Ball State University Athletics
Softball Travels To MT Strikeout Breast Cancer Classic
February 22, 2007 | Softball
TOURNAMENT INFO
The Ball State softball team will travel to Middle Tennessee State to compete in the MT Strikeout Breast Cancer Classic . . . BSU comes into the tournament with a 2-3 overall record . . . Other teams in the tournament include Middle Tennessee State (3-7), Bellmont (1-3) Morehead State (1-3) and Tennessee State (5-0).
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ball State left the Lion Softball Scramble with a 2-3 overall record . . . Junior Abby Gross led the offense with a batting average of .467 (7-for-15), three runs and two RBIs off of her two home runs . . . Freshman Elizabeth Milian impacted the tournament both on the mound and at the plate . . . Milian comes away from first tournament of the year batting .333 (5-for15) with three runs, a double, a home run and four RBIs . . . On the mound, Milian went 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA. . . . Amanda Pick led all BSU pitchers with a 1.79 ERA and 15 strikeouts . . . Pick contributed at the plate with a .175 batting average, one home run and two RBIs.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
The Tigers are led by Erin Finneran's .412 batting average and seven RBIs . . . Finneran has seven hits on the season, including one double and one home run . . . Tennessee State has two weapons on the mound in Candace Hildebrand and Amanda Vaught . . . Heldebrand is 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA . . . She has pitched 16 innings and has recorded 12 strikeouts . . . Vaught is also 2-0 with an ERA of 0.44 . . . She has recorded 28 strikeouts in 16 innings . . . This game will be the first meeting between Tennessee State and Ball State.
ABOUT THE BLUE RAIDERS
The Blue Raiders enter the MT Strikeout Breast Cancer Classic with a 3-7 overall record . . . Whitney Darlington leds MTSU with a .429 batting average, one single, one triple, two home runs and 10 RBIs . . . Katie Mielke contributes to the offense by batting .290 with nine runs, two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs . . . On the mound, the Blue Raiders are led by Lindsay Vander Lugt, who has pitched 38 innings while recording 20 strikeouts . . . Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series 2-1.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
Belmont enters the tournament with a 1-3 overall record . . . Sarah Vaughn leads the Bruins at the plate with a .333 batting average . . . Vaughn has two runs scored, a home run and three RBIs . . . Heather Grossnickle recorded the team's only win with a 10.50 ERA, while Sammi Parks leads the team with a 9.24 ERA and seven strikeouts . . . This game marks the first contest between Belmont and Ball State.
ABOUT THE EAGLES
The 1-3 Eagles are led by Brandy Bucher . . . Bucher leads the team with a .308 batting average, three doubles and three RBIs . . . Kari Quinn starts the season with a 1.70 ERA . . . Quinn has recorded 17 strikeouts in just 12 innings pitched . . . This will be the first meeting between Ball State and Morehead State.
HOME RUN WATCH
The Cardinals are only five games into the season, but after recording nine home runs in their first tournament, the team is chasing the BSU single-season home run record . . . The record stands at 18 set by the 2005 team.
STEALING THE SHOW
The Cardinals stole 15 bases during the Lion Softball Scramble . . . Last year's team only stole 16 baeses the entire season . . . At the current rate BSU should challenge the school record of 98 stolen bases in a single season (1991).
GROSS DIGS THE LONG BALL
Junior Abby Gross hit two home runs in the first tournament of the season for the Cardinals . . . Gross currently ranks second all-time for career home runs with nine . . . The record stands at 12 by Ruth Hjelmeland during 2000-03.
13 STRONG
The 2007 Ball State team is complete with only 13 players. . . The team looks for leadership from the two seniors, Kelli Jeziorski and Taylor Yancey . . . Ball State's juniors make huge impacts as Abby Gross leads the team from behind the plate with a .467 batting average . . . Amanda Pick controls the mound with a 1.79 ERA.
AROUND THE BASES
“Around the Bases with Coach Craig Nicholson” will be on Monday nights starting at 7 p.m. . . . The show will begin March 26th and will continue to the end of the season . . . Join first-year head coach Craig Nicholson as he will recap games and discuss future opponents during the show . . . The show can be heard on WCRD 91.3 FM in Muncie and at www.ballstatesports.com
WCRD RADIO
The WCRD Radio Broadcast team will air over 20 Ball State softball games this season . . . The first game will be March 8th, in a doubleheader versus IUPUI starting at 2 p.m. . . . The games can be heard on WCRD 91.3 FM in Munice and at www.ballstatesports.com
UP NEXT
Ball State will compete in the SIU Tournament March 3-4 . . . The Cardinals will face Western Illinois and Southern Illinois on Friday, while playing Ohio University and Indiana on Saturday.
