There is no lack of offensive production for the Ball State softball team. The Cardinals currently lead the Mid-American Conference in runs with 182, hits with 285 and average a league best .325 mark at the plate.
Softball is more than just connecting with pitches, however.
The Ball State pitching staff has played a key role in helping the club go 23-14 thus far in the season, and 4-2 in Mid-American Conference play. Head coach Tyra Perry said strong pitching has been a factor for Ball State this season.
“I think in today’s game, especially if you want to get to an elite level of play, pitching is very important,” she said. “You have to have pitchers that are confident and comfortable in the circle, and I think it’s a key part of the game.”
Leaders within the pitching staff, Nicole Steinbach and Kelsey Schifferdecker, are just sophomores. The promising young pitchers have performed well in the team’s recent stretch of games.
Ball State is coming off of a four-game weekend, going 3-1 against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
Steinbach and Schifferdecker each started two games over the weekend. Neither allowed more than four runs. They were able to give their team a chance to win each game.
“I think we both did a really good job of hitting our spots and mixing up our pitches really well to keep our batters off balance,” Schifferdecker said.
The sophomore duo has combined to throw 194.4 innings this year, an equal 97.2 apiece. Only two other Cardinals have thrown innings this year. There are many statistical similarities between the two, including that they each have 10 wins.
Their styles differ however, and this helps Steinbach and Schifferdecker learn from one another.
“Me and Kelsey are a very good complement to each other,” Steinbach said. “We are totally different pitchers and we throw batters off in different ways. ... I feel like going into games, they don’t really know what to expect because we are so different and they don’t know who to attack more or what side to attack.”
The pair hopes to continue picking up pivotal MAC wins as they play through the season’s final 12 games.
Perry said pitching and defense win championships, believes her team is strong enough in both areas to be successful.
“I think it will play a huge plan when it comes to the conference tournament,” she said. “When you get into that type of setting down the stretch in the MAC and getting to the conference tournament, when you get into the pressure situations you have to have quality pitching in order to win those types of games.”
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