Alec Runyan / Ball State Sports Link
Ball State Athletics was firing on all cylinders this past week as MAC Champions were crowned and others earn a chance to compete for one.
Here’s this week’s “Cardinals In The Crowd.”
Hadley Moritz – Women’s Golf
The Ball State women’s golf team took home first place out of the 15 team field at Bowling Green’s Dolores Black Falcon Invitational.
Led by junior Hadley Moritz (+4), the Cardinals had three golfers finish in the top five helping them comeback from a seven-stroke deficit heading into Sunday. BSU was chasing host Bowling Green in rough conditions for the final round but managed to prevail and run away with a 10-stroke victory.
Moritz finished in third with a final score of 148 (72-76), followed by teammates Liz Kim and Kiah Parrott who both tied for fifth with scores of 150.
After defeating 7 MAC teams this past weekend, the Cardinals look to continue that trend as they now prepare for the MAC Championships on April 23-24.
Blake Reardon – Men’s Volleyball
BSU men’s volleyball took down rival Ohio State 3-1 in the quarter-final round of the MIVA Tournament to advance to their first semi-final since 2017.
Graduate senior Blake Reardon led Ball State with 19 kills including a couple momentum changing finishes down the stretch.
Reardon also made the most of his opportunities finishing the match with a season-high .500 hitting percentage.
The four seeded Cardinals will now take on the tournament favorite Lewis on the road this Saturday, April 17 at 8 p.m.
Hunter Ongay – Men’s Diving
Ball State men’s swimming and diving competed at the MAC Championships in Miami (Ohio) this past weekend.
Junior diver Hunter Ongay had a terrific weekend winning becoming Ball State’s first MAC diving champion since 1998.
Ongay finished in first place on the 3-meter board with a score of 310.55 and took home second place on the 1-meter board scoring a 298.55.
Following his first place finish Saturday, Ongay was awarded the MAC’s Most Outstanding Diver and All-MAC First Team honors as well.
Jenna Dombrowski – Soccer
The Cardinals’ soccer team had two must win games this week in order to reach the MAC Championship game.
After defeating Norther Illinois 1-0 Thursday, BSU faced Eastern Michigan in a game that would determine who would take on Bowling Green for the MAC title.
Despite cold and rainy conditions, junior Jenna Dombrowski got off to a quick start. In the 19th minute, Dombrowski sent in a deflected pass to give Ball State the early lead. Dombrowski would score her second goal of the game four minutes into the second half, giving the Cards all the momentum they needed.
Eastern would come back to score one goal in the 81st minute but it was too little too late and the Cardinals would go on to win 2-1 and take home the MAC West Championship.
BSU heads to MAC East champ Bowling Green for the MAC Championship this Saturday, April 17 beginning at 7 p.m.
Haley Wynn – Softball
Ball State softball continued their winning streak by sweeping Kent State in a three-game series, due to Sunday to being rained out.
Sophomore Haley Wynn went 5-10 with four RBIs and a walk-off home run in Saturday’s first game.
With BSU down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, two outs and runners on second and third, Wynn lifted a 3-2 pitch into straightaway center field and over the fence to give the Cardinals their 11th straight conference win.
Ball State will take on Butler this Tuesday, April 13 for a one-game series first pitch at 4 p.m.
