Sunday, March 28
Muncie, IN
12 p.m.
Ball State University
10-9, 4-0
9
vs
5
Bowling Green
10-13, 2-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Bowling Green
1
1
0
3
0
0
0
5
10
2
Ball State
0
0
1
3
0
5
X
9
13
1
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Late Rally Leads Softball To Series Sweep of Bowling Green
March 28, 2021 | Softball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - It's hard to beat any opponent four straight times, and for much of Sunday afternoon it looked like the Ball State softball team was going to come up on the short end of its Mid-American Conference series finale versus Bowling Green.
Â
However, on a cold, blustery day at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, senior catcher Stacy Payton smashed the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the sixth out of the park to open the floodgates for the Cardinals (10-9; 4-0 MAC).
Â
"The whole game was just sticking to the process," Payton said when asked about her sixth-inning home run. "The main thing today was being in attack mode. Whenever they threw the ball over the white, just be ready to swing. That's what happened, first pitch it was over the white and I was ready, had my timing and all the pieces fell."Â
Â
Ball State would go on to score five runs in the inning, the final five of eight unanswered runs overall, to complete the four-game series sweep of the Falcons (10-13; 2-6 MAC) with a 9-5 victory.Â
Â
"The energy this weekend was fantastic, and opening up conference play is always fun and exciting," first-year head coach Lacy Wood said when asked about the weekend. "Every game, it seemed like someone different was coming up clutch for us. It's fun when you look at your lineup and one through nine can come in and either hit the ball over the fence or challenge you on the base paths."
Â
It is the Cardinals' first 4-0 start to MAC play since 2013, when the program opened 12-0 on its way to capturing a fourth MAC Regular Season title with an 18-3 league mark.
Â
Aside from her sixth-inning home run, Payton recorded an RBI double in the third to give Ball State its first run of the game. She also started the scoring in the three-run fourth with an RBI single. Overall, she went 3-for-4 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored.
Â
"Stacy is our spark plug," Wood said. "People look to her, and she is a leader both on and off the field. We were talking about being aggressive early in the count, and the first pitch of the inning she sends over the center field fence. She set the example, she set the tone and everybody else followed suit."
Â
As a team, Ball State tallied a season-high 13 hits on the day, with eight different Cardinals recording at least one. In addition, five different players logged at least one RBI.Â
Â
Perhaps the most impressive hit came off the bat of sophomore third baseman Haley Wynn, who capped the scoring with her first career home run, a two-run liner over the fence in right.
Â
Senior designated player Delanie Johnson also had a solid day, going 3-for-3 at the plate. Junior second baseman Amaia Daniel added two hits, including an RBI double in the five-run sixth.
Â
In the circle, junior reliever Tieghan Morio picked up the win by holding the Falcons scoreless over the final three innings. She retired the first six batters she faced, including three strikeouts, while not allowing a hit to improve to 4-2 overall and to 2-0 in league play.
Â
Senior Darcie Huber started the game for the Cardinals, striking out a series-high five batters over her 4.0 innings of work.
Â
Overall, the Falcons entered the series leading the league with 196 strikeouts. However, Ball State batters struck out just eight times on the weekend, while drawing 23 walks. BGSU had only walked 39 batters in its first 19 games.
Â
Sammy Dees led the Falcons with three this in the game, while Hannah Davies suffered the pitching loss after allowing eight hits and eight runs over her 2.2 innings of relief work.
Â
The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday, when it opens its first MAC road series of the season with a 3 p.m. first pitch at Central Michigan.
Â
However, on a cold, blustery day at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, senior catcher Stacy Payton smashed the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the sixth out of the park to open the floodgates for the Cardinals (10-9; 4-0 MAC).
