The last two weeks of offensive dominance came to a halt this weekend for the Ball State (19-9) softball team, culminating in a 3-1 loss to Lipscomb (20-8) on Sunday.
Senior Kim Mazzapica (9-3) pitched well, but she allowed three runs (two earned), failing to keep up with Lipscomb senior Whitney Kiihnl. Kiihnl struck out 11 batters and gave up only four hits and one run.
"[Kiihnl's] very talented," Nicholson said. "She changes speeds well. She's got two out pitches and we were just trying to get some good pitches to hit."
Nicholson said the team's approach to the plate was solid throughout the weekend and that the team just managed to hit the ball right at people.
The Cardinals finished the weekend 3-2 after coach Craig Nicholson called it the team's toughest overall weekend this year. Nicholson said he was happy with the way his team played as the Cardinals approach the beginning of Mid-American Conference games on Friday.
"We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish this weekend in terms of upping the competition a little bit and competing with some good teams," Nicholson said.
Workman (10-6) started off the weekend well for Ball State by dominating a tough UNLV (17-14) squad 5-1 and limiting them to three hits and one run on Friday.
Nicolson indicated earlier in the week that he would flip-flop his two starters so they wouldn't be facing the same team two days in a row, but he changed his mind when the games began. Workman drew the start in Saturday's rematch against UNLV, which ended in a 3-0 loss for Ball State. Workman wasn't able to finish the game, lasting only three innings and allowing three runs on six hits and then was aided by early offense in the 9-4 victory over Cal-Poly.
"I thought [Workman and Mazzapica] pitched really well against the opponent that they faced on Friday and we were just trying to see if we could recreate that a little bit," Nicholson said. "It didn't work out quite how we wanted it to but we still went 1-1 the next day."
MAC play opens when the Cardinals travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to play a doubleheader against the Broncos. The Cardinals enter MAC play with a 19-9 record, a four loss difference from last year's 19-13 mark.
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