Softball Earns Friday Sweep at Bellarmine Invitational

LOUISVILLE - - The Ball State softball team opened play in the Bellarmine Invitational with a pair of victories Friday, topping host Bellarmine 5-1 and downing Stonehill 12-3 (6).

In Friday's opener against the host Knights (4-8), the Cardinals (10-6) capitalized on a first-inning error when junior starting pitcher Ella Whitney came around to score the game's first run.

Ball State added three more runs in the top of the second, including a two-run blast from sophomore shortstop Maia Pietrzak. While Bellarmine was able to put one run on the board in the bottom of the second, it was the lone blemish on Whitney's day in the circle as she picked up her Mid-American Conference-leading sixth victory of the season.

Over her 7.0 innings of work, Whitney scattered just three hits and allowed just the one run to lower her season ERA to 1.91. She also struck out four batters, while issuing just two walks.

Ball State then closed the scoring with a solo blast from redshirt senior catcher McKayla Timmons. It was her fourth home run of the season and the 45th of her collegiate career.

In the nightcap versus the Sky Hawks (3-3), the Cardinals once again started the scoring early as each of its first three batters came around to score, with the first crossing the plate on an RBI single from senior left fielder Kara Gunter.

It was the first of three RBI in the game for Gunter, who added a two-run double in the top of the second to extend the Cardinals' lead to 6-1. Whitney, playing first base in the nightcap, also helped the offensive cause with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth to extend the Ball State lead to 10-2.

While Stonehill kept the game alive with a run in the bottom of the fifth, BSU capitalized on an error and a pair of sac flies in the top of the sixth to give the game its final score of 12-3.

Sophomore Brinkley Kita earned the win in the circle, her third of the season, by limiting the Sky Hawks to two hits and three runs over her 4.0 innings of work. She also struck out three batters, before yielding to freshman reliever Breanna Severino who threw the final two innings and allowed just one hit.

NOTES:
- With two hits in the opener and one in the nightcap, Timmons upper her current hitting streak to eight games and raised her streak of reaching base safely to 42.

- On the defensive front, Timmons threw out four of the five runners attempting to steal on her over the course of the day … That raised her season total to six runners caught stealing.

- Ball State's pitching allowed just six total hits over the two games, limiting opposing batters to a .150 average.

- The Cardinals committed just one error Friday, raising its fielding percentage to .973 for the season … Ball State entered the day ranked second in the MAC and 51st nationally with a .971 fielding percentage.

- The 12-3 (6) run-rule victory over Stonehill was Ball State's sixth run-rule win of the season … The Cardinals are currently averaging 6.94 runs per game and have scored 10-or-more runs in five outings this season.

UP NEXT:
The Ball State softball team continues play in the Bellarmine Invitational Saturday with a scheduled 3:30 p.m. first pitch versus Evansville.

Softball Earns Friday Sweep at Bellarmine Invitational

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Team Stats

McKayla Timmons

Mandy Lauth

Maia Pietrzak

McKenna Mulholland

Players Mentioned

Kara Gunter

Brinkley Kita

Maia Pietrzak

Breanna Severino

McKayla Timmons

Ella Whitney