Ball State University
5-6
Southeast Missouri
1-6
Strong Effort From Steinbach Guides Softball Past Southeast Missouri
February 27, 2016 | Softball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - - Senior pitcher Nicole Steinbach (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) turned in another strong performance Friday night, holding Southeast Missouri hitless over the first 4.2 innings and allowing no earned runs to help guide the Ball State softball team to a 6-3 victory to open play in the Holiday Inn Spring Fling hosted by Western Kentucky.
“Nicole did a nice job tonight,” head coach Megan Ciolli Bartlett said. “She came out of the gates firing. She looked extremely sharp early, but started to find too much middle as the game went on. But then, she was able to lock it down at the end to make sure we got a win. She showed very good composure as a senior and that is what we are going to need from her.”
In helping the Cardinals (5-6) pick up their third straight win, Steinbach struck out four of the first six Redhawks (1-6) she faced and did not surrender a hit until late in the fifth inning following an error that extended the frame. Overall, Steinbach limited Missouri State to four hits and three unearned runs to pick up her fourth win of the season and the 52nd of her career.
After a scoreless first two innings, junior first baseman Amanda Arnett (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) opened the scoring with her third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center field which also drove in freshman second baseman Aeshia Miles (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill) who singled one batter earlier.
Missouri State cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on a two-out Ball State error which allowed a runner to reach second and a RBI single to drive in a run.
The Cardinals responded with three run in the top of the sixth, pulling ahead 5-1. Senior shortstop Emily Dabkowski (Plainfield, Ind./South Putnam) and junior left fielder India Steward (Matteson, Ill./Rich South) opened the inning with back-to-back infield singles. Senior pinch hitter Selena Reyna (Houston, Texas/South Houston) followed with a deep shot to center field which just missed going over the wall and fell in play for a RBI single, making the score 3-1.
Sophomore catcher Leigh McAnally (Trussville, Ala./Hewitt-Trussville) then draw a walk to load the bases with no outs. The Cardinals turned to a second pinch hitter in the inning, with senior Sammi Cowger (Fenton, Mich./Fenton) coming to the plate an slicing a RBI single up the middle. Ball State looked poised to score a pair of runs on the play, but a close call at home plate led to the first out of the inning. With runners at second and third after the play at the plate, Miles logged her first career RBI with a groundout to second to extend Ball State's lead to 5-1.
The Redhawks would not go down quietly, however, capitalizing on another Ball State error to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 5-3. However, the Ball State defense would also come up big in the inning, as freshman Madeline Porter (Birmingham, Ala./Oak Mountain) made a diving catch on a soft liner to third and caught the runner at first off the bag for a big double play.
Ball State looked poised for another big inning in the seventh, as freshman designated player Madison Lee (Cerritos, Calif./Cerritos) singled to open the frame and advanced to second on a walk to junior right fielder Rachel Houck (Greenfield, Ind./Mt. Vernon). After a wild pitch advanced both runners, Dabkowski came through with a RBI single to center field, moving the score to 6-3 and raising her MAC-leading RBI total to 13. Unfortunately, the Cardinals rally stopped there, as a pop fly and double play ended the inning.
That would be all the run support Steinbach needed, however, as she retired two of the first three batters she face in the bottom of the seventh before Steward ended the game with a power sliding catch on a fly to left field.
Overall, the Ball State offense pounded out 11 hits in the game, two shy of its season high set in last Saturday's win at Houston. Dabkowski led the Cardinals with three hits, while Arnett recorded two.
“The offense is doing a nice job of coming up with big hits,” Bartlett said. “We just need to do a better job of continuing the momentum between hits. We need to start making opposing defenses make mistakes, even if its little things like putting down a bunt, hitting a line drive or putting down ground balls, that's when we can start to put teams away.”
The Ball State softball team continues play in the WKU Holiday Inn Spring Fling Saturday morning with a pair of morning games versus Western Carolina (9:30 a.m. CT) and host Western Kentucky (11:45 a.m. CT).
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 –
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Steinbach, Nicole (4-2)
L: THOGMARTIN, Haley (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Houck, Rachel 1
HR: Arnett, Amanda 1
RBI: Arnett, Amanda 2 ; Dabkowski, Emily 1 ; Reyna, Selena 1 ; Cowger, Sammi 1 ; Miles, Aeshia 1
SH: Lee, Madison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Arnett, Amanda 1 ; Lee, Madison 1 ; Dabkowski, Emily 1 ; Steward, India 1 ; McAnally, Leigh 1 ; Miles, Aeshia 1
Batting:
RBI: KRACK, Haylee 1 ; STEVENS, Brittany 1
SH: WHEELER, Harli 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WERNIG, Claire 1 ; WHEELER, Harli 1 ; TURNER, Danielle 1
