Softball Opens Play in ECU Pirate Invitational Friday

Ball State vs. Canisius
Friday, Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State at ECU
Friday, Feb. 23, 3 p.m.
Live Video (Free) | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State vs. Saint Francis
Saturday, Feb. 24, 10 a.m.
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State at ECU
Saturday, Feb. 24, 12:30 p.m.
Live Video (Free) | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State vs. Canisius
Sunday, Feb. 25, 9 a.m.
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

ECU PIRATE INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

- The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday, when it opens play in the ECU Pirate Invitational with games versus Canisius (12:30 p.m.) and tournament host ECU (3 p.m.) ... The Cardinals play Saint Francis (10 a.m.) and have a rematch with the Pirates (12:30 p.m.) Saturday, before closing the event Sunday with a second game against the Golden Griffins (9 a.m.).

- Fans unable to attend this weekend's games can follow the action with live stats for all five games, as well as FREE live video for both of the Cardinals' games versus ECU ... All links can be found on the Ball State softball schedule page at: http://ballstatesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball ... Fans can also follow @BallStateSB on twitter for game updates throughout the season.

- Ball State is 6-1 all-time versus teams in the ECU Pirate Invitational ... The Cardinals won the only meeting with Canisius by a score of 6-0 on March 11, 2003 ... Ball State is 4-1 all-time against ECU, including a 2-0 record in Greenville ... In the latest meeting with the Pirates, the Cardinals claimed a 7-2 neutral site victory March 7, 1997 ... Ball State topped Saint Francis 2-1 on Feb. 24, 2008 in the only previous meeting between the two teams ... A complete breakdown of the all-time series can be found on page four of this release.

- SCOUTING CANISIUS: The Golden Griffins enter the ECU Pirate Invitational with a 1-8 overall record, with its lone win being a 4-3 victory over Robert Morris (Feb. 11) ... Canisius opened the season with an 8-0 (6) loss to Mid-American Conference member Bowling Green (Feb. 10) ... Ashley Barnett leads the Golden Griffins with a .267 batting average and has two of the team's seven RBI on the year ... Emily Nicosia has Canisius' lone win in the circle and paces the team's three starting pitchers with a 2.75 ERA over 20.1 innings of work ... As a team, the Golden Griffins have a .190 batting average, a 3.34 ERA and a .937 fielding percentage.

-SCOUTING ECU: The Pirates enter their second consecutive home tournament with a 6-4 overall record ... At least weekend's Pirate Clash, ECU went 4-1 with its lone loss coming in the tournament finale by a score of 6-5 to UMBC ... Olivia Narron leads the Pirates with a .313 batting average and a .389 on base percentage, while Tate McClellan has a team-high nine hits ... Erin Poepping has started six games in the circle for ECU and owns a 3-1 record ... Poepping has produced a 2.42 ERA over 34.2 innings of work and has struck out a team-high 19 batters ... As a team, the Pirates have a .224 batting average, a 2.40 ERA and a .957 fielding percentage.

-SCOUTING SAINT FRANCIS: The Red Flash enter the ECU Pirate Invitational with a 5-5 record, including wins over Georgia State (8-1) and Maryland (1-0) in its final two games at the Auburn Tiger Invitational last weekend ... Mikayla Bower has a team-high .406 batting average, with three doubles and a pair of home runs ... Kassidy Troxell and Madison Cabell are tied for the team-lead with nine RBIs and four home runs apiece ... In the circle, Abby Trahan has thrown 46.0 of 68.1 innings for the Red Flash, producing a 3-4 record, a 3.20 ERA and 40 strikeouts ... Adrian Smith has thrown the other 22.1 innings and boasts a 2-1 record and 1.88 ERA ... As a team, Saint Francis has a .219 batting average, a 2.77 ERA and a .947 fielding percentage.

BALL STATE PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Ball State's 5-2 start to the season is the program's best since 2014 ... That year, the Cardinals finished the season with a 33-19 overall mark and won the MAC regular season title with a 12-4 league ledger ... It was Ball State's third straight MAC regular season title.

- Despite having a pair of games canceled due to weather at last week's Troy Cox Classic, the Ball State softball program is on pace to start the 2018 season with the longest stretch of road games in program history ... The Cardinals' first 34 games of the season, 35 if you count the exhibition contest versus the Czech Republic, will be played on the road ... Ball State played a program-record 32 straight road games to open the 2016 season, while starting the 2012 campaign with 31 straight road games ... The Cardinals played 30 consecutive road games to open the 2017 season before its first game at the Softball Field at the First Merchants Softball Complex.

- Ball State softball enters the ECU Pirate Invitational with a 978-1021-4 (.489) all-time record ... Established as a varsity program in 1975, Ball State has won five MAC regular season titles (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014), six MAC West Division crowns (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), three MAC Tournament championships (1998, 2010 and 2015) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times (1998, 2010 and 2015).

