The softball team banged heads against some of the nation's best in its weeklong Spring Break odyssey of ups and downs.
The Cardinals (8-8 overall, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) registered perhaps the biggest victory in the program's history, lost one of their best players to injury and experienced everything in between.
Head coach Terri Laux's squad traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., to start the break, and competed in the Florida State Invitational. On the first day of competition, the Cardinals picked up a pair of victories over Missouri-Kansas City and Winthrop to set up a showdown with the top team in their pool, No. 8 Michigan.
Against the Wolverines, the Cardinals entered the bottom of the sixth inning trailing 4-1.
Sophomore Kris Burdine took matters into her own hands, smashing a two-run double and then scoring the tying run on a double steal. The team battled into the ninth inning, when senior Carrie Lively scored junior Ruth Hjelmeland on a game-winning sacrifice fly.
"I don't think we were at full power on offense at any point during the tournament, but our defense did an awesome job and our pitching staff kept us in the game," Laux said about her team's effort against Michigan.
"We got the key hits when we needed them," she said. "This win says a lot about what these kids can do, and shows that we can hang with the best teams, even when we're not at our best offensively. It shows where we are and where we can be."
The Cardinals next tallied a 4-2 victory over Iowa State to advance to the tournament semifinals, where their winning streak was ended by No. 4 Nebraska. Lively was named to the all-tournament team alongside sophomore pitcher Randi Freese. Freese picked up wins against Missouri-Kansas City and Michigan, and recorded saves versus Winthrop and Iowa State. For her efforts, Freese was named MAC Player of the Week, but her glory was short-lived.
In the team's next game at Auburn, Freese was hit with a line drive off the bat of Tiger Ashley Moore. Freese (2-4) took the loss in the game, and was taken to the emergency room with a wrist injury.
"Randi had a hell of a line shot hit back at her from a woman who was an All-American last year," Laux said. "She just couldn't get out of the way."
Laux said Freese's wrist is not broken, but Freese is unsure when she would be available again.
Perhaps more of a contributing factor to the loss against Auburn was the lack of offense that plagued the team in its first weekend of play. The Cardinals managed no runs against Auburn, losing 0-9, and were also shut out in their next game, losing 0-2 at Georgia State.
"We might have been a little tired going into the Auburn game, but they're a good hitting team anyway," Laux said. "We took our lumps there. Against Georgia State, we had no chances to score. I think our whole team was in a funk."
But the Ball State offense would re-awaken on Saturday and Sunday, as the team traveled to Bloomington to face in-state rival Indiana University and MAC opponent Northern Illinois.
Junior Cortney Winger stepped into Freese's shoes as the staff ace, recording wins over Indiana and Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Hjelmeland provided some thunder to the lineup, hitting a two-run home run against Indiana. Hjelmeland would hit another two-run shot on Sunday, and Burdine would collect three hits to help the Cardinals defeat Northern Illinois for a second time.
This was Winger's third-consecutive victory of the tournament. The Cardinals dropped the final game to host Indiana but won the overall round-robin tournament.
"I think everyone is a little tired and ready to be home," Laux said. "But the women know they're here to do a job. There's not a lot of glamour in all the traveling around and everyone is ready to be back on a normal schedule."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
