AKRON, Ohio -- The fourth-seeded Ball State Cardinals defeated the fifth-seeded Akron Zips, 9-1, in the opening game of the 2025 Mid-American Conference Softball Championship at Firestone Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
With the win, the Cardinals will play the top-seeded Miami RedHakws on Thursday, May 8 at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The Zips return to the turf on Wednesday evening against the loser of No. 3 Central Michigan and No. 6 Northern Illinois at 5:30 p.m. ET.
After Akron scored on a throwing error in the top of the third, Ball State responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning before tacking on a pair of runs in the fifth to jump to out a 4-1 advantage.