Saturday, March 5
Carbondale, Ill.
5:45 PM
Ball State University
5-8
2
vs
1
Northern Kentucky
8-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Northern Kentucky
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
4
0
Ball State
0
0
0
1
0
1
X
2
6
2
Jones’ Gem Leads Softball Past Northern Kentucky
March 05, 2022 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - - Junior pitcher Deborah Jones continued her solid weekend, striking out a career-high 12 batters to help the Ball State softball team earn a 2-1 victory over Northern Kentucky Saturday evening at the Coach B Classic hosted by Southern Illinois.
It was the 20th career victory for the Cardinals (5-8) ace, who has allowed just one earned run over 12.0 innings of work this weekend at SIU's Charlotte West Stadium. She also struck out 14 total batters and has held opponents to a .159 average in three appearances.
After three-and-a-half scoreless innings, Ball State was able to take advantage of a hit batter to score the game's first run. Sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy was the beneficiary of the Norse (8-10) plunk, and then proceeded to steal second to give the Cardinals a runner in scoring position.
After advancing to third on groundout by senior catcher Delanie Johnson, Lissy came around to score on an RBI single up the middle by redshirt freshman first baseman McKayla Timmons.
The lead was short-lived, however, as NKU countered with a run of its own in the top of the fifth on back-to-back walks and an RBI single. That was the last hit Jones would allow, however, as she retired eight of the final nine batters she faced, including five by strikeout.
Then, it was senior Faith Hensley's turn to go to work, as she led off the bottom of the sixth inning with her team-leading fifth home run of the season to provide what proved to be the game-winning run.
Overall, six different Cardinals recorded at least one hit in the game, helping BSU hold a 6-to-4 edge in the category.
The Ball State softball team closes play in the Coach B Classic on Sunday, with games versus No. 17 Northwestern (11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT) and Murray State (3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT).
It was the 20th career victory for the Cardinals (5-8) ace, who has allowed just one earned run over 12.0 innings of work this weekend at SIU's Charlotte West Stadium. She also struck out 14 total batters and has held opponents to a .159 average in three appearances.
After three-and-a-half scoreless innings, Ball State was able to take advantage of a hit batter to score the game's first run. Sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy was the beneficiary of the Norse (8-10) plunk, and then proceeded to steal second to give the Cardinals a runner in scoring position.
After advancing to third on groundout by senior catcher Delanie Johnson, Lissy came around to score on an RBI single up the middle by redshirt freshman first baseman McKayla Timmons.
The lead was short-lived, however, as NKU countered with a run of its own in the top of the fifth on back-to-back walks and an RBI single. That was the last hit Jones would allow, however, as she retired eight of the final nine batters she faced, including five by strikeout.
Then, it was senior Faith Hensley's turn to go to work, as she led off the bottom of the sixth inning with her team-leading fifth home run of the season to provide what proved to be the game-winning run.
Overall, six different Cardinals recorded at least one hit in the game, helping BSU hold a 6-to-4 edge in the category.
The Ball State softball team closes play in the Coach B Classic on Sunday, with games versus No. 17 Northwestern (11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT) and Murray State (3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Deborah (1-3)
L: Madisyn Eads (3-3)
Batting:
RBI: Jordan Jenkins 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ella LeMonier 1
Batting:
HR: Hensley, Faith 1
RBI: Hensley, Faith 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lissy, Kayla 1 ; Hensley, Faith 1
SB: Lissy, Kayla 1
HBP: Lissy, Kayla 1 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
C/Uti
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
UT
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