Sunday, April 30
Akron, OH
2 p.m.
Ball State University
27-24, 17-12
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Akron
26-22, 14-12
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Ball State
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Akron
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Softball Tops Akron, Clinches MAC Tournament Berth
April 30, 2023 | Softball
AKRON, Ohio - - Redshirt freshman McKenna Mulholland picked the right time to have a career day, going 4-for-4 from the plate with three RBI to lead the Ball State softball team to a 5-4 win at Akron Sunday afternoon at Lee R. Jackson Field.
With the win and series victory over the Zips (25-23; 14-12 MAC), the Cardinals (27-24; 17-12 MAC) secured a berth in the four-team MAC Tournament which will run May 11-13 at the league's top seed.
"Getting back to the MAC Tournament means a lot to this program," head coach Lacy Schurr said. "I have said this team is a special team, and they keep responding to adversity. I am excited to see what they are capable of in the tournament."
While Ball State cannot secure hosting rights for the tournament, it could finish as high as a three-way tie for third in the league standings at 17-12 with Akron and Central Michigan. The Cardinals would own the three-way tiebreaker with a 5-1 combined record against the two squads which square off against each other next weekend to end the regular season.
In Sunday's regular season finale, the Cardinals jumped on the board first thanks to an RBI single from Mulholland, her first of a career-high four hits on the day, which drove in redshirt sophomore catcher McKayla Timmons who started a two-out rally with a single down the right field line.
After the Zips countered with sacrifice fly to tie the score in the bottom of the second, a squeeze bunt from Ball State redshirt senior Jazmyne Armendariz and another RBI single from Mulholland gave the Cardinals a 3-1 edge entering the bottom of the third.
The lead did not last long, however, as Akron countered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. However, Mulholland came up to bat again with a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth and drove in her third RBI with her third single of the game.
"McKenna has been huge for us these last 10 days," Schurr said. "She stepped into a roll on defense and has held her own, while her bat and energy has been a major spark plug for us."
The Zips managed to tie the score for a third time in the bottom of the fifth, but stranded bases loaded as back-to-back strikeouts from sophomore pitcher Angelina Russo got BSU out of the jam. That effort helped earn Russo the win as she improved to 11-7 on the year after allowing just four hits and one run over 2.1 innings of relief work, while striking out five.
The Cardinals would then strike for the last run of the game in the sixth courtesy of a bases loaded single down the left field line by junior center fielder Remington Ross.
"I was really impressed with our resiliency and focus today," Schurr added. "Our ability to treat each inning as its own battle was huge. We never for a moment took a pitch off. While we were not perfect, when the chips were down, we made plays."
Junior transfer Francys King would retire all three batters she faced in the sixth, after entering the game with a runner on, while freshman Bridie Murphy earned her second career save by retiring the Zips in order in the seventh.
HIGHLIGHTS
SCORING SUMMARY: Ball State 5 – Akron 4
UP NEXT
Ball State returns to action May 11-13 at the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament hosted by the league's No. 1 seed which will be determined after next weekend's conference games.
With the win and series victory over the Zips (25-23; 14-12 MAC), the Cardinals (27-24; 17-12 MAC) secured a berth in the four-team MAC Tournament which will run May 11-13 at the league's top seed.
"Getting back to the MAC Tournament means a lot to this program," head coach Lacy Schurr said. "I have said this team is a special team, and they keep responding to adversity. I am excited to see what they are capable of in the tournament."
While Ball State cannot secure hosting rights for the tournament, it could finish as high as a three-way tie for third in the league standings at 17-12 with Akron and Central Michigan. The Cardinals would own the three-way tiebreaker with a 5-1 combined record against the two squads which square off against each other next weekend to end the regular season.
In Sunday's regular season finale, the Cardinals jumped on the board first thanks to an RBI single from Mulholland, her first of a career-high four hits on the day, which drove in redshirt sophomore catcher McKayla Timmons who started a two-out rally with a single down the right field line.
