Ball State inches closer to its goal of winning the regular season Mid-American Conference title with a dominating road performance in its doubleheader against Toledo Friday.
With the wins, Ball State's overall record moves to 32-17 on the season with a hold on first place in the MAC with a 12-3 mark.
Coach Craig Nicholson said wins of this magnitude are not only big for conference play, but the postseason as well.
"I think being a one seed in the MAC tournament is going to be very important," Nicholson said. "You may get a team that maybe has struggled coming into the tournament or hasn't closed out the year real well."
In the first game of the doubleheader, Ball State's bats got off to a hot start. In the top of the first inning, freshman first baseman Taylor Rager hit a single to right field to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. In the top of the second inning, senior right fielder Alyssa Collins smacked a two-run home run to right field to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
Three more runs would come in to score for the Cardinals in the top of the fourth inning after an RBI single by junior second baseman Alison Mercado and a two-run single by junior catcher Amanda Montalto. A solo home run by sophomore left fielder Amanda Carpenter in the top of the fifth inning made the score 7-1 for the Cardinals and ended the scoring for both teams.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Audra Sanders picked up her 17th win of the season for the Cardinals. Sanders gave up four hits and one run in her seven innings of work.
In the second game, Ball State continued its hot streak at the plate. In the first two innings, the Cardinals scored an amazing 10 runs on nine hits. For the game, Ball State hit .500 with 15 hits and 13 runs.
Leading the offensive surge for Ball State was senior center fielder Lisa Rozanski, who had four RBIs for the game. In the top of the first inning, Rozanski hit an RBI single to left field to give Ball State an early 4-0 lead. She added a three-run triple to right center in the top of the second inning to increase the lead to 9-3.
Montalto hit a crucial two-run home run to right field in the top of the second inning to give the Cardinals a comfortable 6-3 lead rather than a 4-3 lead.
Montalto said the keys to her success at the plate along with the team was waiting for their pitch and driving it.
"We waited for our pitches, and we dropped back," Montalto said. "Their (Toledo) pitching was some of the slower pitching we've seen all year. So we dropped back and waited to drive the ball."
Junior right-hander Kim Mazzapica, who gave up a three-run home run to freshman catcher Alyssa Foy in the top of the first inning to make the score 4-3, found her stride and picked up her seventh win of the season. In five innings of work, Mazzapica gave up five hits and the three runs.
Mazzapica said despite her first inning struggles, she wasn't really worried going into the rest of the game.
" I felt like they weren't hitting me that hard, so I really didn't get down on myself," Mazzapica said. "I talked to Montalto in the dugout and she said my pitches weren't moving as much as they usually do. So I worked on that throughout the rest of the game and I was fine from there on out."
Ball State continues its road trip Saturday, when they travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to face the Falcons. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
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