Coach Craig Nicholson picked up a victory for the Ball State softball team that gave him his 900th career collegiate victory on Sunday in a 9-5 win over Northern Colorado at the Stetson Classic.
The Cardinals entered the bottom half of the sixth inning down 5-3 but rallied with a six-run outburst that was started with a bases-clearing triple by senior catcher Amanda Montalto followed by a three-run home run by sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel. Montalto's double extended her hitting streak to 12 games and has the team's longest active streak.
The Bears fought back with a six runs in the top of the seventh but the game was called due to a drop-dead time that ended the game immediately and allowed the Cardinals to escape with a six-inning victory.
The win gave Ball State a perfect weekend and its seventh straight win to finish off the Florida road trip. Montalto finished the game 2-3 with three RBIs and a walk. Sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager put up a strong day going 2-2 with two walks and adding her team-high fifth home run.
Senior pitcher Kim Mazzapica picked up the win (7-1) for the Cardinals in relief for senior Audrey Workman who struggled with control giving up six walks but also striking out five Northern Colorado hitters. It was the first time in the seven game win streak that Ball State had given up more than three runs.
The Cardinals have been scoring runs to match the strong pitching averaging just over seven runs a game during the steak.
Ball State won the first two games of the weekend beating Northern Colorado the first time 9-1 and beating Stetson 4-1. The two scheduled Saturday games were rained out.
Freshman Hanne Stuedemann was named Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week on Sunday for the week of Feb. 28-March 6. She is the third Ball State player to earn the honor. Sophomores Rager and Bickel won the awards earlier this season.
Ball State's next game is at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Loyola-Chicago in Oxford, Ohio, for the Miami Invitational.
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