Ball State continued its season-long struggles as the team ended its four-game win streak with four straight losses over the weekend. The Cardinals (6-19) fell to both Wisconsin and Iowa twice at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa.
In the first game on Saturday against Wisconsin the Badgers won, 3-0. The Cardinals collected six hits and gave up a run in the first, sixth, and seventh innings. Ball State's lone opportunity to score came in the bottom of the sixth when the bases were loaded. Kris Burdine and Kelli Jeziorski each finished with two hits, and Mandy Snyder and Taylor Yancey added one.
Iowa won the next meeting 6-0 as the Hawkeyes' Amanda Hentges collected three hits and scored two runs. Iowa's Lisa Birocci pitched five innings of relief, allowing only one hit and striking out nine.
On Sunday, the Cardinals were routed 6-1 by the Badgers and 9-0 by the Hawkeyes.
Against Wisconsin, Ball State collected four hits, including a triple by Yancey, who scored the lone Cardinal run when she was awarded home on a throwing error. Snyder, Jeziorski, and Jessie Hilton added three hits for Ball State. Wisconsin finished with nine hits for the game.
Ball State fell behind by six in the top of the first inning to the Hawkeyes. During that half-inning eruption, Iowa sent 10 batters to the plate, and Ball State made two costly errors. All six runs were unearned for the Hawkeyes. Iowa scored again in the second, and twice in the third. The game ended in the fifth inning because of the eight run rule. Seven Hawkeyes collected a hit for the game, and Hentges continued her success with two hits, two runs scored, and an RBI. Ball State finished with four hits.
After playing 25 games on the road, the Cardinals play at home for the first time on Thursday. Purdue visits for a doubleheader, and pitcher Quincy Duran is expected to return from a left leg stress fracture, which she sustained two weeks ago while the Cardinals were competing in Georgia.
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