QUICK HITS
- Aly Packish was 1-for-3 with an RBI against Ball State
- Hallie Ward recorded an RBI groundout versus Ball State
- Hanna Griffin was 1-for-2 at the plate against Ball State
- Kelly Hysong and Lindsay Ward also had hits versus Ball State
- Valeri Broschk and Paige Hartley each went 1-for-2 against South Dakota
GAME RECAP
MACON, Ga. -- Cleveland State dropped a pair of games to Ball State and South Dakota on day two of the Mercer Bears Classic on Saturday at Sikes Field. The Vikings lost to Ball State 10-3 and concluded the day with a 9-0 setback against South Dakota.
Cleveland State, which dropped to 5-16 overall, was limited to six hits in the two games.
Cleveland State opened the day with a 10-3 loss to Ball State, which marked the Vikings second loss of the season to the Cardinals.
Aly Packish and Hallie Ward each drove in runs for CSU, while Packish, Hanna Griffin, Kelly Hysong and Lindsay Ward notched hits for the Vikings.
Ball State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Vikings answered in the bottom of the second inning.
Riley Ries drew a leadoff walk to begin the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Griffin. Lindsay Ward reached on a Ball State throwing error which allowed Ries to advance to third and Hallie Ward brought in Ries with an RBI groundout to bring the Vikings to within 3-1.
Ball State stretched the lead of 7-1 before the Vikings scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Valeri Broschk and Mackenzie Tucker drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning and Kelly Hysong followed with a single to load the bases with no outs. CSU pushed across its first run of the inning when Broschk scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 7-2.
Packish then plated the second run of the inning with an RBI groundout that scored Tucker and trimmed the lead to 7-3.
Ball State added a run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh inning to close out the game.
Cleveland State was limited to two hits in its second game of the day against South Dakota. Coyotes starter Dustie Durham also struck out two batters in her five innings of work.
The Vikings got base hits from Broschk and Paige Hartley against South Dakota.
CSU will conclude play in the Mercer Bears Classic against Connecticut at 11:15 a.m. at Sikes Field.
