Ball State swept Northern Illinois in the first home game of the season, as the team wasted no time getting on the board in either game of the double header.
The final scores were 5-3 and 9-2.
“It takes pressure off of our offense and it takes pressure off of our pitching staff,” coach Craig Nicholson said of his team’s offense.
Second baseman Taylor Cox hit a double to leadoff the offense and later scored the first run of the game on a two out RBI single by center fielder Amanda Carpenter.
After a Northern Illinois run to tie the game at the top of the third, shortstop Selena Reyna and left fielder Jennifer Gilbert contributed with a double and a single respectively to put three Ball State runs on the board in the bottom of the inning.
An RBI triple from outfielder Loren Cihlar followed by a single from Reyna in the bottom of the six would give the Cardinals the fifth and final run they would need to defeat the Huskies.
A double play between first and second base would give the Cardinals the final outs to end the first game with a score of 5-3.
“We had two well pitched ball games today,” Nicholson said despite feeling that starting pitcher Nicole Steinbach did not perform as strong as he has seen her this season. She picked up her eighth win recording nine hits, three runs, a strikeout and no walks.
First baseman Taylor Rager and Carpenter led the offense in the second game by blasting back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the second inning to start off what would be a 9-2 victory for the Cardinals.
Gilbert also added a home run over the left center wall in the bottom of the third to take the Ball State lead to 4-0.
She also added three RBI on the day, tying her career total with the school record of 153, set by Amanda Montalto in 2012.
The team would score five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, led by another Rager home run. Pinch hitter Emily Dabkowski followed and missed what could have been the first home run of her college career as she hit an RBI double off of the left field wall.
“We played really well as a team today,” freshman pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker said. “It was really nice to have everyone hitting and all of their energy up,”
Schifferdecker would earn her seventh win of the season by giving up just three hits and two runs while striking out five batters. This was her second complete game of the season.
“We pitched well and we played very good defense,” Nicholson said as his team recorded just one error on the day.
He plans to continue sweeping the weekend competition to remain undefeated in Mid-American Conference play.
The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday afternoon, in a home game against Western Michigan.
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