- Opening weekend saw the Cardinals play the 2,000th game in program history, earning a 5-1 win over Georgetown (Feb. 10).

- Over the past nine seasons, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 131-57 (.697) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the past nine seasons at 126-64 (.663), while Miami is third at 119-77 (.607) ... Ball State boasts a 403-410-1 (.496) all-time MAC record in 35 years.

- Junior pitcher Aeshia Miles was named MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career after leading the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over New Mexico State (Feb. 17) last Saturday ... In picking up her first complete game win of the season, and the third of her career, Miles limited a potent Aggies offense to seven hits and a pair of earned runs, while striking out five ... NM State, which received votes in both national polls entering the game, was averaging 11 hits and eight runs per game prior to Miles' performance.

- It's been an interesting career for Aeshia Miles, who was originally recruited as a fielder ... In fact, Miles has earned 65 starts at eight different positions over her Ball State career; 22 (3B), 17 (2B), nine (P), six (LF), five (RF), four (1B), one (CF) and one (DP) ... She made her first career pitching appearance in the 2017 season opener versus DePaul (Feb. 10), starting the game in left field before entering the circle to throw the final two innings and earn her first career save.

- Sophomore slugger Janae Hogg had quite a day for the Cardinals last Saturday at the Troy Cox Classic, blasting game-winning home runs in the wins over Boston College (Feb. 17) and New Mexico State (Feb. 17) ... Hogg's first game-winning blast was a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth to give the Cardinals a 6-5 edge versus the Terriers, who had pulled ahead 5-4 with three runs in the top of the frame ... After the Aggies pulled ahead 2-0 in the top of the third in the nightcap, Hogg's second home run of the day capped a three-run bottom of the third for the Cardinals, leading to the eventual 3-2 victory.

- Janae Hogg leads Ball State's active players with eight career game-winning RBIs, including her two in the Troy Cox Classic ... Of her eight game-winning RBI, four have come via the long ball; vs. Miami (April 2, 2017), at Northern Illinois (April 4, 2017), vs. Boston University (Feb. 17. 2018) and at New Mexico State (Feb. 17, 2018).

- The Cardinals enter the ECU Pirate Classic with two of the top four sluggers in the league this season ... Janae Hogg tops the MAC with a 1.053 slugging percentage, with her three home runs and two doubles helping her compile 20 total bases in 19 at bats ... Sophomore Kennedy Wynn is fourth in the league with a .944 slugging percentage, with her three home runs and two doubles helped her tally 17 total bases in 18 at bats.

- Kennedy Wynn became only the third player in program history to record three home runs on an opening weekend for the Cardinals when she blasted two home runs versus Georgetown (Feb. 10) and one versus FGCU (Feb. 11) at the FGCU Kickoff Classic ... Jen Reifschneider was the first with three long balls on opening weekend in 2009, while Ball State's all-time home runs leader Jennifer Gilbert started the 2013 season with three bombs opening weekend.

- Ball State's pitching staff has picked up right where it left off in 2017, combining for a 2.13 ERA so far in 2018 ... All three Ball State pitchers have an ERA of 2.62-or-better, led by sophomore Alyssa Rothwell's 1.27 mark ... Ball State's staff finished the 2017 campaign with a 2.99 ERA, the program's best mark since the 2013 squad finished the year with a 2.74 ERA.

- As a staff, Ball State's pitchers have issued just 12 walks this season, which is the 36th-lowest total among NCAA Division I program ... Junior Aeshia Miles ranks second in the MAC and 83rd nationally with a 1.11 walks allowed per seven innings average.

- With three pitching wins so far this season, senior Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 27 ... Her 27 wins are tied for 12th in program history and leave her three shy of breaking into the top 10 ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 85 wins, while only six pitchers have reached 40 wins in program history.

- With her 12 strikeouts so far this season, Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 221 which is 12th in program history ... Wilmes needs nine more strikeouts to move into the top 10 in program history ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 762 strikeouts, while only seven pitchers have reached 300 strikeouts in program history.

- Ball State's batters have also picked up where they left off last season, drawing 30 walks so far this season, which ranks second in the MAC and 56th nationally ... Kennedy Wynn leads the Cardinals with six walks, while Janae Hogg and Hailey Demnianiuk have four each ... In all, 11 of the 14 Ball State batters to step in the box this season have drawn at least one walk ... Last season, the Cardinals ranked second in the MAC and 32nd nationally with 197 walks.

Softball Opens Play in ECU Pirate Invitational Friday

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Players Mentioned

Hailey Demnianiuk

Janae Hogg

Aeshia Miles

Alyssa Rothwell

Carolyn Wilmes

Kennedy Wynn