Softball drops two in doubleheader against Ball State
Softball dropped two big conference games against Ball State on Friday at Margo Jonker Stadium in two contrasting contests.
Starting with the second game, the two teams found themselves tied 1-1 at the end of the seventh, and final inning. The Chippewas were first on the board when sophomore Trista Cox reached second base on an error and was eventually knocked in off a RBI single by junior Brittney Horan.
The Cardinals would find their way on to the scoreboard in the fifth inning off a solo home run by Audrey Bickel, which was the Cardinals fourth on the day.
“They had a lot more power today. But, we expected them to have this kind of power,” said head coach Margo Jonker.
The Chippewas came out in the seventh inning swinging, with a leadoff single by senior Macy Merchant up the gut of the field. Two batters later Merchant would find herself on third base after a single to right field by senior Brogan Darwin. Cox then hit a shallow pop fly to right field, but was robbed of a game winning single with a diving grab by the Cardinals Loren Cihlar.
“If we could have moved the runners in a couple of situations we could have won the game in seven and that’s what caused the extra innings,” Jonker said.
Going into extra innings, Ball State came up with a big two out rally. The Cardinals got two runners on base by a single up the middle and a hit by pitch, which set the table for Jennifer Gilbert who leads the Cardinals in home runs and RBI. Gilbert stepped to the plate and delivered her 20th home run of the season, putting Ball State up 4-1.
The Chippewas continued to fight back however, going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Freshman Katelyn Rentschler got the team started with a base hit up the middle. Then, in one of the biggest moments of the game, Horan hit a two-run home run just inside the left field foul pole to bring the team within one.
The team would tie the game up off a costly fielding error by the Cardinals to keep the game going into the ninth and tenth innings.
The Cardinals would put up a three hit, two run tenth inning, putting the game just out of reach of the Chippewas making the final score 6-4.
Game one was a complete 180 from game two. The Chippewas were shut out and beaten in the fifth inning, 12-0, by mercy rule. The Cardinals hit three home runs throughout the game and knocked out senior Kara Dornbos in the first inning after six runs came across the plate.
“We didn’t come to play in game one at all. Disappointed our pitchers obviously got rocked and our offensive didn’t do anything,” Jonker said.
The Chippewas now look ahead to MAC East leaders Miami (Ohio) in two crucial conference games on Saturday and Sunday at Margo Jonker Stadium.
