Ball State traveled to Kentucky to take part in the Velvet Milkman Invitational. In the event hosted by Murray State, the Cardinals won three games out of five.
“We were hitting the ball well and had pretty solid defense,” head coach Lacy Schurr said. “To lose two games by one and just learn from those moments and continue to fight for every at-bat that we have. You know I think it was just a good growth recap.”
The Cardinals started the weekend defeating Bellarmine 10-2 and falling to Murray State 4-3. In Saturday’s first game, Ball State had an offensive showcase and defeated Bellarmine 14-4. Redshirt Freshman Mckenna Mulholland had two hits and five RBIs.
“We all put in time and work and preparation,” Mulholland said. “And knowing that I can look over in the dugout, I can look at my runners on first and second knowing that they're rooting for me and believe in me. I just feel that I'm the only person that needs to believe in myself and my teammates are always supporting me.”
Their second game on Saturday was another loss to Murray State. It was the first loss of the season where the Cardinals failed to score a run.
In Sunday’s game, Ball State bounced back and defeated Loyola 6-4.
“Today, you know, we called upon some different people,” Schurr said. “Even players that didn’t come through for us last week, they did this week so I mean that's the nature of the beast. You're gonna have different people at different times.”
Through the weekend, the Cardinals had 47 hits and scored 33 runs. Fifth-year senior Amaia Daniel was a big contributor as she had six hits over the weekend. One thing that changed from last week’s tournament was the number of home runs. The Cardinals hit multiple in the Blazer Bash, but this week they had zero.
Schurr believes that it makes the game more fun and goes with their game plan.
“I mean, I think the fans like to see the ball hit 300 feet,” she said. “But you know, for us, we're gonna nickel and dime people to death and we're gonna base on running the basses and utilize our speed.”
The Cardinals sit 5-5 on the season so far. According to Daniel, the team’s chemistry is at a good place.
“This is one of the closest teams I've been on and everybody has a role on this team,” she said. “And everybody excels in that role. And I think that's just an amazing thing that's really hard to find on some teams.”
Ball State will hit the road once more and travel to Athens, Georgia for the Bulldog Classic. Their first game will be against Samford on March 3 with the first pitch at 10:30 a.m.
Contact Zach Carter with comments at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ZachCarter85.
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