Ball State softball (29-13) will travel to Indiana (19-27) Tuesday for a non-conference game set to begin at 6 p.m.
The Cardinals will treat Tuesday’s game as a chance to get back into the swing of things on offense. In a double header against Miami on Sunday, Ball State went just 12-for-50 at the plate.
A .240 batting average on the day fell significantly short of the team’s season average of .321.
Miami challenged the offense with a mixture of balls and pitches that were just out of reach, something that head coach Craig Nicholson said the team had not seen much of this season.
“I feel like their game plan coming in was to throw a lot of balls away from the plate and see if we’d chase them,” Nicholson said. “We were very impatient at times, especially in big situations.”
He will not make any major adjustments, though, and feels that the team will be fine moving forward.
Indiana pitchers have posted a 3.54 ERA this season and allowed opposing teams a .292 batting average.
The Ball State offense should match up well with the Indiana defense so long as they can remain disciplined at the plate. The team’s batting average still ranks in the top 25 in NCAA Division I.
Five hitters are averaging at least .300. That list is highlighted by Jennifer Gilbert’s average of .493. The team has 268 RBIs on the season.
The Indiana offense has a .244 batting average, with just 141 RBIs on the season.
Ball State pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker is coming off of her first career shutout game. The freshman believes the team will be able to shrug off a pair of losses in the last week and get back to winning.
“We’re gonna be able to not let it affect us and keep playing our game,” Schifferdecker said.
