Softball faces MAC's best pitchers
The CMU softball team’s bats should get tested this weekend as it faces the top two Mid-American Conference teams in earned run average.
The Chippewas play Ball State (21-8, 1-1 MAC) in a doubleheader Friday and Miami (OH) (16-15, 1-1 MAC) Saturday and Sunday.
BSU has a 1.60 ERA; Miami ranks second with a 2.04 ERA.
Elizabeth Milian, the reigning MAC Pitcher of the Year, leads Ball State. Milian, a senior right-hander, is 15-2 with a 1.11 ERA. She is second in the MAC with 146 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting just .175 against her.
Miami has its own ace in sophomore Jessica Simpson, last year’s MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the RedHawks to the tournament title. She is 11-8 with a 1.28 ERA.
“Both Simpson and Milian, we’ve seen before, and we need to make adjustments to both the umpire strike zone and what pitches they are throwing,” said coach Margo Jonker. “It is all about making adjustments in the batter’s box for us to be successful against those two.”
The Cardinals are 19-4 in their last 23 games with a 2-1 win against No. 3 Missouri on March 19. Milian held the Tigers to four hits.
BSU is 15-1 when it scores three or more runs. The Cardinals offense is led by senior Jessie Ware, who has provided the power in her first year playing for Ball State after having spent time at three other colleges.
Ware leads the team with a .424 batting average, .818 slugging percentage and 22 extra base hits. She leads the team and the MAC with 42 hits, 32 runs scored and nine triples.
Ware has benefited from having sophomore catcher Amanda Montalto hitting .313 behind her in the order after receiving first-team All-MAC honors last season.
CMU senior Kari Seddon and freshman Kara Dornbos are the projected starters this weekend.
Dornbos leads the team with a 1.88 ERA in her first year and said the key to her success comes from not giving in to any batter.
“As a pitcher, you always have the ball, so you have to show you have confidence,” she said. “Because if the hitter doesn’t see that, then they will crush the ball.”
MIAMI
The Chippewas then travel to Oxford, Ohio, to play a Miami team that is 5-1 in its last 6 games.
Simpson has started 18 of the 31 games for the RedHawks and has 107 strikeouts.
Sophomore Daniela Torres leads Miami with a .363 batting average and a .615 slugging percentage, while senior two-time first-team All-MAC selection Sarah Billstrom has a team-high seven home runs on the season.
In 11 innings against Central last year, Simpson gave up five hits total in two games.
