A trip south to Evansville provides two new challenges for the softball team (1-7) this weekend.
In a round robin format, the Cardinals will square off twice with both host Evansville and Middle Tennessee State, a team Ball State coach Terri Laux can't recall ever facing. Laux expects the game against Evansville to be a tough one.
"They're consistently one of the top teams in their conference," she said. "It's always a very tough game between the two programs."
Laux still wants her players to focus on what they are doing and not worry about who they're playing. Ball State's one win in eight games is a bit deceiving of the talent on the team, Laux said. She believes some of the games lost should have or could have been won and called their loss to No. 6 Georgia their best game to date.
"We've played against some pretty tough teams and held our own," she said. "We're getting better, but the level we're playing is not good enough."
To reach that level, Laux said each member of the team has to perform up to her capabilities.
"What it's going to boil down to is each individual playing with that passion and drive every time they come out to the field," she said.
Laux is pleased with her pitchers, but would like to see her team produce more runs and cut down on errors, something they struggled with last weekend.
"We just couldn't get the runs that we needed and the errors came at critical spots during the game," she said about the Georgia game. "Sometimes, we make one mistake, so we try to over-correct and it just leads to five mistakes on one play."
Evansville (16-4) enters the weekend off to its best start since 1999. The Purple Aces have won three tournaments in a row, including last weekend's 5-0 championship win over Central Florida in the Spring Fling Tournament title in St. Augustine, FL. Casey Clutch was clutch in the game, pitching the shutout with nine strikeouts and allowing only three hits.
Middle Tennessee State (7-5) enters the weekend fresh off doubleheader losses to Tennessee State on Tuesday. Ball State will face the Blue Raiders again at the Buzz Classic Tournament on March 20.
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