Sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel hit her second clutch home run in as many games in the Ball State (21-10) softball team's 5-4 win over Wright State (14-18).
On Sunday, Bickel gave the Cardinals a lead in the top of the eighth inning against Northern Illinois and replicated that result Wednesday. Her home run in the top of the sixth was her sixth of the season.
After not playing in many close games and starting with a 0-4 record in one run games, the Cardinals have pulled together two straight.
"We had some bad at bats in some key situations," coach Craig Nicholson said. "But we did line in to some hard outs."
Defensive miscues plagued Ball State on Sunday, but Nicholson said he was pleased with the way the defense rebounded. The Cardinals made one error but also made some impressive plays in the field, Nicholson said.
Senior pitcher Audrey Workman started the game and lasted four innings, allowing one unearned run on only two hits. She struck out four and allowed three walks. Senior Kim Mazzapica relieved and immediately gave up three runs but settled down in the sixth and seventh.
"A lot of times when you make that pitching change for a lot of pitchers the first inning is the toughest one," Nicholson said. "Both of them when they got scored on it was their first inning of work and then they both kind of settled in."
Nicholson said it was the plan all along to give each starter some innings to stay sharp for the weekend's Mid-American Conference play with Ohio (14-15) and Akron (13-18-1).
"We just tried to get them both a little bit of work and make sure they're ready for the weekend since they're probably both going to skip a bullpen session this weekend," Nicholson said.
Senior shortstop Allison Mercado added her first career home run and continued a hot bat that has seen her average increase to .441 on the season.
Ball State plays in its first home series Friday in a double header with Ohio and continues Mid-American Conference play with Akron Saturday and Sunday.
For more coverage on softball, follow @sbwilliams15 on Twitter.
Read More
Delta baseball defeats Yorktown in extra innings to become Delaware County champions
By Zach Carter / 2 days agoThe Eagles defeated the Tigers 5-2 in extra innings to win the Delaware County baseball tournament. It's the first time Delta has won the event since 2017.
'I'm grateful and proud:' No. 6 Ball State falls to No. 1 Miami in MAC Championship title game
By Zach Carter / 2 days agoThe No. 6 Cardinals fell to the No. 1 Redhawks 8-0 in the MAC title game. It's the farthest the Cardinals have advanced in the tournament since 2015.
'Building into something great:' Ball State softball advances to the MAC title game for the first time since 2015
By Zach Carter / 3 days agoNo. 6 Ball State defeated No. 5 Central Michigan, No. 4 Toledo and No. 2 Ohio Friday to advance to the title game of the Mid-American Conference Championship. The Cardinals will face the No. 1 Miami Redhawks. If Ball State was to win, a second game will need to be played due to the Redhawks undefeated tournament record.
