Sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel hit her second clutch home run in as many games in the Ball State (21-10) softball team's 5-4 win over Wright State (14-18).
On Sunday, Bickel gave the Cardinals a lead in the top of the eighth inning against Northern Illinois and replicated that result Wednesday. Her home run in the top of the sixth was her sixth of the season.
After not playing in many close games and starting with a 0-4 record in one run games, the Cardinals have pulled together two straight.
"We had some bad at bats in some key situations," coach Craig Nicholson said. "But we did line in to some hard outs."
Defensive miscues plagued Ball State on Sunday, but Nicholson said he was pleased with the way the defense rebounded. The Cardinals made one error but also made some impressive plays in the field, Nicholson said.
Senior pitcher Audrey Workman started the game and lasted four innings, allowing one unearned run on only two hits. She struck out four and allowed three walks. Senior Kim Mazzapica relieved and immediately gave up three runs but settled down in the sixth and seventh.
"A lot of times when you make that pitching change for a lot of pitchers the first inning is the toughest one," Nicholson said. "Both of them when they got scored on it was their first inning of work and then they both kind of settled in."
Nicholson said it was the plan all along to give each starter some innings to stay sharp for the weekend's Mid-American Conference play with Ohio (14-15) and Akron (13-18-1).
"We just tried to get them both a little bit of work and make sure they're ready for the weekend since they're probably both going to skip a bullpen session this weekend," Nicholson said.
Senior shortstop Allison Mercado added her first career home run and continued a hot bat that has seen her average increase to .441 on the season.
Ball State plays in its first home series Friday in a double header with Ohio and continues Mid-American Conference play with Akron Saturday and Sunday.
For more coverage on softball, follow @sbwilliams15 on Twitter.
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