Sunday, April 16
Muncie, IN
1 p.m.
Ball State University
21-21, 11-9
11
vs
3
Buffalo
10-28, 4-10
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2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Buffalo
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
0
2
Ball State
1
0
0
5
0
5
11
14
1
Softball Celebrates Senior Day By Completing Series Sweep of Buffalo
April 16, 2023 | Softball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State softball team celebrated senior Amaia Daniel in style on a cold, blustery afternoon at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, completing a series sweep of Buffalo with an 11-3 (6) victory Sunday.
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After a nearly one-and-a-half-hour rain delay, the Cardinals (21-21; 11-9 Mid-American Conference) turned in a dominating effort on both offense and defense to pick up its fourth consecutive victory.
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Once again, sophomore pitcher Angelina Russo set the tone early, striking out two of the first three batters she faced. That effort helped the Cardinals finish with just the 19th recorded no-hitter in program history, as Russo and freshman Bridie Murphy combined to hold the Bulls (10-28; 4-10 MAC) hitless for the game.
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Russo threw the first 4.0 innings, allowing no hits and striking out five batters. She did issue five walks, however, while allowing three runs, only one of which was earned. Murphy followed a brilliant performance Saturday afternoon with another strong effort, retiring six of the seven batters she faced with a pair of strikeouts. The lone base runner came on a two-run error.
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On the offensive side, senior third baseman Haley Wynn got the ball rolling with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly from redshirt senior catcher Jazmyne Armendariz.
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Ball State would then explode for five runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to capture the victory. The big hit in the second was a two-run blast from redshirt sophomore first baseman McKayla Timmons to open the scoring.
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The sixth inning saw the Cardinals capitalize on a passed ball on an inning-opening strikeout to score five unearned runs. Daniel provided the biggest hit of the frame with a two-run triple to center field. Daniel would lead the Ball State offense with three hits in the contest, also tallying a single in the fourth and a double in the fifth to fall a home run shy of the cycle.Â
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HIGHLIGHTS
The Ball State softball team will be back in action Friday afternoon at Bowling Green with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Meserve Field.
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After a nearly one-and-a-half-hour rain delay, the Cardinals (21-21; 11-9 Mid-American Conference) turned in a dominating effort on both offense and defense to pick up its fourth consecutive victory.
Â
Once again, sophomore pitcher Angelina Russo set the tone early, striking out two of the first three batters she faced. That effort helped the Cardinals finish with just the 19th recorded no-hitter in program history, as Russo and freshman Bridie Murphy combined to hold the Bulls (10-28; 4-10 MAC) hitless for the game.
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Russo threw the first 4.0 innings, allowing no hits and striking out five batters. She did issue five walks, however, while allowing three runs, only one of which was earned. Murphy followed a brilliant performance Saturday afternoon with another strong effort, retiring six of the seven batters she faced with a pair of strikeouts. The lone base runner came on a two-run error.
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On the offensive side, senior third baseman Haley Wynn got the ball rolling with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly from redshirt senior catcher Jazmyne Armendariz.
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Ball State would then explode for five runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to capture the victory. The big hit in the second was a two-run blast from redshirt sophomore first baseman McKayla Timmons to open the scoring.
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The sixth inning saw the Cardinals capitalize on a passed ball on an inning-opening strikeout to score five unearned runs. Daniel provided the biggest hit of the frame with a two-run triple to center field. Daniel would lead the Ball State offense with three hits in the contest, also tallying a single in the fourth and a double in the fifth to fall a home run shy of the cycle.Â
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HIGHLIGHTS
- Russo turned in a pair of strong outing versus the Bulls over the weekend, allowing just two hits over 8.2 innings of work while striking out 10 batters … She surrendered just four runs, only two of which were earned, to lower her team-leading ERA to 2.89.
- Murphy was nearly perfect in the circle over her two appearances versus the Bulls this weekend, retiring 15 of the 16 batters she faced, with an error being the only blemish … She finished the weekend with a 0.00 ERA over 5.0 innings and registered seven strikeouts.
- Today's no-hitter was just the fourth combined no-hitter in program history … The last combined no-hitter was thrown May 5, 2019, when Aeshia Miles (3.0) and Darcie Huber (2.0) combined for a 10-0 (5) win versus Oakland.
- Including today's effort, Russo has factored in three of the 19 no-hitters in program history … She threw the first recorded perfect game for the Cardinals on April 20, 2022, in a 5-0 win over Western Michigan and threw a complete game no-hitter versus Lindenwood on Feb. 19, 2023 in a 10-1 (5) victory.
- Timmons provided the fireworks for BSU, smashing her a team-leading tenth home run of the season in the fourth inning … The two-run blast was her eighth two-run home run of the year.
- Junior center fielder Remington Ross added to her highlight reel, taking away an extra base hit with a diving catch in right center field.Â
- Freshman pinch hitter Grace Spencer collected her first career hit with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth.
- With three hits on the day, Daniel extended her current hitting streak to 11 games which ties as the longest hitting streak of her career.
- B1 | Ball State jumped in front with an Armendariz sacrifice fly to shallow left center scoring Wynn from third. (1-0)
- B4 | Timmons launched a two-run home run to right-center field to extend the Ball State lead. (3-0)
- B4 | A single to right from junior left fielder Kaitlyn Mathews scores Timmons from second. (4-0)
- B4 | Redshirt freshman McKenna Mulholland doubles down the left field line to bring home Ross and Mathews. (6-0)
- T5 |Â Abbey Nagel grounds out to first base scoring Mykaela Martin from third. (6-1)
- T5 |Â The Bulls score two on a miscue by the Ball State defense. (6-3)
- B6 | Spencer's first career hit drives in sophomore pinch hitter Kaitlyn Gibson. (7-3)
- B6 |Â Daniel triples to center field to drive in Spencer and Wynn. (9-3)
- B6 |Â Armendariz singles to left center for her second RBI of the game. (10-3)
- B6 |Â A wild pitch allows Armendariz to walk it off via run rule. (11-3)
The Ball State softball team will be back in action Friday afternoon at Bowling Green with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Meserve Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Angelina (9-6)
L: LUCYSHYN, Alexis (6-12)
Batting:
RBI: NAGEL, Abbey 1 ; LUCYSHYN, Alexis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MARTIN, Mykaela 1 ; KELLY, Sara 1 ; TARANTINO, Julia 1
SB: MITCHELL, Mia 1
HBP: WILLIAMS, Tianna 1
Batting:
2B: Daniel, Amaia 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Spencer, Grace 1 ; Mulholland, McKenna 1
3B: Daniel, Amaia 1
HR: Timmons, McKayla 1
RBI: Daniel, Amaia 2 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 2 ; Timmons, McKayla 2 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 1 ; Spencer, Grace 1 ; Mulholland, McKenna 2
SF: Armendariz, Jazmyne 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wynn, Haley 2 ; Daniel, Amaia 1 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 2 ; Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Urban, Hayley 1 ; Gibson, Kaitlyn 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 1 ; Ross, Remington 1 ; Spencer, Grace 1
CS: Mulholland, McKenna 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C/Uti
/ Softball
Uti
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF/OF
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Sports Link: Kaitlyn Gibson (Softball)
Wednesday, May 07