Hoosiers fall to Cardinals 5-2

Despite taking an early lead against Ball State (30-13, 13-1), the IU softball team lost its Tuesday evening game to the Cardinals 5-2.

The matchup at Andy Mohr Field marked the Hoosiers’ final midweek regular season game.

“I thought we actually did a good job,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “We got runners on base. Other than the two runs, we just couldn’t really push anything across but, you know, I thought we made better adjustments at the plate and I was very happy to see that.”

The Hoosiers were first to get on the scoreboard, doing so in the bottom of the second inning.

Junior pitcher Meaghan Murphy started the inning with a single to the right side.
 
A sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Samantha Heyman allowed Murphy to move to second, and freshman catcher and first baseman Kassi Farmer reached first on an error by the Cardinals’ first baseman.
 
Another single by junior outfielder Jenna Abraham loaded the bases for the Hoosiers, and a fielder’s choice allowed senior outfielder Kelsey Brannon to reach first and send Murphy home to take the 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals responded in the top of the third with one run to tie the game at 1-1 after the Hoosiers allowed two errors in the inning. Ball State then took the 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth with a home run by sophomore shortstop Jessica Craft.

Heyman opened up the bottom of the fourth for the Hoosiers with a single to left field. A sacrifice bunt by Farmer sent Heyman to second. Abraham was then walked to put players at first and second base. Brannon was struck out and senior infielder Amanda Wagner fouled out to first base, ending the inning and leaving two players stranded.

A one-out home run in the top of the sixth sent in three Cardinal batters to score, giving Ball State the 5-1 lead.
 
Heyman got things started for the Hoosiers in the bottom of the sixth with a double to center field, then advanced to third base on a passed ball. Farmer then grounded out to first to allow Heyman to head home for the unearned run. Abraham followed that up with a single to shortstop, but a final out would leave her stranded at first.

Neither team scored in the seventh inning, giving Ball State the 5-2 win.
 
Heyman and Abraham led the offensive attack for the Hoosiers, with both knotting two hits in the matchup. Farmer drove a run in to receive the only RBI for the team.

“I’m just starting to focus on my short game a little more because I was struggling with hitting for power,” Abraham said. “I’m kind of focusing more on the short game, like bunting and putting the ball in play.”

Sophomore Lora Olson took the loss on the evening, falling to 6-12. Olson struck out two batters and walked three while allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits.

“I thought Lo threw relatively well. You know, the home runs were unfortunate, but we have to be better defensively, which tremendously would have helped, but we’re still working,” Gardner said.

Despite the loss, Abraham said the team will be able to take positives away from Tuesday’s game.

“We fought really hard today,” Abraham said. “We’ve just been struggling a little bit, but we’re not going to quit fighting. We just keep pushing ourselves harder and harder. We made some really good key defensive plays and key good hits so we’ve just got to focus on the positives.”