Softball Travels to Bowling Green to Open MAC Play

• The Ball State softball teams opens the 2018 Mid-American Conference season with a weekend series at Bowling Green ... There teams are currently scheduled to play a single game Friday (3 p.m.) and a doubleheader Saturday (1 p.m.) at Meserve Field.

• Fans unable to attend this weekend's games can follow the action with live stats at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/ballstate/softball/ ... Fans can also follow @BallStateSB on twitter for game updates throughout the season.

• SERIES VERSUS BOWLING GREEN: While Ball State has won the last seven games versus the Falcons, BGSU maintains a 49-40 advantage in the all-time series ... Despite being the second closest MAC program to Ball State, the two teams have not meet since the 2015 season when the Cardinals picked up a 5-0 victory April 11, followed by a 9-0 (5) win April 12 ... Overall, the last four games in the series have been played at Bowling Green and the Cardinals are 18-20 all-time on the road in the series ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons enter the week with a 16-10 overall record after going 3-1 last weekend in Nashville ... While the Cardinals were playing at the Belmont/Tennessee State Invitational, the Falcons were at Lipscomb and split a pair of games versus the Lady Bisons while sweeping a pair of games versus IUPUI ... Aspen Searle leads Bowling Green with a .407 batting average and has scored a team-high 23 runs ... She has also produced eight doubles, two triples, five home runs and 14 RBIs ... Kali Holcomb is not far behind, with a .370 batting average, 20 runs scored and team-highs of six home runs and 29 RBIs ... In the circle, Meredith Miller boasts a team-best 2.34 ERA and an 8-4 record ... She has thrown 83.2 innings and leads the MAC with 102 strikeouts ... As a team, the Falcons have a .323 batting average, a 2.81 ERA and a .965 fielding percentage.

BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• When Ball State and Bowling Green square off for the first time Friday, it will be the best two pitching staffs in the MAC battling the top two hitting teams in the league ... The Cardinals lead the MAC with a 2.68 team ERA, while the Falcons are second at 2.81 ... Bowling Green paces the conference with a .323 team batting average, while Ball State is second at .296.

• Another thing both teams have in common; the long ball ... Ball State leads the MAC with 27 home runs this season, while Bowling Green is right behind at 26 ... Both teams have had eight different players log at least one home run this year, with Cardinals sophomore slugger Janae Hogg pacing the MAC and ranking 14th nationally with 10 home runs.

• With the two teams having not played since the 2015 season, only one player on the Ball State roster has seen action against Bowling Green ... As a freshman, Carolyn Wilmes pitched the first 4.2 innings of Ball State's 9-0 (5) win at BGSU on April 12, 2015 ... She limited the Falcons to three hits and a walk, while striking out two of the 20 batters she faced.

• Ball State's 18-9 start to the season is the program's best since the 2012 squad went 19-8 over the first 27 games ... The Cardinals finished the 2012 season with a 40-15 overall record and won the MAC regular season title with a 17-3 league ledger ... It was Ball State's first of three straight MAC regular season titles.

• The Ball State softball program is on pace to start the 2018 season with the longest stretch of road games in program history ... With the postponement of Wednesday's game at Butler, the Cardinals' first 33 games of the season are scheduled to 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 Friday's game at Bowling Green with a 991-1028-4 (.491) 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.

• Senior second baseman Maddy Labrador was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week after leading the Ball State with a .533 batting average at the Belmont/Tennessee State Invitational ... Of her team-high eight hits at the event, three were home runs and two were doubles ... She also led the team in runs scored (7), RBI (9) and slugging percentage (1.267) at the tournament.

• Ball State has claimed six of the 12 possible MAC West Division weekly awards so far this season ... Sophomore Haley Dominique has been named the MAC West Division Player of the Week twice, while junior Aeshia Miles has earned MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week accolades two times ... Sophomore Kennedy Wynn and senior Maddy Labrador have each earned one player of the week honor this season.

• Ball State scored a season-high 15 runs and produced a season-best 19 hits in last Saturday's win over St. Bonaventure (March 17) ... The previous season bests were set early in the day with 14 runs and 16 hits against Tennessee State (March 17) ... Ball State's 19 hits versus the Bonnies were the most in a game since the Cardinals tallied 20 in a 19-9 (5) home victory over Indiana (April 21, 2015).

• The Cardinals finished last Saturday with a .565 team batting average ... 13 of the 14 players who logged an at bat recording at least one hit on the day, with 10 players producing at least two ... Freshman third baseman Stacy Payton and Maddy Labrador led the offense with five hits apiece, with each blasting two home runs ... Freshman center fielder Katie Janiga had the best average on the day, at .750 (3-for-4), including her first career multiple hit game versus St. Bonaventure ... Both of Janiga's hits in the game were singles up the middle in the seven-run third inning.

• Stacy Payton entered last Saturday's games with just six RBIs on the year ... She more than doubled that total with her combined seven RBIs in the wins over Tennessee State and St. Bonaventure ... Payton opened the day with her first career home run, a three-run blast in the first inning versus the Tigers ... She added a solo shot in the third inning of the game, while producing a RBI groundout in the fourth ... In the win over the Bonnies, Payton started the game with a two-run single in the first, and after singling in the second and walking in the third, capped her weekend with a RBI double in the fourth.

• Ball State's 29 combined runs versus Tennessee State and St. Bonaventure are the most for the Cardinals in back-to-back games since 2013 when the team scored a 20-3 win over Grambing State (Feb. 22) and a 9-3 victory over Northern Iowa (Feb. 23) ... Throw in Ball State's 11-3 (5) win over Rhode Island last Friday and the 40 combined runs are the most for the Cardinals in three consecutive games since the same 2013 season when Ball State followed the UNI game with a 14-0 (5) win over Akransas-Pine Bluff (Feb. 23) for 43 runs in a three-game span.

