2008 Woodie Awards
SOFTBALL: Team splits games during weekend
Cardinals are happy with their position at season's midpoint
Kyle Shaner
With a series split against Miami University to end the first half of Mid-American Conference play, the Ball State University softball team feels well about its standing in the conference.
Ball State (27-21, 5-5 MAC) beat Miami (16-18, 7-3 MAC) 3-1 Sunday after losing its first game of the weekend 1-0 to the RedHawks Saturday. The weekend split kept the Cardinals' conference record even again, after doing so the first two weekends of league play.
"If you look at history, .500 is pretty good," Ball State coach Craig Nicholson said. "I'd like to be better than .500, but it's progress."
With the completion of the weekend, the MAC season is at its halfway point. The Cardinals are in the middle of the conference standings, putting them in place for one of the eight spots in the MAC tournament.
Last year, Nicholson's first season with Ball State, the Cardinals finished 8-14 in the MAC and missed out on the tournament for the fifth consecutive year after beginning league play 6-4.
Senior Amanda Pick said Ball State is at a good place right now in the conference after the split with Miami. It is not surprising that the games between the Cardinals and RedHawks were both close, she said.
"There's such an even talent pool in the MAC teams, and I think they should be close games," Pick said.
Elizabeth Milian was credited with the loss Saturday for the Cardinals. The sophomore gave up one earned run on six hits, two walks and five strike outs in the 1-0 defeat.
Nicholson said Milian did a very good job on the mound, but the Cardinals could not get the run support to help her.
In the loss, Ball State stranded 14 runners in the seven-inning game, including nine runners who were left in scoring position. The Cardinals left the bases loaded three times, including in the seventh.
"I thought they did pretty well [Saturday], but we left runners on base, and we struggled to get that key two-out hit," Nicholson said. "[Sunday] we did better at cashing in on opportunities."
Ball State (27-21, 5-5 MAC) beat Miami (16-18, 7-3 MAC) 3-1 Sunday after losing its first game of the weekend 1-0 to the RedHawks Saturday. The weekend split kept the Cardinals' conference record even again, after doing so the first two weekends of league play.
"If you look at history, .500 is pretty good," Ball State coach Craig Nicholson said. "I'd like to be better than .500, but it's progress."
With the completion of the weekend, the MAC season is at its halfway point. The Cardinals are in the middle of the conference standings, putting them in place for one of the eight spots in the MAC tournament.
Last year, Nicholson's first season with Ball State, the Cardinals finished 8-14 in the MAC and missed out on the tournament for the fifth consecutive year after beginning league play 6-4.
Senior Amanda Pick said Ball State is at a good place right now in the conference after the split with Miami. It is not surprising that the games between the Cardinals and RedHawks were both close, she said.
"There's such an even talent pool in the MAC teams, and I think they should be close games," Pick said.
Elizabeth Milian was credited with the loss Saturday for the Cardinals. The sophomore gave up one earned run on six hits, two walks and five strike outs in the 1-0 defeat.
Nicholson said Milian did a very good job on the mound, but the Cardinals could not get the run support to help her.
In the loss, Ball State stranded 14 runners in the seven-inning game, including nine runners who were left in scoring position. The Cardinals left the bases loaded three times, including in the seventh.
"I thought they did pretty well [Saturday], but we left runners on base, and we struggled to get that key two-out hit," Nicholson said. "[Sunday] we did better at cashing in on opportunities."
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