outs, but Schifferdecker answered with a strikeout to end the Chippewas threat. In fact, Schifferdecker collected three strikeouts in the inning and finished the day with four over 5.1 innings of work. She allowed just four hits and a pair of runs in her first appearance of the MAC Softball Championship this season.
Despite the strong effort in the circle, the Chippewas added one more run in bottom of the sixth, tying the score with a leadoff double and a one-out single.
With the game tied going into the bottom of the seventh, Central Michigan managed to get its first runner on base thanks to a defensive miscue. However, following a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second, junior pitcher Nicole Steinbach (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) struck out the next two batters to send the game to extra innings.
Ball State looked poised to go quietly in the top of the eight, but CMU pitcher Rachael Knapp threw a 1-1 pitch a little too far inside and hit junior shortstop Selena Reyna (Houston, Texas/South Houston). Cihlar followed with arguably one of the biggest hits of her four-year career, lining the ball over a pulled in Central Michigan defense and to the wall in left-center field to drive in Reyna from first for what proved to be the game-winning run.
The Cardinals defense then retired the Chippewas in order in the bottom of the eight to send the team to the title game.
In picking up her third win of the tournament, and 17th of the season, Steinbach held the Chippewas hitless over 2.2 innings while striking out a pair of batters.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State softball, follow the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB and @TyraPerry13 / Instagram: ballstatesb / Facebook: BallStateSoftball.
- BallStateSports.com –
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Steinbach, Nicole (17-13)
L: Knapp, Rachael (17-11)
Batting:
2B: Cihlar, Loren 1 ; Stuedemann, Hanne 1
RBI: Cihlar, Loren 1 ; Stuedemann, Hanne 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reyna, Selena 1 ; Dabkowski, Emily 1 ; Steward, India 1
SB: Dabkowski, Emily 1
HBP: Reyna, Selena 1
Batting:
2B: Cox, Trista 1
RBI: Rentschler, Katelyn 1 ; DeLamielleure, C. 1
SH: Lewallen, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kuhlman, Kristen 1 ; Barnes, Kelly 1
SB: Hansen, Sara 1
HBP: Tolfree, Lacy 1 ; Hansen, Karly 1
