After a torrential downpour, Ball State University finally started its game Sunday after a two-hour delay. Amanda Carpenter made it worth the wait.
Carpenter's two-run, walk-off homer ended a roller coaster day for Ball State, as it escaped with a 13-12 win over the University of Toledo.
It seemed nothing could slow down the Cardinals' red-hot offense. Entering the day, the Cardinals had scored double-digit runs in three straight games. But Mother Nature threatened to wash the game out altogether. Only after a two-hour wait did the game begin.
Elizabeth Milian adapted quickly to the wet and windy conditions, retiring the first three batters of the game on groundouts.
Ball State struck first when Alicia Barkley drove home Lisa Rozanski in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead.
Mica Sanchez of Toledo answered with a home run to left field in the second inning to tie the game.
The tie was short-lived as Amanda Montalto homered in the bottom half of the second. The Cardinals would tally another run to make it 3-1.
After Toledo's Erin Wright hit her team's second solo shot of the game, Ball State loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, which set the stage for a very peculiar play.
Montalto appeared to have her second home run of the day when she hit the ball over the fence. But she passed the runner on first base and was ruled out. It was scored as a single with three RBIs. Meredith Nash would cross the plate later in the inning to give the Cardinals a 7-2 lead.
With a five-run lead and its ace on the mound, Ball State appeared to be in command of the game. Even after the Rockets scored two in the top of the fifth, the Cardinals had a three-run lead with two innings left.
But everything fell apart for Ball State in the sixth inning.
After retiring the first batter, Milian allowed six straight Toledo batters to reach base. She was pulled for Audra Sanders, who allowed four more Rockets to reach base before the inning finally came to a close. Six Toledo hits, a walk and an error led to eight runs, giving Toledo a 12-7 lead.
Coach Craig Nicholson thought that the conditions and a tight strike zone contributed to Milian's subpar outing.
"There were a lot of factors that had to do with her day today," he said. "But she battled the whole day, and Audra Sanders did a nice job to get us out of that sixth inning."
Ball State refused to give up after allowing 10 unanswered runs.
Back-to-back hits by Jessie Ware and Rozanski put runners on second and third with no outs. Alicia Barkley drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
An error by Toledo pitcher Hannah Rockhold loaded the bases, and then Rockhold allowed a bases loaded walk to cut the lead to 12-9. Rockhold was then pulled for Whitney Young, who walked the first batter she faced for another run.
After a strikeout, Young walked Jen Moore to pull the Cardinals to within one run. Jessie Ware then grounded out harmlessly to the pitcher to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Sanders pitched a scoreless seventh to keep Ball State in the game. With one out, Barkley singled up the middle to bring up Carpenter. On a 2-1 count, the left-handed hitting Carpenter took an outside pitch and drove it over the wall in left-center field for a wild win.
Carpenter wouldn't take all the credit for the win.
"This was a game full of emotions," she said, "and we picked each other up today. It was a total team effort."
Nicholson said there was only one way to describe the win.
"Today, we won ugly," he said, "But we battled, and found a way to win."
The win gave the Cardinals a 4-0 record for a weekend that was monumental for the program. On Friday, Milian broke her own single-season record for strikeouts. So far, she has 216 this year. Also, Ware broke the Cardinals' single-season record for both runs scored and total bases on Friday.
"She's been a catalyst for us," Nicholson said of his Arizona State transfer, "Ever since we moved her to lead-off, she's been a spark for us early in games."
Ball State looks to build on its momentum when the team travels to DeKalb, Ill., to face Northern Illinois University on Friday.
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