A change to a fixture could ruffle a few feathers. Thankfully, Mitchell and Mullaney feel reactions from the in and around the nest have been positive.
The Cardinals place first out of 13 teams, and they have two players in the top 10.
“We played together, we trusted each other and we got the job done” Clark said after the 2-1 win over the Billikens.
In front of a crowd of over 15,000 people, the Cardinals hit the field for the ‘Battle of the Blue Key Victory Bell’, a rivalry that dates back to 1924.
The junior transfer from Huntington University placed first individually in the 'Ball State We Fly' challenge with a 5k time of 18:21.
Coming from a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school – Indiana Wesleyan – Seiffert shared her excitement for this new opportunity to succeed at a new school.
The Cardinals have been very successful at home, with a 23-2-4 record over the past 3 years, and held true with a 3-0 win over Austin Peay as Senior Night festivities took place before the match.
“I didn’t really play a ton in high school, I was still growing. Struggled with commands so I didn’t get too many playing opportunities, but that’s sort of when I first fell in love with baseball,” Jacobson said.
“Golf is a really hard game. The swing comes and goes. There are good days and there are bad days. But what you ultimately build your game on is how consistent you are with your process."
“I didn’t get a ton of minutes, just in the fall and regular season so this spring has been a really big time for me to get confidence, just get those minutes in and get to make those plays,” Locante said.
“It’s a little bit of a taste of what it’s kind of like to be a division one football player,” Junior Jacob Valentine said. “Growing up, that was kind of a dream of mine, so to be able to do that here at the college that I go to is really exciting.”
“What I didn’t know at the time in 2007 is that it would take 10 years of outreach to people to finally see it implemented in 2017,” Elam said. “The whole time I felt like I was one day away from a major breakthrough.”
“I did have big expectations for myself. I expected myself to do the same thing that I did and then better. I had to kind of change those expectations because they were just too much to put on anybody, especially yourself,” Russo said.
“I’ve kind of been on the struggle bus a little bit and its been a matter of putting everything together whether one week struggling off a tee, one week struggling putting. It was nice to finally have a good week,” Smith said.
“I really enjoy being here because I get to meet new people who love the sport, since nobody’s in my major here, a break from school and a break from daily life,” explains member Emily Howell.
“This group has just been amazing. They are good at communicating and putting away distractions and coming together towards a common goal,” said Head Coach Joanna Saleem.
“You have a 25 win season, and you win 4 championships this year,” Luce said, “There’s a reason for it, we have good players.”
“This might be the best group of throwers and cutters that I’ve seen just all together,” said Koch. “That came from just recruiting and I just don’t think we’ve seen a better class up until this point.”
“We practice hard and prepare well, we let the wins come on their own,” Cleland said.
“There’s nothing better than being able to play in front of your own fans and I think our guys thrive off that. Just knowing that we got a lot of season to go and some of it’s going to be played here, it’s always good to get in front of the fans,” said the reigning National Coach of the Year, Donan Cruz.