After the Zips countered with sacrifice fly to tie the score in the bottom of the second, a squeeze bunt from Ball State redshirt senior Jazmyne Armendariz and another RBI single from Mulholland gave the Cardinals a 3-1 edge entering the bottom of the third.
The lead did not last long, however, as Akron countered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. However, Mulholland came up to bat again with a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth and drove in her third RBI with her third single of the game.
"McKenna has been huge for us these last 10 days," Schurr said. "She stepped into a roll on defense and has held her own, while her bat and energy has been a major spark plug for us."
The Zips managed to tie the score for a third time in the bottom of the fifth, but stranded bases loaded as back-to-back strikeouts from sophomore pitcher Angelina Russo got BSU out of the jam. That effort helped earn Russo the win as she improved to 11-7 on the year after allowing just four hits and one run over 2.1 innings of relief work, while striking out five.
The Cardinals would then strike for the last run of the game in the sixth courtesy of a bases loaded single down the left field line by junior center fielder Remington Ross.
"I was really impressed with our resiliency and focus today," Schurr added. "Our ability to treat each inning as its own battle was huge. We never for a moment took a pitch off. While we were not perfect, when the chips were down, we made plays."
Junior transfer Francys King would retire all three batters she faced in the sixth, after entering the game with a runner on, while freshman Bridie Murphy earned her second career save by retiring the Zips in order in the seventh.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Ball State will be making its first MAC Tournament appearance since the 2019 season, after the 2020 and 2021 events were canceled and the squad did not qualify for last year's four-team event after finishing fifth in the league.
- The Cardinals used four pitchers to secure Sunday's win over the Zips, with redshirt sophomore Emma Eubank making the start. Eubank threw the first 2.2 innings, allowing just four hits and three runs, only two of which were earned.
- With her third inning single, senior designated player Amaia Daniel raised her career hit total to 199. She is now just one hit shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 200 career hits.
- With her five strikeouts on the day, Russo raised her career total to 185, leaving her 15 shy of becoming the 16th player in program history to record 200 career strikeouts … She is currently 18th on BSU's career charts.
SCORING SUMMARY: Ball State 5 – Akron 4
- T1 | Mulholland opens the scoring with an RBU single, driving in Timmons. (1-0)
- B2 | A sacrifice fly from Tiffany Stevens ties the score. (1-1)
- T3 | Senior third baseman Haley Wynn scores from third on a squeeze bunt from Armendariz. (2-1)
- T3 | Mulholland picks up her second RBI of the game, driving in Ross from third with a single to center. (3-1)
- B3 | An RBI double from Alexis Campbell cuts Ball State's lead back to one. (3-2)
- B3 | Laurel Devoe adds an RBI single to even the score. (3-3)
- T5 | Mulholland picks up her third RBI with an infield single to bring home Timmons again. (4-3)
- B5 | Meagan Lee's infield single ties the score for the third time. (4-4)
- B6 | Ross comes in clutch with a two-out, bases loaded RBI single down the left field line to bring in freshman pinch runner Grace Spencer for what proved to be the game-winning run. (5-4)
UP NEXT
Ball State returns to action May 11-13 at the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament hosted by the league's No. 1 seed which will be determined after next weekend's conference games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Angelina (11-7)
L: OTANI, Olivia (5-6)
S: Murphy, Bridie (2)
Batting:
2B: Mulholland, McKenna 1
RBI: Ross, Remington 1 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 1 ; Mulholland, McKenna 3
SH: Ross, Remington 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wynn, Haley 1 ; Ross, Remington 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 2 ; Spencer, Grace 1
Batting:
2B: CAMPBELL, Alexis 1
RBI: LEE, Meagan 1 ; CAMPBELL, Alexis 1 ; DEVOE, Laurel 1 ; STEVENS, Tiffany 1
SH: SIVEK, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MCCHESNEY, Molly 2 ; CAMPBELL, Alexis 1 ; AUTEN, Carley 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
4
RBI
3
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/Uti
/ Softball
Uti
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF/OF
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