Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Ball St
Softball Opens MAC Play With A Split At Ball State
3/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 23, 2002
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) softball champions opened the MAC season with a split at Ball State on Saturday afternoon. Central Michigan fell in the first game, 5-4, as a three-run seventh inning gave the Cardinals a come-from-behind win. CMU posted a 1-0 shutout in game two for the split.
Central (12-10, 1-1 MAC) jumped out to an early lead in the opener with a two-run third inning. Becky Manson led the frame off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice by Christin Sobeck. Michelle Brander drove in Manson with a double to center and Jen Skuta followed with an RBI triple.
Ball State (9-9, 1-1 MAC) scored a run in the bottom of the inning and CMU responded with another run in the top of the fourth. Karly McKormack reached on an error. Melissa Luplow pinch ran for McKormack. Luplow reached second on a passed ball and was driven home by a Manson RBI single to center.
The Chippewas took a 4-2 lead in the fifth. Brander led the inning off with a triple to center field. Two outs later and with runners on first and third, McCormack struck out swinging for what would have been the third out but she advanced to first on a pass ball as the Cardinal defense thought that the inning was over. Brander scored on the play. Devon Burzynski was hit by a pitch to load the bases after that but CMU couldn't add another run.
Ball State came back with a three-run seventh inning to earn the win. With one out, Amber Puchalski gave up a walk and Carrie Lively hit a double that scored Ali Orel from first. Puchalski recorded her 14th strikeout for the second out of the inning but an RBI single to left by Britny Clark tied the score. Puchalski was replaced in the circle by Wendy Stephens and the first batter Stephens faced, Kris Burdine, hit a single to right field that scored Clark from second.
Ball State had eight hits and committed three errors in the game while CMU had seven hits with two errors. Manson was 3-for-3 with and RBI and a double. Brander was 2-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a triple. Puchalski allowed seven hits and five earned runs in the loss.
Cortney Winger picked up the win in relief for BSU. She threw two innings of hitless ball.
The Chippewas eeked out a 1-0 victory in the nightcap. Stephens went the distance for CMU for her first shutout of the season. The game's lone run came in the sixth when Sarah Hamilton's fielder's choice drove in Sobeck from third. Sobeck led the inning off with a single to left, one of only two CMU hits in the game.
Ball State had six hits and one error in the loss while CMU committed two errors.
The doubleheader was delayed one hour because of frozen field conditions early in the day. A single game is scheduled for tomorrow at 1 p.m., but the weather forecast does not look promising.
Central Michigan Softball Central Michigan at Ball State (Game 1) Mar 23, 2002 at Muncie, Ind. (BSU Softball Complex)
Central Michigan 4 (11-10,0-1 MAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB------------------------------------------------------MANSON, Becky ss......... 3 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 0SOBECK, Christin rf...... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1BRANDER, Michelle 3b..... 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0SKUTA, Jennifer lf....... 4 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 1HORVATH, Lindsay c....... 3 0 1 0 0 0 15 0 0HAMILTON, Sarah cf....... 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 4MCCORMACK, Karly 1b...... 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 LUPLOW, Melissa pr...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0BURZYNSKI, Devon dh...... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 AULT, Ari dh............ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1PUCHALSKI, Amber p....... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 WHITE, Kristen ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 STEPHENS, Wendy p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0DE LA VEGA, Natalie 2b... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0Totals................... 29 4 7 3 3 13 20 1 10
Ball State 5 (9-8,1-0 MAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB------------------------------------------------------BURDINE, Kris rf......... 5 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 2LUDWIG, Angie 2b......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0SHEA, Katie ss........... 2 1 2 1 1 0 1 2 0HJELMELAND, Ruth cf...... 4 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 3BUCKLEY, Lyndsay dh...... 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 3 LAZAR, Angie dh......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0OREL, Ali lf............. 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 CAMPBELL, Janice ph..... 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0LIVELY, Carrie 3b........ 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 2 2MARTIN, Robin 1b......... 4 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 0CLARK, Britni c.......... 4 1 1 1 0 1 12 3 1FREESE, Randi p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 WINGER, Cortney p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Totals................... 29 5 8 5 6 14 21 7 12
Score by Innings R H E-----------------------------------------Central Michigan.... 002 110 0 - 4 7 2Ball State.......... 001 010 3 - 5 8 3-----------------------------------------
Note: 2 outs, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - BRANDER(3), MCCORMACK(4), HJELMELAND, OREL, LIVELY. LOB - Chippewas 10,Cardinals 12. 2B - MANSON(8), BRANDER(2), BURDINE 2, SHEA 2, LIVELY. 3B -BRANDER(1), SKUTA(1). HBP - HORVATH, BURZYNSKI, LUDWIG. SH - SOBECK(2),SHEA. CS - HORVATH(3).
