NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A day after posting a dramatic come-from-behind win in its season opener, the IUPUI softball team couldn't come through with the same late-game heroics on Day 2 of the Music City Classic falling to both Ball State and Lipscomb.
The Jaguars found themselves in another extra inning affair in the opener against the Cardinals only to fall short, 5-4, before dropping an 8-0 decision to Lipscomb to drop to 1-2 on the season.
Against the Cardinals, IUPUI found itself in a one-run hole after the first half-inning, but a three-run second inning propelled the Jags in front. With two outs in the frame and
Eryn Dillon on third base,
Ali Mosier got the Jaguars on the board with a RBI single to even the score. A stolen base from Mosier and a walk to
Sarah Lawrence put runners on first and second, before a successful double steal was executed by the duo. During the play, the throw to try and pick off Mosier escaped from the third baseman allowing Mosier to score and Lawrence to move to third. A
Roni Patterson RBI double then plated Lawrence to finish off the three-run second inning.
The Jaguars were able to tack one more run on the board in the fourth on a
Jazmine Pedrotti pinch-hit RBI single, but that would be the final time IUPUI could get a run across the plate.
Ball State rallied for two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to even the score, but in the sixth
Brooke Boetjer navigated the Jags out of a jam that featured a runner on third with one out to keep the score tied.
After both teams went scoreless in the seventh, the Cardinals were able to regain the lead scoring a run in the eighth. IUPUI had a runner on third with two outs in its half of the eighth, but a pop out gave the Cardinals the victory.
In the finale, miscues put the Jags in a deficit it couldn't overcome and offensively they couldn't put anything together against Lipscomb pitcher Kelly Young.
Five Jaguars errors led to four unearned runs in total for the Bison, while Young kept the IUPUI offense off-balance and finished the five-inning affair without giving up a hit resulting in an 8-0 win for Lipscomb.
IUPUI finishes the 2015 Music City Classic on Sunday, Feb. 8, when it takes on Georgetown at 1 p.m. ET.