Â
"The whole game was just sticking to the process," Payton said when asked about her sixth-inning home run. "The main thing today was being in attack mode. Whenever they threw the ball over the white, just be ready to swing. That's what happened, first pitch it was over the white and I was ready, had my timing and all the pieces fell."Â
Â
Ball State would go on to score five runs in the inning, the final five of eight unanswered runs overall, to complete the four-game series sweep of the Falcons (10-13; 2-6 MAC) with a 9-5 victory.Â
Â
"The energy this weekend was fantastic, and opening up conference play is always fun and exciting," first-year head coach Lacy Wood said when asked about the weekend. "Every game, it seemed like someone different was coming up clutch for us. It's fun when you look at your lineup and one through nine can come in and either hit the ball over the fence or challenge you on the base paths."
Â
It is the Cardinals' first 4-0 start to MAC play since 2013, when the program opened 12-0 on its way to capturing a fourth MAC Regular Season title with an 18-3 league mark.
Â
Aside from her sixth-inning home run, Payton recorded an RBI double in the third to give Ball State its first run of the game. She also started the scoring in the three-run fourth with an RBI single. Overall, she went 3-for-4 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored.
Â
"Stacy is our spark plug," Wood said. "People look to her, and she is a leader both on and off the field. We were talking about being aggressive early in the count, and the first pitch of the inning she sends over the center field fence. She set the example, she set the tone and everybody else followed suit."
Â
As a team, Ball State tallied a season-high 13 hits on the day, with eight different Cardinals recording at least one. In addition, five different players logged at least one RBI.Â
Â
Perhaps the most impressive hit came off the bat of sophomore third baseman Haley Wynn, who capped the scoring with her first career home run, a two-run liner over the fence in right.
Â
Senior designated player Delanie Johnson also had a solid day, going 3-for-3 at the plate. Junior second baseman Amaia Daniel added two hits, including an RBI double in the five-run sixth.
Â
In the circle, junior reliever Tieghan Morio picked up the win by holding the Falcons scoreless over the final three innings. She retired the first six batters she faced, including three strikeouts, while not allowing a hit to improve to 4-2 overall and to 2-0 in league play.
Â
Senior Darcie Huber started the game for the Cardinals, striking out a series-high five batters over her 4.0 innings of work.
Â
Overall, the Falcons entered the series leading the league with 196 strikeouts. However, Ball State batters struck out just eight times on the weekend, while drawing 23 walks. BGSU had only walked 39 batters in its first 19 games.
Â
Sammy Dees led the Falcons with three this in the game, while Hannah Davies suffered the pitching loss after allowing eight hits and eight runs over her 2.2 innings of relief work.
Â
The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday, when it opens its first MAC road series of the season with a 3 p.m. first pitch at Central Michigan.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Morio, Tieghan (4-2)
L: DAVIES, Hannah (0-1)
Batting:
2B: McCOY, Madi 1
HR: GONZALEZ, Sarah 1
RBI: DEES, Sammy 1 ; McCOY, Madi 1 ; LOYOLA, Evelyn 1 ; GODBOLT, Maycee 1 ; GONZALEZ, Sarah 1
SF: LOYOLA, Evelyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: L'ESPERANCE, Greta 1 ; DEES, Sammy 1 ; McCOY, Madi 1 ; SORGI, Nikki 1 ; GONZALEZ, Sarah 1
Batting:
2B: Hogg, Janae 1 ; Payton, Stacy 1 ; Daniel, Amaia 1
3B: Hensley, Faith 1
HR: Wynn, Haley 1 ; Payton, Stacy 1
RBI: Wynn, Haley 2 ; Payton, Stacy 3 ; Hensley, Faith 2 ; Daniel, Amaia 1 ; Wynn, Kennedy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wynn, Haley 2 ; Hogg, Janae 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 1 ; Payton, Stacy 2 ; Hensley, Faith 1 ; Daniel, Amaia 1 ; Wynn, Kennedy 1
HBP: Dominique, Haley 1 ; Johnson, Delanie 1
PO: Janiga, Katie 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
Uti
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C/Uti
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballBall State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Sports Link: Katie Van Der Mark (Softball)
Wednesday, May 21
Sports Link: Kaitlyn Gibson (Softball)
Wednesday, May 07