Ball State has had its issues with clutch hitting and pitching all season long.
In the matchup against Miami this weekend, Ball State fixed those issues.
In the first game on Saturday, Ball State entered the top of the seventh inning down 3-1. Two errors committed by Miami's infield, and a walk drawn by freshman first baseman Taylor Rager loaded the bases for freshman designated hitter Jennifer Gilbert.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Gilbert smacked a grand slam over the wall the give the Cardinals a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
Junior right-handed pitcher Kim Mazzapica, who came in for the struggling junior Audrey Workman, closed the door on the RedHawks when senior shortstop Meghan Mawn grounded into a game-ending double play.
Coach Craig Nicholson said winning a game of this magnitude is huge in terms of confidence going into the rest of the season.
"It's huge momentum when you play from behind and then you get that one swing of the bat to basically win a ball game in the seventh inning," he said. "I think the big thing for us going forward is it gives [Ball State] a little bit of confidence if we get in another situation where we need to come from behind again late in the ball game."
On Sunday, Ball State returned to Miami's home field to pull off more late-inning magic.
The result was a 1-0 defeat of the RedHawks off the bat of junior catcher Amanda Montalto, who went 3-3 for the game.
In the top of the fifth inning, Montalto hit a solo home run to center field to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game.
That was all sophomore right-hander Audra Sanders needed to seal her 13th win of the season for the Cardinals. In seven innings of work, Sanders gave up five hits and struck out six batters.
Nicholson said beating a team like Miami is huge for Ball State to move forward into the rest of the season.
"Miami is a good ball club, and a team that's always played us tough and probably of any team in the conference, the team that's given us the biggest challenges in the last three years," she said. "To get two wins against a quality Miami team on the road only helps us in terms of our psyche going forward."
Ball State will play Wright State at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
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