• Ball State's pitching staff enters the week ranked first in the MAC with a 2.68 team ERA ... Sophomore Alyssa Rothwell leads the squad with a 2.06 ERA over 37.1 innings, while junior Aeshia Miles is right behind at 2.09 over a team-leading 83.2 innings of work ... Carolyn Wilmes is at 3.88 over 56.0 innings.

• Aeshia Miles leads the MAC with nine pitching wins this season, which is as many or more than five other league schools; Central Michigan (9), Buffalo (8), Northern Illinois (8), Eastern Michigan (4) and Akron (1).

• Aeshia Miles earned her first career no-hitter in Ball State's 8-0 (6) victory over Robert Morris (March 2) ... She retired the first 17 batters she faced before issuing a two-out, sixth-inning walk to spoil the perfect game ... She responded by inducing a groundout to herself for the final out to also lock up her first career complete game shutout ... Miles also joined Alyssa Rothwell in a combined no-hitter versus St. Bonaventure (March 17) ... Miles threw the first 3.0 innings with the only baserunners coming from a pair of Ball State errors ... Rothwell pitch the final two, with her only baserunner coming via a walk.

• Aeshia Miles has been one of the top strikeout pitchers in the league this season, ranking third in the MAC and 95th nationally with 72 strikeouts ... Miles struck out a career-high 14 batters in a one-hit, 1-0 victory over Niagara (March 4), while striking out 10 batters in the team's 5-3 win at FAU (March 8) ... She has chalked up at least five strikeouts in eight of her 14 starts this season.

• It's been an interesting career for Aeshia Miles, who was originally recruited as a fielder ... In fact, Miles has earned 76 starts at eight different positions over her Ball State career; 22 (3B), 20 (P), 17 (2B), 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.

• A two-time MAC West Division Player of the Week, sophomore left fielder Haley Dominique leads the Ball State offense and ranks sixth in the MAC with a .393 batting average ... Dominique has scored a team-high 23 runs this season and is third on the team with 22 RBIs ... She tallied Ball State's first triple of the season versus Fordham (March 2) and hit the Cardinals' first grand slam of the year against Robert Morris (March 2).

• A .327 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the week ranked fifth in program history with a .441 career on base percentage, including a .476 mark so far this season ... Dominique has reached base safely in 23 of Ball State's 26 games this season which includes a string of 12 straight games starting versus Boston University (Feb. 17) and ending after the win over Virginia Tech (March 6).

• Sophomore slugger Janae Hogg enters the weekend ranked first in the MAC and 14th nationally with 10 home runs ... She has hit a home run in five of Ball State's last seven games, including driving in what proved to be the game-winning run in a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Florida A&M (March 9).

• In fact, of Janae Hogg's 10 home runs this season, three have driven in what stood to be the game-winning run ... Hogg leads Ball State's active players with nine career game-winning RBIs, including her three this season ... Five of her nine career game-winning RBIs have come via the long ball; vs. Miami (April 2, 2017), at Northern Illinois (April 4, 2017), vs. Boston University (Feb. 17. 2018); at New Mexico State (Feb. 17, 2018) and vs. Florida A&M (March 9, 2018).

• Janae Hogg's 10 home runs tie as the 12th-best single season total in program history ... She is currently on pace to finish the regular season with 20 home runs which would be the second-best single season total in program history ... Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) holds the season-season record with 23 home runs in 2013 ... In addition, Hogg's 15 career home runs are tied for 11th in program history and are four shy of breaking into the top 10.

• 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 (2009-10) was the first with three long balls on opening weekend in 2009, while Ball State's all-time home runs leader Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) started the 2013 season with three bombs opening weekend.

• Sophomore pitcher Alyssa Rothwell made history at the ECU Pirate Invitational, becoming the first Ball State player to record three saves in a single weekend ... In fact, Cardinals' pitchers had only earned three -or-more saves in a season eight times prior to Rothwell breaking onto the scene ... The program record for saves in a season is five set by Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) in 2008 ... With her four saves so far this season, Rothwell joins Milian as only the second Ball State player to have more than three saves in a season ... Add her three saves as a freshman and Rothwell's seven career saves are two shy of the program record of nine held by Nicole Steinbach (2013-16).

• With seven pitching wins so far this season, Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 31 ... Her 31 wins are 10th in program history and two shy of Kim Mazzapica's (2009-12) career total of 33 for ninth ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 85 wins, while only six pitchers have reached 40 wins at Ball State.

• With her 51 strikeouts so far this season, Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 260 which is ninth in program history ... Wilmes needs 22 more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) career total of 281 for eighth on Ball State's all-time list ... 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 drawn 101 walks so far this season, which ranks first in the MAC and 20th nationally ... Janae Hogg leads the Cardinals and is also first in the MAC with 20 walks, while Haley Dominique, Hailey Demnianiuk and Kennedy Wynn are tied for eighth in the league with 12 walks apiece ... The total already ranks as the 17th-best single season mark in program history ... The program record for walks in a season is 238 set by the 2008 squad, while last season's squad is third on the list with 197.

Players Mentioned

Hailey Demnianiuk

Haley Dominique

Janae Hogg

Katie Janiga

Maddy Labrador

Aeshia Miles

Stacy Payton

Alyssa Rothwell

Carolyn Wilmes

Kennedy Wynn

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