The Ball State softball team had its ups and downs in its opening weekend of its spring season.
One major disappointment for the team occurred in its final matchup against Troy on Sunday. After leading the entire game, Ball State senior right- hander Audrey Workman made a throwing error in the seventh inning that resulted in the score to be tied at 4-4. Both teams went scoreless in the eighth inning, but a three-run homerun in the bottom of the ninth ended the hopes of a Cardinals win.
Moving forward to the Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn., sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager said the team's focus this week is continuing its development.
"First weekend is over and we know what we need to work on," she said. "We get back to practicing, we work out what we need to work on and we continue to move forward as a team."
Coach Craig Nicholson said the team needs to focus on its consistency going forward.
"I felt like we had a lot of signs of being a consistent ball club this weekend [Quality Inn Classic]," he said. "The one area where we weren't greatly consistent was hitting with runners in scoring position. I think we just need to relax and have quality at-bats in those situations."
Sophomore left fielder Jennifer Gilbert is one player that will look to have improvement at the plate this weekend. After hitting .361 with 15 homeruns and 63 RBIs last season, Gilbert has started the season hitting .071 with zero homeruns and three RBIs.
"I think the first thing is get a couple of hits in a game to build some confidence," Nicholson said. "I feel like with three good days of practice, she can maybe get some of that confidence back that was shaken a little bit last weekend and go have herself a good weekend. I feel like with her, once she gets it rolling, she's going to be really, really good this year."
Nicholson and the rest of the coaching staff are also working on the health of junior right-hander Audra Sanders. After leading the staff last season in wins, strikeouts and innings Sanders has yet to make an appearance this season.
"I think she's back to the doctor here early March and probably by late March we will make a decision on whether she's going to come back some point this year or whether she's going to redshirt this year," Nicholson said. "So we're kinda in a little bit of limbo right now. Hopefully, we'll have a little bit more information in two or three weeks to know where we're at."
Nicholson said to help take some of the pitching load off of seniors Kim Mazzapica and Workman, he plans to throw sophomore right-hander Lauren Williamson.
"We want to get her in a couple spots where she can settle in before we throw her out there having to start games and that kind of stuff," Nicholson said. "Five games with two pitchers is a lot and she's going to have to give us some innings at some point. We're just gonna early on try to pick and choose where we use her."
Workman said she's looking forward to playing Troy this weekend and showing everybody what Ball State softball is all about.
"Troy has it coming," she said. "They took a win from us, so we're going to take one from them, for sure. We've just got to go out there and play every single game like we're playing the No. 1 team in the nation. Show them that we're fighters and that it's going to take a lot for them to beat us."
Ball State will have its first game in the Frost Inn Classic on Friday at 11 a.m. against Troy. The team will then play Belmont on Friday at 3:30 p.m.; Cleveland State on Saturday at 11 a.m.; Dayton on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Tennessee Tech on Sunday at 1:15 p.m.
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