Ball State University Athletics
Cards Face Notre Dame and Wright State
April 18, 2007 | Softball
ABOUT THE GAMES
The Cardinals have an overall record of 15-25 . . . This week the Cardinals have two non-conference opponents on the schedule . . . Ball State will face Notre Dame April 18 at 5 p.m. in South Bend, Ind. . . . BSU will then host Wright State at the BSU Softball Complex April 19 in a doubleheader.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ball State improved to 6-6 in the Mid-American Conference after splitting in MAC play last week 2-2 . . . Abby Gross leads Ball State with a .358 batting average and 29 RBI . . . Allie Pennock is batting .277 on the year and leads the MAC with 21 steals and 31 runs scored . . . Elizabeth Milian and Amanda Pick will share a majority of the innings this week . . . Pick is 4-10 with 11 complete games and 68 strikeouts . . . Milian is 10-12, has a team-high 77 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.99.
ABOUT THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame has an overall record of 22-14 and are 9-1 in Big East play . . . The Fighting Irish most recently swept MAC opponent Western Michigan 9-0 and 5-1 April 17 . . . Heather Johnson had six RBI in the doubleheader against Western Michigan . . . Johnson went 4-for-6 with a home run, a double and two runs scored . . . Katie Laing had four hits, four runs scored, a home run, a double and four RBI . . . This season Johnson is batting .330 with 12 doubles, two home runs and a team-high 31 RBI . . . On the mound, Brittney Bargar leads the Irish with a 1.93 ERA . . . Bargar has a record of 14-7 with 16 complete games and 145 strikeouts . . . In 2006, the Irish defeated the Cardinals by a score of 6-0 . . . Notre Dame leads the all-time series 6-4.
ABOUT THE RAIDERS
Wright State has an overall record of 16-21 coming into Thursday's contest against BSU . . . The Raiders just dropped a pair of games against MAC opponent Miami University 4-2 and 7-0 . . . Kristen Bradshaw is batting .327 with five doubles, two triples, four home runs and 25 RBI . . . Allison Cox is a doulbe threat with a batting average of .244 with five doubles, five home runs and 23 RBI . . . She is also 9-9 on the mound with a 5.65 ERA . . . Jamie Perkins has the best ERA on the team at 3.63 . . . Perkins is 7-12 with 77 strikeouts . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 4-1.
12 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 153 innings and Pick has thrown for 96.
RUNNING OVER THE COMPETITION
Taylor Yancey and Allie Pennock are currently tied for runs scored with 31 . . . The 31 runs scored places them in a four-way tie with Amy Doyle and Kasey Angulo for third all-time in BSU history . . . They each are closing in on the BSU record of 36 held by Heather Hinkle during the 1998 season . . . Yancey and Pennock are also tied for lead in the MAC.
HOME RUN RECORD
The Cardinals have already set 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 March 14 . . . Ball State currently has 29 home runs in 2007.
SWEET SIXTEEN
Ball State trailed Toledo in game two of a doubleheader April 13, 7-1 in the top of the seventh inning . . . Ball State scored 16 runs in the inning to win the game 17-10 . . . Abby Gross hit a grand slam at her first at-bat, then followed with a double . . . Amanda Pick recorded three at-bats during the seventh inning . . . She hit a double during her first at-bat, followed by a two-run home run and finished with another double . . . The Cards recorded 12 hits in the inning; five singles, five doubles and two home runs.
STEALING THE SHOW - CARDS NEED TWO FOR RECORD
The Cardinals have stolen 97 bases this season . . . Last year's team only stole 16 bases the entire season . . . BSU is two stolen bases away from the school record of 98 stolen bases in a single season (1991).
MILIAN MOWS DOWN BIG TEN
Freshman Elizabeth Milian is 2-1 against Big Ten opponents in 2007 . . . Milian faced the Wisconsin Badgers in Tampa, Fla. while pitching in the USF Speedline Tournament . . . Milian threw a one-hitter to shut out the Badgers and give Ball State a 3-0 win . . . The Cardinals had Milian on the mound for thier home opener against Indiana . . . Against the Hoosiers, Milian threw another one-hitter and allowed the Cardinals to win 8-0.
JEZIORSKI BREAKS SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN RECORD
Kelli Jeziorski hit her seventh home run of the year against Michigan April 10. . . The solo home run by Jeziorski broke the individual single-season home run record . . . The BSU single-season record for home runs in one season was previously six, held by Misty Snider during the 1999 season.
YANCEY ALSO BREAKS SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN RECORD
Taylor Yancey hit a home run in each game against Toledo April 13 to also take her season total to seven . . . Her second home run placed her into a tie with teammate Kelli Jeziorski for the individual single-seaon home run record.
SPEAKING OF HOME RUNS, JEZIORSKI TIES CAREER HOME RUN RECORD
Kelli Jeziorski's solo home run against Michigan April 10, places her in a tie for the BSU career home run record with 12 . . . Jeziorski had three home runs in 2005 and two in 2006 . . . Her mark of seven this year breaks the single-season home run record . . . The BSU career record stands at 12 by Ruth Hjelmeland who played from 2000-03.
GROSS TIES CAREER HOME RUN RECORD
Abby Gross hit a grand slam against Toledo April 13 to record her fifth home run of the season and her 12th of her career placing her in a three way tie for the BSU career home run record . . . Gross had two home runs in 2005 and five in 2006.
MILIAN ON THE MOUND
Freshman Elizabeth Milian has made an immediate impact for the Cardinals on the mound . . . Milian has started 20 games . . . In 18 of those games, she has gone the distance and pitched all seven innings . . . She has the best record on the team at 10-12 and posts the best ERA on the team at 2.99.
NEW AND IMPROVED
Under first year head coach Craig Nicholson the Cardinals have already recorded more overall wins in 2007 than they did in 2006 . . . After sweeping Toldeo, the Cardinal's MAC record is .500, currently at 6-6 . . . Last year's team only recorded six MAC wins all year.
HOME SWEET HOME
The game March 28 against Indiana marked the first home game of the season for Ball State . . . The Cardinals will end the season playing 14 out of the last 15 games at the BSU Softball Complex . . . The Cardinals start their home stretch on April 19, in a doubleheader against Wright State . . . The season finale will be against Buffalo on May 6 . . . The only game Ball State has between those dates not at home is April 24 at Butler . . . In 2006, the Cardinals' last eight games of the season were away.
GROSS CHASES BSU RBI SINGLE-SEASON RECORD
Abby Gross recorded five RBIs against Toledo April 13 and one against Bowling Green April 15 to take her seaon total to 29 . . . Her 29 RBIs currently puts her in a tie for fifth-place for the BSU record . . . Amy Doyle holds the BSU single-season RBI record with 38.
SEND HER HOME
The Cardinals have scored 163 runs in 2007 . . . In 2006, Ball State only had one player score over 20 runs and ended the year with 98 total . . . This year's team has two players with 30-or-more runs scored and five players with 10-or-more . . . The BSU record is 214, set by the 1998 team.
UP NEXT
Ball State will host the Miami Redhawks in a Mid-American Conference game at the BSU Softball Complex April 21at 2 p.m. . . . The Cards will play the Redhawks again on April 22 at 1 p.m. . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 39-33.
