Ball State University softball coach Craig Nicholson added a new experience to his coaching r+â-¬sum+â-¬ Friday: coping with a snow delay.
The Cardinals (13-22, 4-4 Mid-American Conference) sat through four snow delays in their doubleheader against Western Michigan University (12-12, 4-4 MAC) on Friday. When it was over, the Cardinals came out with a pair of losses, 4-0 and 5-4.
"On Friday, we didn't play very well," Nicholson said. "We didn't deal very well with the conditions. I thought they did a better job of dealing with the conditions than we did."
Because visibility was impaired, the umpires stopped play against the Broncos until the weather improved. The delays ranged from a couple minutes to more than 20 minutes.
Junior Abby Gross said most of the Cardinals had played softball in the snow before but never when it was snowing so hard. The catcher said she played in the snow in high school and during a road game in California last year.
Sophomore Allie Pennock said she had never played softball in the snow. The right fielder said she could not feel her hands or feet during Friday's games. She said she had to keep moving around to try to stay focused on the game.
"It was interesting, but it was not very much fun," Pennock said.
Gross said it was frustrating to deal with the delays. It is hard to handle delays, especially when there is more than one, she said.
"Staying focused was our biggest problem Friday," Gross said. "I don't think our team as a whole was focused. [Sunday] we came out with a lot better attitude about the cold and we played a lot better."
Sunday, the Cardinals rebounded and swept Northern Illinois University (13-16, 3-3 MAC), 6-2 and 8-3.
Gross led the Cardinals against the Huskies, as she went 6-7 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in. In the second game, Pennock went 3-3 with a walk, a stolen base, an RBI and three runs scored.
Ball State stole six bases this weekend. The Cardinals have 94 this season, four shy of the Ball State record.
The Cardinals also cut down on their errors Sunday. They committed six errors against Western Michigan and none against Northern Illinois.
Ball State continued a trend this weekend. The Cardinals have not split a doubleheader this season.
Softball is a game of momentum, Nicholson said. He said it is a lot easier to win the second game of a doubleheader after winning the first.
"We are very much right now a momentum team," he said. "When we get things going, get out front and play with a lead, we play very well," he said.
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