Central Michigan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF-----------------------------------------------PUCHALSKI, Amber.... 6.2 7 5 5 6 14 28 36STEPHENS, Wendy..... 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Ball State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF-----------------------------------------------FREESE, Randi....... 5.0 7 4 2 1 10 23 27WINGER, Cortney..... 2.0 0 0 0 2 3 6 8
Win - WINGER (5-2). Loss - PUCHALSKI (5-4). Save - None.HBP - by FREESE (HORVATH), by PUCHALSKI (LUDWIG), by FREESE (BURZYNSKI). PB -HORVATH(5), CLARK 2.Umpires - Home:Bryan Smith 1st:Kevin Haun 3rd:Mark Henry
Central Michigan Softball Central Michigan at Ball State (Game 2) Mar 23, 2002 at Muncie, Ind. (BSU Softball Complex)
Central Michigan 1 (12-10,1-1 MAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB------------------------------------------------------MANSON, Becky ss......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 5 0HAMILTON, Sarah cf....... 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0BRANDER, Michelle c...... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2SKUTA, Jennifer lf....... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0HORVATH, Lindsay 1b...... 3 0 0 0 0 1 13 0 0STEPHENS, Wendy p........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0SOBECK, Christin rf...... 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0AULT, Ari 3b............. 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0DE LA VEGA, Natalie 2b... 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 MCCORMACK, Karly ph..... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0Totals................... 22 1 2 1 2 4 21 16 2
Ball State 0 (9-9,1-1 MAC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB------------------------------------------------------BURDINE, Kris rf......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0LUDWIG, Angie 2b......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0SHEA, Katie ss........... 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 1 2BUCKLEY, Lyndsay dh...... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 LAZAR, Angie pr......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0LIVELY, Carrie 3b........ 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0HJELMELAND, Ruth cf...... 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0OREL, Ali lf............. 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SNYDER, Mandy ph/lf..... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0MARTIN, Robin 1b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 3CLARK, Britni c.......... 3 0 3 0 0 0 5 1 0BROWNFIELD, Amy p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 WINGER, Cortney p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0Totals................... 26 0 6 0 1 0 21 10 8
Score by Innings R H E-----------------------------------------Central Michigan.... 000 001 0 - 1 2 2Ball State.......... 000 000 0 - 0 6 1-----------------------------------------
E - HORVATH, DE LA VEGA, OREL. DP - Cardinals 1. LOB - Chippewas 2,Cardinals 8. SH - BURDINE, LIVELY. CS - BRANDER, CLARK.
Central Michigan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF-----------------------------------------------STEPHENS, Wendy..... 7.0 6 0 0 1 0 26 29
Ball State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF-----------------------------------------------BROWNFIELD, Amy..... 3.0 1 0 0 0 3 9 9WINGER, Cortney..... 4.0 1 1 0 2 1 13 15
Win - STEPHENS (2-3). Loss - WINGER (5-3). Save - None.PB - BRANDER.Umpires - Home:Kevin Haun 1st:Mark Henry 3rd:Bryan SmithStart: 4:55 Time: 1:25 Attendance: 112
