SOFTBALL: Ball State faces host No. 3 Missouri in DeMarini Invitational opener

Cardinals riding 8-game winning streak into the GÇ£Show-MeGÇ¥ state invite

For the past couple weeks, Ball State University has been hard-pressed to find a team playing better softball than itself.

But the Cardinals (15-5), winners of eight straight, will get just that chance Friday when they travel to Columbia, Mo., to start the DeMarini Invitational. Ball State will start the tournament with host University of Missouri, ranked third in the nation and winners of 16 straight.
 
"Obviously, it's a good time of year for us to be playing a team as quality as Missouri is," coach Craig Nicholson said. "We've kind of settled in to the way that we want to play the game and kind of got some of the rust off from being inside all winter."
 
The Tigers (18-2) sit in the middle of the pack in both batting and pitching amongst fellow Big 12 Conference teams, but instead hang their hats on defense. Missouri ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 in fielding percentage at .978 and has made just 12 errors in 20 games this season.
 
Nicholson said he hopes his team's slap-and-run offense can give the Tigers' stout defense some fits throughout the game.
 
"We'll see if the style that we play can create a little bit of pressure – maybe it forces them into some mistakes, maybe it doesn't," he said. "I don't know that they've seen anybody that's going to run and slap and do the kind of things as much as we like to do it. It will be interesting to see."
 
Nicholson said he's leaning on starting ace Elizabeth Milian to try to shut down the No. 3 team in the nation. Milian (11-1), the reigning Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week, has a sparkling 0.54 ERA this season with 111 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings.
 
"The key is just changing speeds and hitting your spots, and if you can do that and keep them off-balance a little bit, you're going to give yourself a chance to compete," Nicholson said. "If you make mistakes in the middle of the plate, then they really have the ability to hurt you. It's making quality pitches at quality times."
 
Milian will have to key in on stopping Missouri junior center fielder Rhea Taylor. Taylor, whose career accolades include Second-Team All-American and two All-Big 12 First Team selections, is currently fifth in the Big 12 in batting at .435. Taylor has five doubles, one triple and two home runs to go along with nine RBI this season.
 
After the Cardinals' showdown with the Tigers, they will face Northwestern University (9-10) Friday night before battling MAC West rival Eastern Michigan University (5-9) on Saturday followed by doubleheader with the University of Northern Colorado (7-16).
 
Ball State then wraps up its play in the DeMarini Invitational with a rematch against Missouri on Sunday.

"Missouri and Northwestern are two programs that over the past five seasons have really been solid – they may be the two best teams we play all year," Nicholson said. "I don't know if you judge success [in the invitational] based on wins and losses, but I do think you judge it based on how well we compete, how prepared we are."
 


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