Friday, February 11
Rosemont, Ill.
10:30 AM
Ball State University
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Photo by: Steve Woltmann
Softball Closes Opening Day with 7-4 Win over Western Illinois
February 11, 2022 | Softball
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Ball State softball team closed opening day with a 7-4 win over Western Illinois in its second game Friday afternoon in the DePaul Tournament at the Rosemont Dome.
After suffering a 6-5 loss to St. Thomas in the season-opener, the Cardinals (1-1) scored the first six runs in the nightcap to take early control of the contest.
Overall, the Cardinals pounded 17 hits over the two games with junior third baseman Haley Wynn and sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy leading the way with four hits apiece. Wynn provided Ball State's first home run of the season with a two-run blast in the fifth inning of the season-opener.
Ball State also received a home run from senior center fielder Faith Hensley, who recorded two hits in the opener and one in the nightcap, while tying Wynn for team-high honors with three RBI on the day.
Freshman Angelina Russo made the most of her collegiate debut versus the Leathernecks (0-2), earning her first career win by throwing the first 6.0 innings and along just three hits and four runs (three earned). She also struck out three batters.
After suffering the pitching loss in the opener versus the Tommies (2-0), freshman Madison Taylor rebounded to earn the save against WIU by holding the designated guests off the board in the top of the seventh.
The defense also gave Ball State a big lift in the nightcap, as the Cardinals turned four double plays in the game.
The Ball State softball team returns to action Saturday with two more games at the Rosemont Dome; a 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT contest versus Murray State and an 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. first pitch versus Seattle.
GAME 1 NOTABLES: St. Thomas 6 – Ball State 5:
GAME 2 NOTABLES: Ball State 7 – Western Illinois 4:
After suffering a 6-5 loss to St. Thomas in the season-opener, the Cardinals (1-1) scored the first six runs in the nightcap to take early control of the contest.
Overall, the Cardinals pounded 17 hits over the two games with junior third baseman Haley Wynn and sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy leading the way with four hits apiece. Wynn provided Ball State's first home run of the season with a two-run blast in the fifth inning of the season-opener.
Ball State also received a home run from senior center fielder Faith Hensley, who recorded two hits in the opener and one in the nightcap, while tying Wynn for team-high honors with three RBI on the day.
Freshman Angelina Russo made the most of her collegiate debut versus the Leathernecks (0-2), earning her first career win by throwing the first 6.0 innings and along just three hits and four runs (three earned). She also struck out three batters.
After suffering the pitching loss in the opener versus the Tommies (2-0), freshman Madison Taylor rebounded to earn the save against WIU by holding the designated guests off the board in the top of the seventh.
The defense also gave Ball State a big lift in the nightcap, as the Cardinals turned four double plays in the game.
The Ball State softball team returns to action Saturday with two more games at the Rosemont Dome; a 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT contest versus Murray State and an 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. first pitch versus Seattle.
GAME 1 NOTABLES: St. Thomas 6 – Ball State 5:
- The Cardinals' first run of the season came in the top of the fourth, when senior center fielder Faith Hensley picked up where she left off last season with an RBI infield single … Hensley led the Ball State offense with 51 RBIs last season.
- Sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy scored the first run, crossing the plate from second on Hensley's infield single … The speedster led off the inning with a single and stole second, one of her two stolen bases in the game.
- Trailing 3-1 after four, the Cardinals exploded for four runs in the top of the fifth … BSU scored four-or-more runs in an inning 29 times last season.
- The final two runs of the inning came off the bat of junior third baseman Haley Wynn who smashed BSU's first home run of the season … It was her fourth career home run.
- Sophomore pinch runner Hannah Dukeman scored the first run of the inning, crossing the plate on a passed ball, while sophomore Kaitlyn Mathews scored the second by advancing home on a throw follow a walk … Mathews also recorded her first career hit in the sixth inning.
- Junior pitcher Deborah Jones threw the first three innings, allowing just three hits and a pair of runs, while striking out three batters.
- Sophomore transfer left fielder Remington Ross earned her first hit for the Cardinals with a single in the sixth.
GAME 2 NOTABLES: Ball State 7 – Western Illinois 4:
- Wynn opened the game with a single, and later scored on a Hensley groundout to give BSU an early one-run lead.
- The Cardinals would then post a five-spot in the bottom of the second, its second inning of 4-or-more runs so far this season.
- Ross opened the inning with a walk and then proceeded to steal second, setting up an RBI single from freshman McKayla Timmons for her first collegiate hit.
- Redshirt junior catcher Jazmyne Armendariz followed with her first hit of the season, an infield single, put runners on the corners.
- That set up an RBI single from Wynn, giving her three on the day.
- Lissy followed with her first multiple base hit of the season, an RBI double to left-center field … Lissy tied for the NCAA lead with nine triples last season.
- The final two runs scored on a passed ball (Wynn) and a wild pitch (Lissy).
- After WIU cut the lead to 6-4 in the top of the third, the score remained the same until Hensley blasted BSU's second home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth … It was Hensley's ninth career home run
- Pitcher Angelina Russo picked up the win in her collegiate debut, striking out three batters over 6.0 innings and allowing just three hits and four runs, only three of which were earned.
- Freshman pitcher Madison Taylor rebounded from a rough opening game to hold WIU off the board in the seventh inning, allowing just two hits and benefiting from Ball State's fourth double play of the game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baniecke, Megan (1-0)
L: Taylor, Madison (0-1)
S: Crawford, Christina (1)
Batting:
HR: Wynn, Haley 1
RBI: Wynn, Haley 2 ; Hensley, Faith 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wynn, Haley 1 ; Lissy, Kayla 1 ; Dukeman, Hannah 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 1 ; Ross, Remington 1
SB: Lissy, Kayla 2
CS: Hensley, Faith 1
HBP: Hensley, Faith 1
Batting:
HR: Hudson, Sarah 1 ; Carby, Cassidy 1
RBI: Hudson, Sarah 2 ; Baniecke, Megan 1 ; Carby, Cassidy 2 ; Miller, Kenzie 1
SF: Hudson, Sarah 1 ; Miller, Kenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Raymond, Kaitlyn 1 ; Ellestad, Brooke 1 ; Hudson, Sarah 2 ; Mickett, Sydney 1 ; Carby, Cassidy 1
SB: Raymond, Kaitlyn 1 ; Ellestad, Brooke 1
CS: Raymond, Kaitlyn 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
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3
RBI
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AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
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H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/Uti
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballSoftball // Workouts
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