Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, April 20
Muncie, Ind.
1 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
19-25, 5-8
7
at
10
Ball State
29-12, 7-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
0
2
0
0
0
4
1
7
10
1
Ball State
0
6
1
0
1
2
X
10
9
0
Softball Drops Two At Ball State
4/20/2012 8:34:00 PM | Softball
Eagles fall short on the road, fall to 5-9 in the MAC
MUNCIE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University softball team suffered a pair of losses at the hands of Mid-American Conference West Division foe Ball State University today, April 20, falling in game one, 10-7, before dropping game two by a score of 9-5. The Eagles fall to 5-9 in conference play and 19-25 on the season, while the Cardinals improve to 29-12 (7-2 MAC).
The Eagles matched BSU's 10 hits in game one, but the Cardinals used the long ball three times in the contest to help themselves to a 10-7 win.
McKenna Russ led EMU with her 3-for-4 performance at the dish and drove in a run for the Eagles, while Courtney Nicholson drove in three on her lone hit in the contest—a two-out homerun in the sixth.
Jenna Ignowski is charged with the loss and falls to 10-7 on the year. The junior lasted just 1.2 innings before being relieved by Lindsay Rich in the second. Rich closed out the remaining 4.1 innings, striking out one.
EMU jumped on the scoreboard first thanks to a two-run effort in the second inning. Russ reached safely with a leadoff double and was moved to third on Sarah Gerber's sacrifice bunt. In the following at bat, Amanda Herron drove a fly ball to right, which allowed Russ to tag and score to give the Green and White an early 1-0 lead. Kaylee Tolliver singled and Nicholson was hit by a pitch to set up a one-run single for Jenn Lucas, increasing the Eagles' lead to two.
Ball State erased its deficit with two huge swings in the sixth. After a sacrifice fly to plate its first run, BSU made it a 5-2 ballgame on a Hanne Stuedemann grand slam. BSU's Jennifer Gilbert followed with a solo shot, pushing the home team ahead by four.
Another round-tripper by the Ball State offense in the third inning and an unearned run in the fifth off an EMU throwing error gave the home team a 9-2 lead, but the Eagles would answer with a four-run sixth inning.
Tolliver collected an RBI with a bases loaded sacrifice fly ball, but it would be Nicholson's three-run shot over the right-center field fence that would prove most damaging, cutting the Cardinals' lead to just two.
The Green and White produced another run in the seventh on Russ' second double of the contest, but it would not be enough as Ball State eventually escaped with a 10-7 win.
A trio of EMU hurlers saw action in game two, as Lauren Wells, Ignowski and Rich took turns in the circle. Wells is issued the loss and falls to 4-11 this season. She threw 1.1 innings and gave up six runs on four BSU hits before being replaced by Ignowski. Rich checked into the contest to record the final two outs for the Eagles.
Katy Blaharski's 3-for-3 offensive performance led Eastern in game two, while Tolliver and Lucas posted a hit apiece.
Ball State used two homeruns including its second grand slam of the afternoon to plate six unanswered, but the Eagles would finally respond with two runs in the third. Singles by Tolliver and Lucas led to a two-RBI single for Blaharski, and a BSU fielding error allowed the Eagles' third run to come across and cut EMU's deficit in half.
Once again Ball State utilized the longball, this time a solo shot in the fourth to set the score to 7-3.
EMU had bases loaded in the sixth with no outs, but the Green and White fell short of stringing together a big inning, plating just one run on a fielder's choice to cut Ball State's lead to four. The Eagles added another run in the seventh on BSU's second error of the game, but their efforts would fall short allowing Ball State to escape with a doubleheader sweep over the Eagles.
EMU will return to action tomorrow when it faces Miami University at 2 p.m.
The Eagles matched BSU's 10 hits in game one, but the Cardinals used the long ball three times in the contest to help themselves to a 10-7 win.
McKenna Russ led EMU with her 3-for-4 performance at the dish and drove in a run for the Eagles, while Courtney Nicholson drove in three on her lone hit in the contest—a two-out homerun in the sixth.
Jenna Ignowski is charged with the loss and falls to 10-7 on the year. The junior lasted just 1.2 innings before being relieved by Lindsay Rich in the second. Rich closed out the remaining 4.1 innings, striking out one.
