Tuesday, April 5
DeKalb, Ill.
3 p.m.
Ball State University
11-18, 4-2
13
at
3
Northern Illinois
8-16, 2-7
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Ball State
4
3
2
2
2
13
12
1
Northern Illinois
0
1
0
1
1
3
6
2
Softball Opens NIU Series With 13-3 (5) Win
April 05, 2022 | Softball
DEKALB, Ill. - - The Ball State softball offense was firing on all cylinders Tuesday afternoon, scoring early and often in a 13-3 (5) victory to open a three-game midweek Mid-American Conference series at Northern Illinois.
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Not only was the scoring outburst a season-high for the Cardinals (11-18; 4-2 MAC), but it was also the third consecutive game at the Huskies' (8-16; 2-7 MAC) Mary M. Bell Field that BSU has posted 13 runs in a run-rule victory.
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Ball State wasted little time breaking onto the scoreboard Tuesday, batting around in a four-run opening inning. Reigning MAC Player of the Week Faith Hensley got the ball rolling with a single to right-center field. After a walk to junior third baseman Haley Wynn, redshirt freshman first baseman McKayla Timmons opened the scoring with an RBI single to center.
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Senior second baseman Amaia Daniel followed with her first of four RBI in the game on a fielder's choice, while a fielder's choice by sophomore right fielder Kaitlyn Mathews and a walk to senior catcher Delanie Johnson capped the scoring in the frame.
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Reigning MAC Pitcher of the Week Angelina Russo went to work in the bottom of the inning, holding the Huskies off the board despite a leadoff double. Russo would go on to earn the complete game victory, holding NIU to six hits and three runs, only one of which was earned, over her 5.0 innings of work.
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The Cardinals made NIU's pitching staff pay for a pair of hit batters (Wynn and Timmons) to open the second inning, as Daniel followed with a two-run triple to center after a Huskies call to the pen. Two batters later, Mathews brought Daniel home with a sac fly.
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While NIU would cut the lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the second, Ball State started the third with a bang and a crash, as Hensley smashed her 12th home run of the season off the side of the Ball State bus parked well beyond the fence in right field. Wynn followed with her second hit of the game and went on to score three batters later thanks to a bases-loaded sac fly from Mathews for her third RBI of the contest.
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Ball State's offense stayed hot in the fourth, starting with a single from freshman right fielder Emma Richards. Walks to Hensley and sophomore third baseman Samantha-Jo Mata followed, loading the bases. Two batters later Daniel walked home the first of two runs in the inning, for her fourth and final RBI of the contest, while a sac fly from sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy made it an 11-1 ball game.
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While NIU would score single runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, the Cardinals would tally two more in the fifth, helping give the game its final score of 13-2.Â
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The top of the fifth started with a single up the middle from sophomore center fielder Hannah Dukeman. After a wild pitch moved Dukeman to second, Johnson picked up her second RBI of the game with a single to left-center field.Â
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Johnson, who moved to second on the throw to home, also advanced to third on a wild pitch to set up a Richards sac fly for the final BSU run of the game.
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The Cardinals and Huskies will play two more games at Mary M. Bell Field Wednesday, with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT.
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Not only was the scoring outburst a season-high for the Cardinals (11-18; 4-2 MAC), but it was also the third consecutive game at the Huskies' (8-16; 2-7 MAC) Mary M. Bell Field that BSU has posted 13 runs in a run-rule victory.
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Ball State wasted little time breaking onto the scoreboard Tuesday, batting around in a four-run opening inning. Reigning MAC Player of the Week Faith Hensley got the ball rolling with a single to right-center field. After a walk to junior third baseman Haley Wynn, redshirt freshman first baseman McKayla Timmons opened the scoring with an RBI single to center.
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Senior second baseman Amaia Daniel followed with her first of four RBI in the game on a fielder's choice, while a fielder's choice by sophomore right fielder Kaitlyn Mathews and a walk to senior catcher Delanie Johnson capped the scoring in the frame.
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Reigning MAC Pitcher of the Week Angelina Russo went to work in the bottom of the inning, holding the Huskies off the board despite a leadoff double. Russo would go on to earn the complete game victory, holding NIU to six hits and three runs, only one of which was earned, over her 5.0 innings of work.
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The Cardinals made NIU's pitching staff pay for a pair of hit batters (Wynn and Timmons) to open the second inning, as Daniel followed with a two-run triple to center after a Huskies call to the pen. Two batters later, Mathews brought Daniel home with a sac fly.
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While NIU would cut the lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the second, Ball State started the third with a bang and a crash, as Hensley smashed her 12th home run of the season off the side of the Ball State bus parked well beyond the fence in right field. Wynn followed with her second hit of the game and went on to score three batters later thanks to a bases-loaded sac fly from Mathews for her third RBI of the contest.
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Ball State's offense stayed hot in the fourth, starting with a single from freshman right fielder Emma Richards. Walks to Hensley and sophomore third baseman Samantha-Jo Mata followed, loading the bases. Two batters later Daniel walked home the first of two runs in the inning, for her fourth and final RBI of the contest, while a sac fly from sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy made it an 11-1 ball game.
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While NIU would score single runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, the Cardinals would tally two more in the fifth, helping give the game its final score of 13-2.Â
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The top of the fifth started with a single up the middle from sophomore center fielder Hannah Dukeman. After a wild pitch moved Dukeman to second, Johnson picked up her second RBI of the game with a single to left-center field.Â
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Johnson, who moved to second on the throw to home, also advanced to third on a wild pitch to set up a Richards sac fly for the final BSU run of the game.
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The Cardinals and Huskies will play two more games at Mary M. Bell Field Wednesday, with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Angelina (6-6)
L: NORRED, Claire (3-6)
Batting:
3B: Daniel, Amaia 1
HR: Hensley, Faith 1
RBI: Hensley, Faith 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Daniel, Amaia 4 ; Lissy, Kayla 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 3 ; Richards, Emma 1 ; Johnson, Delanie 2
SF: Lissy, Kayla 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 2 ; Richards, Emma 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hensley, Faith 3 ; Wynn, Haley 3 ; Mata, Samantha-Jo 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 2 ; Daniel, Amaia 2 ; Dukeman, Hannah 1 ; Johnson, Delanie 1
SB: Mathews, Kaitlyn 1
HBP: Wynn, Haley 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 1
Batting:
2B: APATO, Kara 1 ; KELLER, Katie 1 ; JAMES, Courtney 1
RBI: KELLER, Katie 1 ; JAMES, Courtney 1 ; SMITH, Izzy 1
SF: SMITH, Izzy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MALLINDER, Sam 2 ; SMITH, Izzy 1
CS: WALINSKI, Kelly 1
HBP: JAMES, Courtney 1 ; MACKEY, Maddie 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
1
R
3
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
Uti
/ Softball
OF/C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/Uti
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballSoftball // Workouts
Wednesday, September 17
Ball 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