After ending the season 39-13 and heading into the Mid-American Conference tournament riding a seven-game win streak, Ball State wasn't expecting to have to wait and see on selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament.
But an offense that had dominated the MAC all season cooled off at the wrong time and Ball State was dropped from the double-elimination tournament after three games in which the offense managed just six runs. The early exit and a not quite good enough 68th ranked RPI meant Ball State would be left out of the NCAA tournament.
"I thought our chances were pretty small going in but we were hopeful that we might get a bid and it didn't happen," coach Craig Nicholson said. "The tough thing for us is you put yourself in that position by not going and winning the tournament. We could have helped ourselves out a lot by going and taking care of business."
The six runs scored in the tournament for the Cardinals was lower than their 6.69 runs per game the offense compiled all season. Nicholson was surprised but the level of competition the offense saw was higher than most of the season.
"For a three game stretch that's probably the least offensive output that we've had all year long," he said. "The tough part of that is we faced the three best pitchers in the conference or at least the three best pitchers on paper in the conference."
But some things did improve in tournament play. Nicholson got two great starts from senior right-hander Audrey Workman and solid start from senior right-hander Kim Mazzapica. Workman found the control of all three of her pitches, Nicholson said.
"Once she gets two or three pitches over the plate, she's really effective," he said. "She did a really good job for us. Going in, if you would have told me we were going to give up 3 and 2 in the first two games, I would have said, 'Great we're going to win and off we go.'"
Facing the defending MAC tournament champion first wasn't a problem even though they hadn't played them during the season, Nicholson said.
"They were a very similar team to what they were last year so we kind of new what to expect going in," Nicholson said. "The tough thing about that game is we had chance after chance after chance and just couldn't bust through. We had so many opportunities to drive in runs. All the teams we played really did a good job of not letting our best hitters beat them."
Despite the disappointing end to the season, Nicholson said he was pleased with the way the team played all year.
"I think it was a really good year for us. To me, the best team in the conference will win in the regular season. The best team in the conference is not necessarily going to win in the tournament," he said. "We're happy with the way the season went. Obviously, we would want to finish it off a little bit different."
Ball State overcame a season-crippling injury to junior pitcher Audra Sanders, who had led the pitching staff the year before. They also dealt with the loss of two top-of-the-order hitters in Alyssa Collins and Alicia Barkley.
The expectations were high for the team but Nicholson said winning 40 games and taking the MAC regular season crown was a successful year for the program.
"I don't know that there's a magic formula to winning the tournament," he said. "You have to be playing well at the right time, you have to get hot at the right time and you have to have a lot of things go your way."
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