After defeating No. 24 North Carolina and suffering a 8-7 loss in the battle against Wisconsin, Ball State softball picked up its share of weekly awards by the Mid-American Conference West Division.
A strong seventh inning performance in the circle by freshman Nicole Steinbach against the Tar Heels brought the victory for the Cardinals as she struck out the first batter, forced an easily fielded grounder to shortstop and then caught a line drive to close the game.
The freshman pitcher was awarded pitcher-of-the-week for the second time this season after back-to-back solid performances in the circle.
Despite a loss to Wisconsin, Steinbach finished the opening game of the tournament holding the Badgers to three runs and striking out a batter in two innings.
She brought her season record to 5-7 after defeating North Carolina as she allowed just six hits and a run go, with three strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Sophomore second baseman Taylor Cox was awarded player-of-the-week for the first time in her career.
Cox helped lead the Cardinals to a 1-1 record in the weekend part of the Louisville Class as lead-off batter.
Her strong performance at the plate against Wisconsin carried into game two as she led the team in a rally.
She finished the weekend with 5-for-9 at the plates in the two games combined with three singles, three runs scored and an RBI.
The team has a total of 45 RBIs on the season as the MAC leader in doubles.
Ball State has earned a MAC West Division award in each week of competition this season as four players have claimed player-of-the-week and three total pitcher-of-the-week titles.
After a canceled game against Butler on Tuesday, the team will be back in action Friday, taking on Marist and Colorado State in the first day of the Colorado State Spring Tournament in Fort Collins, Colo.
