With its 4-1 loss to Miami in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday, Ball State's goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament came to an end.
The cause of Ball State's broken dream was inconsistent pitching and hitting.
In its last six games of the regular season, Ball State went 1-5. During the six games, the Ball State pitching staff gave up a combined 46 runs and 36 walks.
In the MAC Tournament, Ball State won its first game and lost the next two by a combined score of 12-5. In those two games, Ball State hitters had only nine combined hits.
Coach Craig Nicholson said despite the team's inconsistent play and its loss of key contributors this season, Ball State will be in pretty good shape next season.
"I think we're in pretty good shape," Nicholson said. "We came off a great year last year and followed it up with a pretty good year if you're looking at it from a numbers standpoint and considering we probably lost the best pitcher in program history."
Nicholson said there will be spots left vacant by graduating seniors.
"We obviously have some key contributors to replace," he said. "But we're still in a spot where this program is rebuilding a little bit."
Ball State's pitching staff is an area that will continue to rebuild in the offseason. After going 43-16 in 2010, former pitcher Elizabeth Milian went 32-9 last year. Ball State pitchers combined for an overall record of 34-24 in 2011. In addition, Ball State pitchers finished with a combined ERA over 3.00 in 2011. Milian had an ERA of 2.00 in her final season.
Nicholson said in order for the pitching staff to get better, they must work on consistency in the offseason.
"The bottom line is they've got to work this summer and get better," Nicholson said. "And get better in terms of being more consistent. There were times where they pitched great and there were times where all of them were not very good. I think the big thing for our whole staff is work on being consistent and being able to go out and do what they need to do every single day."
Nicholson said despite needed improvements in pitching, Ball State's focus in the fall will be team defense.
"What we do defensively will be a priority in the fall," Nicholson said. "You're going to count pitching in there a little bit, but our individual defense and our team defense will be our focus because we have so many new people that will probably play key positions for us and some people that have been here for a year or two but are going to move positions."
Ball State finishes the season with a 34-24 record and third in the MAC West with a 13-8 record.
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