Ten feet further right was all freshman Hanne Stuedeman needed to cap the Cardinals (22-11) home opener in spectacular fashion.
It was 7-6 with a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh inning against Ohio when the ball rocketed off Stuedeman's bat, spinning over the fence and foul into left field. The blast was a no doubt home run if only it had remained fair.
"I was hoping it was going to stay fair but everything down that line all day long went foul," coach Craig Nicholson said. "If she would have hit it ten feet the other way then the game is over."
Nicholson was disappointed in his team after scoring five quick runs in the first two innings but not scoring again until the sixth.
"We need to do a better job of adding on," Nicholson said "We had some opportunities to add on and we didn't do it. You can't just wait until the seventh inning and think you're going to get something done in the seventh inning all of a sudden."
Ball State started the scoring after two walks from right fielder Stuedeman and sophomore left fielder Jennifer Gilbert to leadoff the first and a double from senior designated player Amanda Montalto. Montalto later scored on a fielder's choice groundout.
The Cardinals rallied in the bottom of the second with two outs after a Montalto single and sophomore Taylor Rager's eighth home run of the season. But the offense stalled from there.
Despite the inability of the offense to keep pressure on the Bobcats, Nicholson said that they should win games when they score six runs. Audrey Workman (10-8) started the game for the Cardinals but failed to keep the Bobcats at bay in the later innings. Even though the Cardinals have pitched from behind in the count most of the year, this time it cost them, Nicholson said.
In the first game, Gilbert went 3-4 with two home runs despite a formidable wind blowing straight in from center field. Her swing is back to where it left off last year.
"I feel a lot better," Gilbert said. "I feel more centered and I feel more comfortable in the box now."
Nicholson said Gilbert is right where she needs to be and pitchers can't get her out like they were able to earlier in the year.
"I felt like today she had great at bats all day long," Nicholson said. "The only time she really didn't hit a ball hard was she went down and chased a ball in her third at bat in the first game."
Ball State continues its first home weekend Saturday against Akron at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Nicholson said he plans on continuing the defensive lineup that includes junior Sadie Robertson at catcher to help Ball State slow the speed of Akron on the basepaths.
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