The Ball State softball team resumed early season play last week with a disappointing 4-7 road trip during Spring Break in Florida.
The Cardinals finished 0-5 at the Speedline Tournament in Plant City, Fla., falling to such teams as nationally ranked Massachusetts and Washington.
The team was able to rebound from its near-disastrous start with three straight victories in the South Florida Midweek Tournament before losing to the No. 21 Bulls. The Cardinals then split a doubleheader with Penn State in Tampa.
"The big problem we had down there was a lot of players had to play positions they were not used to," head coach Terri Laux said.
Senior third baseman Kerrie Campbell did not play in either tourney because she had to undergo surgery to have her appendix removed, according to Laux. Younger players took turns replacing her at the outside corner, a position where they had little to no collegiate experience.
Consequently, the team's ability to execute tough defensive plays was weakened.
The Cardinals struggled in the beginning stages of the Speedline Tournament as Northwestern and North Carolina dominated them on the opening day. Ball State then lost to No. 18 Massachusetts and No. 4 Washington on March 7.
Ball State freshman pitcher Nicki Hellem pitched well against UMass, allowing just one earned run. The Minutemen, however, countered with their own form of kryptonite -- senior starter and 2002 Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year Kaila Holtz.
Holtz fanned two batters, and only walked one while pitching a 2-0 shutout.
The Cardinals saw a little daylight against Washington when they tied the game up at three. Both teams committed four errors, but Washington was able to capitalize more off its opponent's mistakes. The Huskies eventually won 6-3.
"I think we played better in those two games than we did in our first two against North Carolina and Northwestern," Laux said. "They just got the timely hits and we had opportunities but just didn't capitalize."
"It's going to come together a lot better," senior pitcher Cortney Winger said. "You just can't make small errors against those teams because they will really capitalize."
After suffering through a string of seven straight losses to open its season, Ball State finally won its first game against the Temple Owls, 3-1, in the South Florida Midweek Tournament. What followed was an impressive blowout against Canisius and an extra-inning 6-5 triumph over Wagner.
Junior Kris Burdine hit 3-4 during the game and scored the winning run when Crystal Newton drove her in with a game-winning hit.
Although she was tired, Cortney Winger showcased her talents and went the distance in the team's last game of the tourney versus Penn State. She tallied her second career shutout by outlasting the Nittany Lion's Tina Skelly in a grueling pitcher's duel.
Winger allowed only five hits on the day as she led her team to a 1-0 victory.
"I was pretty sore that game," Winger said. "They had a good hitting team and a lot of speed. I just did my job by hitting the corners and creating plays for the defense."
Ball State (4-9) will host Northern Iowa during its home opener today at 2 p.m. Bradley will travel to Muncie for competition Wednesday.
The Cardinals will have to play as a team and stay aggressive on both sides of play to be victorious, Laux said. The coach stressed that her team needs to be more consistent, as the Cards have not yet played seven full innings of consistent ball this season.
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