Ball State University Athletics
Softball Travels To Compete In The Hawkeye Classic
March 23, 2007 | Softball
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT
The Ball State softball team will travel to Iowa City, Iowa to compete in the Hawkeye Classic. . . The Iowa Hawkeyes(18-13) will host a five team tournament including North Dakota State (18-15), South Dakota State (9-13) and Northern Illinois (8-9).
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ball State left the USF Speedline Tournament with a 1-3 record and a 7-14 overall mark . . . The Cardinals broke the single-season team home run record against Jacksonville recording their 19th of the year . . . Abby Gross leads Ball State with a .369 batting average and 16 RBI . . . Allie Pennock is batting .265 on the year and has a team high 17 steals . . . Elizabeth Milian and Amanda Pick will share a majority of the innings this weekend . . . Pick is 2-6 with seven complete games and 40 strikeouts . . . Milian has 34 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.09.
ABOUT THE BISON
North Dakota State comes into the Hawkeye Classic with an 18-15 overall record. . . Sophomore Kelly Cantrell is hitting .340 with four home runs and 20 RBIs . . . Freshman Melissa Chmielewski leads the team with five doubles and 27 RBIs . . . Allison Bakke has been impressive on the mound early in the season as she has recorded 128 strikeouts in 121 innings pitched . . . Bakke is 10-9 with an ERA of 1.45 . . . The all-time series between Ball State and North Dakota State is tied at 1-1.
ABOUT THE HAWKEYES
Iowa comes into the tournament with an 18-13 overall record . . . The Hawkeyes are led by Emily Nichols . . . Nichols has a .452 batting average, 10 doubles, eight home runs and 27 RBIs . . . On the mound Stephanie Ackerson is 9-5 with an ERA of 1.71 . . . She has 70 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched . . . Amanda Zust leads the team in strikeouts with 94 . . . Zust is 7-6 with an ERA of 2.95 . . . Iowa leads the all-time series 12-0.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
The Huskies are 8-9 overall . . . Sophomore Randi Kreiter is batting .373 with four doubles, two home runs and a team high 13 RBIs . . . On the mound the Huskies look for freshman Kate Greenough to pitch a majority of the innings as she has 10 complete games early in the season . . . Greenough has pitched 77 of Northern Illinois' 105 innings . . . The freshman has earned a record of 6-6 with a 2.79 ERA and 41 strikeouts . . . Northern Illinois leads the all-time series 31-14.
ABOUT THE JACKRABBITS
South Dakota State enters the tournament 9-13 overall . . . The Jackrabbits are led by Steph Kuhl . . . Kuhl has five doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs . . . Samantha Heinzman also contributes by batting .344 with four doubles and 11 RBIs . . . Kim Westendorf leads the team in strikeouts with 56, while Jenna Marston posts the team's best ERA at 3.66 with a record of 5-4 . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 2-0.
HOME RUN RECORD
The Cardinals have broken the single-season team home run record . . . The old record was 18, set by the 2005 team . . . Abby Gross broke the record by hitting a solo home run to left field against the Jacksonville Dolphins.
STEALING THE SHOW
The Cardinals have stolen 70 bases this season . . . Last year's team only stole 16 bases the entire season . . . At the current rate, BSU should break the school record of 98 stolen bases in a single season (1991).
GROSS DIGS THE LONG BALL
Junior Abby Gross currently ranks second all-time for career home runs with 11 . . . The record stands at 12 by Ruth Hjelmeland who played from 2000-03.
FANTASTIC FOUR
Kelli Jeziorski, Taylor Yancey and Abby Gross each have four home runs early in the 2007 season . . . The BSU single-season record for home runs in one season is six by Misty Snider during the 1999 season.
MILIAN ON THE MOUND
Freshman Elizabeth Milian has made an immediate impact for the Cardinals on the mound . . . Milian has started seven games, in six of those games she has gone the distance and pitched all seven innings . . . She has the best record on the team at 4-5, and she posts the best ERA on the team at 3.09.
13 STRONG
The 2007 Ball State team is complete with only 12 players. . . The team looks for leadership from the two seniors, Kelli Jeziorski and Taylor Yancey . . . Elizabeth Milian and Amanda Pick share the workload on the mound as Milian has pitched 67 innings and Pick has thrown for 57.
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 28th, in a game versus Indiana starting at 3 p.m. . . . The games can be heard on WCRD 91.3 FM in Munice and at www.ballstatesports.com.
UP NEXT
Ball State will return to action March 28, to face the Indiana Hoosiers . . . The game against Indiana will be the first home contest for the Cardinals . . . Ball State lost to Indiana 6-2 in the Kay Brechtelsbauer Classic earlier this season in Carbondale, Ill. . . . Indiana leads the all-time series against Ball State 34-23.
