Through four innings, the Battle of the Birds was close. Both pitchers were holding their own and both offensives were ready to strike, with the Hawkeyes holding a slim 1-0 lead.
However, seven straight scores from Iowa (11-8, 0-0 Big 10) in the fifth inning and a breakdown in the circle would hand Ball State (12-9, 0-0 MAC) a 10-3 loss, capping off a 1-4 finish in Clearwater, Florida this weekend.
While the record didn't fair well for the Cardinals, they weren't challenged by any means. Four of the Cardinals opponents were ranked in the RPI top 50. This included a opening weekend loss to No. 9 South Carolina, 15-1.
"Until we get to the conference tournament, this was the toughest weekend start to finish," head coach Meagn Ciolli Bartlett said. "Anytime you see this consistent level of adversity, you're going to learn a lot about yourself. We can go throughout the season and play teams lower in the RPI, but I really don't know how much we're going to learn from that."
The Cardinals were heading into the game coming off of a win over Furman, 8-2. For the majority of the game, the score was knotted at zero. The came the fifth inning. Senior pitcher Aeshia Miles would give up five hits for five scores in the inning, allowing Iowa to advance to a 6-0 lead. To add salt to the wound, a tagged out by Ball State at home would be ruled a run after a obstruction call.
"The defense just unraveled a little bit," junior Haley Dominique said. "We had a few calls that didn't go our way, but that really isn't an excuse. Once the wheels came off, they came off for good. We didn't haven't that punch back."
After the onslaught, Miles would be retired in the fifth for freshman Sarah Venker. She would pitch an inning, allowing two runs off of three hits, before being relieved for junior Alyssa Rothwell would close out the game in the seventh. Rothwell struck out six before allowing two runs in the final inning.
The Hawkeyes would score twice more in the sixth before the Cardinals would add a pair of their own, off of a double from freshman Amaia Daniel and a steal from sophomore Hailey Demnianiuk. However, Iowa got the last laugh in the seventh off an error and a triple from Aralee Bogar. She would finish the game with two runs off of two hits.
"I think we showed grit in playing to the end of the game, but there needs to be more," Dominique said. "It doesn't have to be everything in the sixth and seventh innings, but we need to make those adjustments throughout the entire game."
Bartlett believes that the reason the team struggled this past weekend is due to some of the players mindset of perfection and getting the perfect hit. The Cardinals struggled to find that hit through seven innings, registering three runs off of eight whacks at the plate. Iowa pitcher Allison Doocy was lockdown in the circle, striking out 10 over the course of the game.
"That constant need to be prefect can make you feel hesitant," Bartlett said. "Right now, I think they're hesitating at the plate. You're not going to make a living in this sport doing that. They really just got to get out of their own way."
Coming off of this weekend, the team still has two more tournaments before returning to Muncie in late March, including a double header against Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday. From then on out, the team is focused not on the scoreboard, but a tough style of play.
"We're not looking at the results right now," Dominique said. "We're looking at coming with intensity, being gritty and working hard for our team."
Contact Jack Williams with any comments at jgwilliams@bsu.edu or on Twitter @jackgwilliams
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