The softball team will conclude a 26-game road streak to start the season this weekend in Iowa City. Ball State will compete in the Hawkeye Classic, starting Saturday against North Dakota State.
The Cardinals (6-16) will also play host Iowa on Saturday. They play South Dakota State and Iowa again on Sunday to finish the tournament.
The Hawkeyes (23-5) enter ranked 23rd in the nation and have won 13 of their previous 15 games. Iowa is 9-0 all time against Ball State.
North Dakota State (14-9) has played well of late, winning eight of the last 11 games.
South Dakota State (14-12) has lost three of its previous four.
Ball State has also dropped four of the last five. The Cards most recent game was a 6-0 loss Tuesday at intrastate rival Indiana.
In order for the Cards to be successful this weekend, they need to avoid falling behind early. The team has struggled with giving up runs in the first few innings and playing from behind. Three of the four previous losses came after BSU gave up at least three runs in the first inning.
The offense for the Cards will also need to come alive this weekend. Kelli Jeziorski is the lone player hitting above .300 on the team. She leads the team in average (.317), hits (20) and RBI (10).
Amanda Pick is second on the team with a .295 batting average. Abby Gross (.264) and Katie Pilger (.240) are the only other players on the team hitting above .200.
The Cardinals only have a .205 team batting average. Their opponents meanwhile are hitting .325 and have outscored BSU 139-49 this season.
Nikki Hellem leads the team in ERA (3.65) while Amy Brownfield owns the best record (2-1).
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