Ball State University Athletics
Softball Hosts Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan
April 27, 2007 | Softball
ABOUT THE GAMES
The Cardinals have an overall record of 20-28, including a 6-8 record in the Mid-American Conference . . . Ball State returns to conference action April 27 as they host Eastern Michigan for a doubleheader . . . Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the BSU Softball Complex . . . The Cards will also host Central Michigan in a two-game series . . . Game one will be April 28 at 2 p.m. , with game two April 29 at 1 p.m.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ball State defeated the Butler Bulldogs 3-1, to record 20 wins on the season . . . Abby Gross leads Ball State with a .343 batting average and leads the MAC with 35 RBI . . . Taylor Yancey is batting .285 for the Cards including five doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 22 RBI and 23 stolen bases. . . Elizabeth Milian and Amanda Pick will share a majority of the innings this week . . . Pick is 6-10 with 13 complete games and 80 strikeouts . . . Milian is 12-15, has a team-high 95 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.69.
ABOUT THE EAGLES
Eastern Michigan comes into Friday's doubleheader with a 17-17 overall record and a 7-3 mark in conference play . . . Most recently the Eagles split with Toledo . . . The Eagles won 7-1 as junior Ashley Strauss went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI . . . Toledo came back to win game two, 8-6, in nine innings . . . Strauss is hitting .375 on the year with nine doubles . . . Jenny Scherer has a team-high six home runs and 24 RBI . . . On the mound, Aimee Woodrum is 8-6 with an ERA of 2.91 . . . Woodrum has recorded 79 strikeouts in 101 innings pitched . . . Eastern Michigan swept Ball State last season 3-1 and 4-0 . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 45-32.
ABOUT THE CHIPPEWAS
Central Michigan is currently 18-17 after defeating Michigan State April 25, 3-0 . . . Christina Novak hit a two-run double in the fourth inning to give the Chippewas the 3-0 lead . . . Central Michigan will battle Miami in a doubleheader April 27 . . . Jacque Benedict leads the team with a .298 batting average including two doubles, three home runs and 17 RBI . . . On the mound, Ali Pettit has a record of 12-6 with an ERA of 2.49 . . . She has recorded 95 strikeouts in 112 innings pitched . . . Central Michigan swept the Cardinals in 2006, 5-1 and 2-1 . . . The Chippewas lead the all-time series 60-17.
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 184 innings and Pick has thrown for 108.
RUNNING OVER THE COMPETITION - YANCEY BREAKS RECORD
Taylor Yancey leads the team and the MAC with 39 runs scored . . . Yancey's total is a new single-season BSU record . . . The old BSU record was 36 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 32 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 118 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 the seventh inning against IPFW (April 20) to put the Cardinals ahead 6-0 . . . The solo shot took her season total to eight a team-high and out right leader of the single-season home run record . . . Teammate Kelli Jeziorski was the first to break the record and currently has seven on the year.
SPEAKING OF HOME RUNS, GROSS BREAKS CAREER HOME RUN RECORD
Abby Gross hit a grand slam against Toledo (April 13) to record her fifth home run of the season and then homered against IPFW (April 20) in the seventh inning to break the BSU career home run record with 13 home runs . . . Gross added to her record with a solo home run against Butler (April 24) to give her 14 career home runs . . . Gross had two home runs in 2005 and five in 2006 . . . The old BSU record of 12 was held by Ruth Hjelmeland during 2000-03.
MILIAN ON THE MOUND
Freshman Elizabeth Milian has made an immediate impact for the Cardinals on the mound . . . Milian has started 24 games . . . In 22 of those games, she has gone the distance and pitched all seven innings . . . She has the best record on the team at 12-15 and posts the best ERA on the team at 2.69.
NEW AND IMPROVED - CARDS REACH 20 WINS
Under first year head coach Craig Nicholson the Cardinals have already recorded more overall wins in 2007 than they did in 2006 . . . The Cards have reached 20 wins for the first time in five years . . . The last 20 win season came in 2002 . . . The Cardinal's MAC record is currently at 6-8, with eight conference games left on the schedule . . . 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 12 out of the last 15 games at the BSU Softball Complex . . . The Cardinals started their home stretch April 19, in a doubleheader against Wright State . . . The season finale will be against Buffalo May 6 . . . The only games Ball State had between those dates not at home was 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 - THREE AWAY
Abby Gross has recorded 35 RBIs on the season which puts her at third 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 192 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 three 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 wil return to Mid-American Conference action as they face the Kent State Golden Flashes May 4 in a doubleheader . . . Ball State will then host Buffalo for a two-game series with the first game scheduled for May 5 at 2 p.m.