EMU jumped on the scoreboard first thanks to a two-run effort in the second inning. Russ reached safely with a leadoff double and was moved to third on Sarah Gerber's sacrifice bunt. In the following at bat, Amanda Herron drove a fly ball to right, which allowed Russ to tag and score to give the Green and White an early 1-0 lead. Kaylee Tolliver singled and Nicholson was hit by a pitch to set up a one-run single for Jenn Lucas, increasing the Eagles' lead to two.
Ball State erased its deficit with two huge swings in the sixth. After a sacrifice fly to plate its first run, BSU made it a 5-2 ballgame on a Hanne Stuedemann grand slam. BSU's Jennifer Gilbert followed with a solo shot, pushing the home team ahead by four.
Another round-tripper by the Ball State offense in the third inning and an unearned run in the fifth off an EMU throwing error gave the home team a 9-2 lead, but the Eagles would answer with a four-run sixth inning.
Tolliver collected an RBI with a bases loaded sacrifice fly ball, but it would be Nicholson's three-run shot over the right-center field fence that would prove most damaging, cutting the Cardinals' lead to just two.
The Green and White produced another run in the seventh on Russ' second double of the contest, but it would not be enough as Ball State eventually escaped with a 10-7 win.
A trio of EMU hurlers saw action in game two, as Lauren Wells, Ignowski and Rich took turns in the circle. Wells is issued the loss and falls to 4-11 this season. She threw 1.1 innings and gave up six runs on four BSU hits before being replaced by Ignowski. Rich checked into the contest to record the final two outs for the Eagles.
Katy Blaharski's 3-for-3 offensive performance led Eastern in game two, while Tolliver and Lucas posted a hit apiece.
Ball State used two homeruns including its second grand slam of the afternoon to plate six unanswered, but the Eagles would finally respond with two runs in the third. Singles by Tolliver and Lucas led to a two-RBI single for Blaharski, and a BSU fielding error allowed the Eagles' third run to come across and cut EMU's deficit in half.
Once again Ball State utilized the longball, this time a solo shot in the fourth to set the score to 7-3.
EMU had bases loaded in the sixth with no outs, but the Green and White fell short of stringing together a big inning, plating just one run on a fielder's choice to cut Ball State's lead to four. The Eagles added another run in the seventh on BSU's second error of the game, but their efforts would fall short allowing Ball State to escape with a doubleheader sweep over the Eagles.
EMU will return to action tomorrow when it faces Miami University at 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MAZZAPICA (18-3)
L: Ignowski, Jenna (10-7)
S: WORKMAN (3)
Batting:
2B: Russ, McKenna 2
HR: Nicholson, Courtney 1
RBI: Russ, McKenna 1 ; Herron, Amanda 1 ; Tolliver, Kaylee 1 ; Nicholson, Courtney 3 ; Lucas, Jenn 1
SH: Gerber, Sarah 1
SF: Herron, Amanda 1 ; Tolliver, Kaylee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Blaharski, Katy 1 ; Coquillard, Nellie 1 ; Russ, McKenna 1 ; Gerber, Sarah 1 ; Herron, Amanda 1 ; Tolliver, Kaylee 1 ; Nicholson, Courtney 1
CS: Blaharski, Katy 1
HBP: Nicholson, Courtney 1
Batting:
2B: MONTALTO 1 ; BICKEL 1
HR: STUEDEMANN 1 ; GILBERT 1 ; RAGER 1
RBI: STUEDEMANN 4 ; GILBERT 1 ; MONTALTO 2 ; RAGER 1 ; CARPENTER 1
SF: CARPENTER 1
Base Running:
RUNS: STUEDEMANN 1 ; GILBERT 2 ; RAGER 2 ; SMITH 1 ; MERCADO 1 ; COX 1 ; ROBERTSON 2
SB: MERCADO 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Thank You, Team 38
Monday, May 07
Overcoming Adversity: A Lauren Holdsworth Feature
Saturday, February 24
Closing Out a Legacy: Michelle Kriegshauser
Thursday, May 18
EMU Softball Signs Alyssa Feiler
Saturday, March 25