Friday, March 5
Starkville, MS
1:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. CT
Ball State University
2-3
3
vs
4
Western Kentucky
8-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Ball State
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
3
4
3
Western Kentucky
0
0
2
0
2
0
X
4
7
1
Photo by: Tessa Mortensen
Softball Battles Two Tough Teams in Friday Action
March 05, 2021 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - - Despite a strong all-around effort, the Ball State softball team opened play in the Bulldog Invitational with a 4-3 loss to Western Kentucky and an 8-3 setback to tournament host No. 18 Mississippi State Friday afternoon at Nusz Park.
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With the losses, the Cardinals fall to 2-4 on the young year, with all four losses coming to NCAA-caliber teams. The Hilltoppers improved to 8-1 with two wins on the day, while the 18th-ranked (Softball America) Bulldogs climbed to 10-5 after a pair of wins.
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Senior center fielder Kennedy Wynn had a big day for the Cardinals, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, one RBI and four runs score. Senior first baseman Janae Hogg also had a three-hit day, with all three coming versus Mississippi State.
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The Ball State softball team opens the second day of the Bulldog Invitational at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT Saturday versus Alcorn State. The Cardinals will have one more game later in the day, at a time and versus an opponent to be determined.
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GAME ONE RECAP: Western Kentucky 4, Ball State 3
In Friday's opener, the Cardinals (2-4) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over a tough Hilltoppers squad which entered the tournament with just one loss on the year. Unfortunately, WKU rallied to pull ahead 4-2 with two runs each in the third and fifth innings.
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Ball State would not go down without a fight, however, as it loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. A two-out walk to BSU's leading batter, senior left fielder Haley Dominique, would cut the lead to one. However, the Cardinals could not push any more runs across the plate and suffered the loss.
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K. Wynn picked up two of Ball State's four hits versus Western Kentucky with a double in the second and a leadoff single in the seventh. She scored on both, crossing the plate on a sac fly from sophomore third baseman Mackenzie McCarty in the second and from Dominique's walk in the seventh.
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Ball State's middle run came courtesy of a RBI double from Dominique in the third, following a walk and stolen base by junior right fielder Faith Hensley.
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In the circle, junior Tieghan Morio held WKU hitless over the final two innings and retired six of the seven batters she faced. Senior Darcie Huber threw the first 4.0 innings, holding a potent Hilltoppers offense to just seven hits and four runs, only three of which were earned.
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GAME TWO RECAP: Mississippi State 8 - Ball State 3
Ball State struck first against the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, after a two-out walk to K. Wynn followed by a hard single off the pitcher from Hogg. An error on the Hogg play allowed K. Wynn to score her third run of the day, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead after the top of the first.
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Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as MSU plated four in the bottom of the frame, including a three-run home run by Fa Leilua.
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It was a rough start for the Ball State as it battled another familiar face on the opposing bench in former assistant coach (2016-18) / associate head coach (2019) Josh Johnson who is the current pitching coach at Mississippi State.
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The Bulldogs extended their lead to 5-1 with another run in the bottom of the second. However, Ball State sophomore reliever Deborah Jones entered the game with no outs in the inning and held MSU scoreless over her first 2.0 innings of work.
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Senior third baseman Stacy Payton cut the lead back down to three runs in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI single up the middle to score freshman pinch runner Hannah Dukeman. It was Payton's team-leading sixth RBI of the season, which was set up by a two-out double from Hogg.
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MSU would counter with three runs in the bottom of the frame to take complete control of the game, however.
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Ball State would get one more run, thanks to a sixth-inning leadoff home run by K. Wynn. It was her first home run of the season and the 18th of her career, giving the game its final score of 8-3.
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With the losses, the Cardinals fall to 2-4 on the young year, with all four losses coming to NCAA-caliber teams. The Hilltoppers improved to 8-1 with two wins on the day, while the 18th-ranked (Softball America) Bulldogs climbed to 10-5 after a pair of wins.
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Senior center fielder Kennedy Wynn had a big day for the Cardinals, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, one RBI and four runs score. Senior first baseman Janae Hogg also had a three-hit day, with all three coming versus Mississippi State.
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The Ball State softball team opens the second day of the Bulldog Invitational at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT Saturday versus Alcorn State. The Cardinals will have one more game later in the day, at a time and versus an opponent to be determined.
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GAME ONE RECAP: Western Kentucky 4, Ball State 3
In Friday's opener, the Cardinals (2-4) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over a tough Hilltoppers squad which entered the tournament with just one loss on the year. Unfortunately, WKU rallied to pull ahead 4-2 with two runs each in the third and fifth innings.
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Ball State would not go down without a fight, however, as it loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. A two-out walk to BSU's leading batter, senior left fielder Haley Dominique, would cut the lead to one. However, the Cardinals could not push any more runs across the plate and suffered the loss.
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K. Wynn picked up two of Ball State's four hits versus Western Kentucky with a double in the second and a leadoff single in the seventh. She scored on both, crossing the plate on a sac fly from sophomore third baseman Mackenzie McCarty in the second and from Dominique's walk in the seventh.
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Ball State's middle run came courtesy of a RBI double from Dominique in the third, following a walk and stolen base by junior right fielder Faith Hensley.
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In the circle, junior Tieghan Morio held WKU hitless over the final two innings and retired six of the seven batters she faced. Senior Darcie Huber threw the first 4.0 innings, holding a potent Hilltoppers offense to just seven hits and four runs, only three of which were earned.
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GAME TWO RECAP: Mississippi State 8 - Ball State 3
Ball State struck first against the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, after a two-out walk to K. Wynn followed by a hard single off the pitcher from Hogg. An error on the Hogg play allowed K. Wynn to score her third run of the day, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead after the top of the first.
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Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as MSU plated four in the bottom of the frame, including a three-run home run by Fa Leilua.
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It was a rough start for the Ball State as it battled another familiar face on the opposing bench in former assistant coach (2016-18) / associate head coach (2019) Josh Johnson who is the current pitching coach at Mississippi State.
Â
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 5-1 with another run in the bottom of the second. However, Ball State sophomore reliever Deborah Jones entered the game with no outs in the inning and held MSU scoreless over her first 2.0 innings of work.
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Senior third baseman Stacy Payton cut the lead back down to three runs in the top of the fourth with a two-out RBI single up the middle to score freshman pinch runner Hannah Dukeman. It was Payton's team-leading sixth RBI of the season, which was set up by a two-out double from Hogg.
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MSU would counter with three runs in the bottom of the frame to take complete control of the game, however.
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Ball State would get one more run, thanks to a sixth-inning leadoff home run by K. Wynn. It was her first home run of the season and the 18th of her career, giving the game its final score of 8-3.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SULLIVAN,K. (1-0)
L: Huber, Darcie (0-2)
S: AIKEY,K. (1)
Batting:
2B: Dominique, Haley 1 ; Wynn, Kennedy 1
RBI: Dominique, Haley 2 ; McCarty, Mackenzie 1
SF: McCarty, Mackenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wynn, Kennedy 2 ; Hensley, Faith 1
SB: Hensley, Faith 1
Batting:
2B: SULLIVAN,K. 1
HR: SMITH,K. 1
RBI: SULLIVAN,K. 1 ; SMITH,K. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: CARTER,P. 1 ; SULLIVAN,K. 2 ; SMITH,K. 1
SB: DAVIS,T. 1 ; Webster, TJ 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C/Uti
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
INF/OF
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