Softball Ends Opening Weekend with 3-2 Win Over UAB

Sunday, February 14

Gulf Shores, Alabama, United States

10:00 AM

Ball State University

2-3

UAB

1-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Ball State	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	3	5	1
UAB	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	10	1

Softball Ends Opening Weekend with 3-2 Win Over UAB

February 14, 2016 | Softball

Box Score Box Score

By: Ball State Athletics

GULF SHORES, Ala. - - Junior Rachel Houck (Greenfield, Ind./Mt. Vernon) continued her strong hitting Sunday, launching a two-run rocket shot over the fence in right field to help the Ball State softball team close play in the Sand Dollar Classic with a 3-2 victory over UAB at The Fieldhouse in Gulf Shores, Ala.

“We responded very well after yesterday,” first-year head coach Megan Ciolli Bartlett said. “I thought we made some good adjustments at the plate and were a little bit more disciplined. Rachel came up big twice, which as the three-hole hitter is what we are going to need her to do this season. Nicole did a great job on the mound. She hit her spots, spun the ball a little and keeping UAB off balance.”

In addition to her two-run blast, Houck helped account for the game-winning run with a sharply-hit ball which the UAB (1-4) second baseman misplayed, allowing what proved to be the game-winning run to cross the plate in the fifth inning.

In the circle, senior pitcher Nicole Steinbach (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) earned her second win of the season for the Cardinals (2-3) by holding the Blazers to just two runs, while scattering 10 hits over 7.0 innings of work. Steinbach, who also struck out two batters, was able to get outs when she needed them the most and forced UAB to strand 10 runners on base.

The Ball State defense was also able to help Steinbach out, specifically in the first inning with one out and runners on the corners when freshman second baseman Becca Rodriguez (Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside) was able to spark a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play to keep the Blazers off the board early. It was Ball state's third double play of the season.

After a scoreless first two innings, the Cardinals were able to capitalize on a two-out walk to senior left fielder Selena Reyna (Houston, Texas/South Houston) in the top of the third, as Houck took a 0-1 pitch deep over the right field wall.

The Blazers found some momentum in the bottom of the fourth, tying the score at 2-2 on a two-out, two-run single from Danii Fernandez.

Ball State was able to reclaim the lead in the top of the fifth, aided by an inning-opening walk to pinch hitter Elise Sandberg (Marietta, Ga./Lassiter). Following a strikeout, freshman pinch runner Aeshia Miles (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill) stole second and came around to score two batters later when Houck's hard-hit ball to second base was misplayed.

From there, Steinbach and the Ball State defense would shut down the Blazers, forcing them to leave bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth and strand single runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Another highlight from Sunday's contest was freshman third baseman Madeline Porter's (Birmingham, Ala./Oak Mountain) first career hit, which was a leadoff double down the right field line to lead off the seventh inning.

The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday (Feb. 19), when it opens play in the Hilton Houston Plaza Invitational with games versus Texas (10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. CT) and Jackson State (3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT).

“We have a few things to work on when we get back,” Bartlett said about the weekend as a whole. “The best thing we can take from this weekend is that we are finding an identity. Good programs are going to be able to respond to adversity, and I think the team is showing glimmers of that, which I think is a positive.”

For the most up-to-date news on Ball State softball, follow the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, @CoachCBartlett & @BallStateSports / Instagram: ballstatesb / Facebook: BallStateSoftball.

- BallStateSports.com –