Ball State University Athletics
Cardinals Play At IPFW, then Host Miami University
April 20, 2007 | Softball
ABOUT THE GAMES
The Cardinals have an overall record of 17-26, including a 6-6 record in Mid-American Conference action . . . April 20 the Cards will travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. to play IPFW in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. . . . Ball State returns to MAC play April 21 as they host Miami at 2 p.m. . . . BSU will also play the Redhawks April 22 at 1 p.m.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ball State swept Wright State in Thursday's doubleheader . . . The Cards won game one 8-0 and defeated the Raiders 2-1 in game two . . . Abby Gross leads Ball State with a .349 batting average and 30 RBI . . . Allie Pennock is batting .268 on the year and leads the MAC with 21 steals . . . Elizabeth Milian and Amanda Pick will share a majority of the innings this week . . . Pick is 5-10 with 12 complete games and 74 strikeouts . . . Milian is 11-13, has a team-high 81 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.87.
ABOUT THE MASTODONS
IPFW comes into Friday's contest with a 5-19 overall record . . . The Mastodons most recently were swept by Michigan State 12-0 and 8-0 . . . Tara Mickelson leads the team batting .328 with seven doubles, one triple and 12 RBI . . . Ashley Tharp is batting .225 and has recorded the team's only home run . . . On the mound, Kayla Powell leads IPFW with an ERA of 5.76 . . . Powell is 2-5 in 2007 and has recorded 16 strikeouts . . . Katie Aspegren has pitched a majority of the innings for the Mastodons . . . Aspegren has recorded a team-high 46 strikeouts in 59 innings . . . Ball State leads the all-time series against IPFW 4-2.
ABOUT THE REDHAWKS
As of April 18, the Redhaws have an overall record of 18-31-1 and are 6-6 in the MAC . . . Halle Popson leads the team with a .382 batting average, two doubles, two triples and 12 RBI . . . Leslie Macedo has a batting average of .294 with 13 doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI . . . On the mound, Meredith Linch has 110 strikeouts to lead the team . . . Linch has a record of 8-17 with an ERA of 3.39 . . . Shalise Lugo has the best ERA on the team at 2.28 . . . Lugo is 6-5 in 2007 with 55 strikeouts . . . Miami swept Ball State in 2006 winning game one 4-1 and game two 6-3 . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 39-33.
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 163 innings and Pick has thrown for 101.
RUNNING OVER THE COMPETITION
Taylor Yancey leads the team and the MAC conference with 35 runs scored . . . Yancey's total is currently second all-time in runs scored in a single-season at BSU . . . The BSU record is 36 set by Heather Hinkle in the 1998 season.
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 SET NEW RECORD
The Cardinals have stolen 105 bases this season . . . Last year's team only stole 16 bases the entire season . . . BSU broke the old school record of 98 stolen bases in a single-season set by the 1991 team.
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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 the 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 21 games . . . In 19 of those games, she has gone the distance and pitched all seven innings . . . She has the best record on the team at 11-13 and posts the best ERA on the team at 2.87.
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 17 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 games Ball State has between those dates not at home is an April 20 doubleheader at IPFW and an April 24 matchup 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 season total to 29 . . . Gross recorded her 30th RBI against Wright State which puts her at fifth all-time on the BSU single-season RBI chart . . . Amy Doyle holds the BSU single-season RBI record with 38.
SEND HER HOME
The Cardinals have scored 173 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 six players with 10-or-more . . . The BSU record is 214, set by the 1998 team.
UP NEXT
Ball State will travel to Indianapolis, Ind. to compete against the Butler Bulldogs April 24 at 4 p.m.
