Ball State University Athletics
Softball Travels To UT-Martin
February 28, 2008 | Softball
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals went 4-1 at the Panera Bread Tournament held in Chattanooga, Tenn. bringing their overall record to 5-5 . . . Alicia Barkley has been consistent at the plate with a .333 batting average . . . The BSU seniors have provided power at the plate . . . Combined Abby Gross and Amanda Pick have 16 hits including three doubles, two triples and three home runs . . . The seniors have also scored nine runs and recorded 16 RBI . . . On the mound, Tiffany Garofano leads the team with 30 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.23 . . . Elizabeth Milian has a 3-2 record on the mound for BSU and an ERA of 3.91.
ABOUT THE SYCAMORES
Indiana State has a 2-3 overall record after playing in the New Mexico State Tournament last weekend . . . Britt Boyer hit .364 to lead the Sycamores . . . Sam Markowski, Leslie Fakes and Kelsey Anderson all have one home run and four RBI . . . Meagan McCurdy has a 2-1 record on the mound for ISU . . . McCurdy owns a 3.04 ERA along with 19 strikeouts for the Sycamores . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 32-25.
ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS
UT-Martin enters the tournament with an overall record of 5-6 . . . Ashley Benbow leads the Skyhawks with a .417 batting average including two doubles, a triple, a home run and three RBI . . . Megan Williams has the most RBI on the team with five . . . Williams is hitting .333 on the year with one double and a triple . . . On the mound, Ashton Strode leads the team with an ERA of 2.29 . . . Strode is 2-0 with 17 strikeouts . . . Paij Lintz also has two wins on the mound for UT-Martin . . . Lintz has an ERA of 2.82 . . . This will be the first game between UT-Martin and Ball State.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Minnesota enters the UT-Martin Tournament with an overall record of 11-5 . . . The Golden Gophers looked impressive last weekend at the Georgia Southern Eagle Classic as they ran through the competition with a 5-0 record . . . Offensively they were led by senior Amber Nelsen, who hit .533 . . . On the mound, Katie Dalen and Briana Hassett combined for a 0.41 ERA through the five games . . . Hassett was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for tossing two shutouts in her three starts . . . Minnesota leads the all-time series against Ball State 2-1.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Northern Iowa is 7-2 overall, including a 6-4 win over Minnesota at the Metrodome Softball Classic . . . The Panthers fell to South Dakota State in the second game of the year, and lost thier last game to Iowa 1-0 . . . Stephanie Aguero leads the team with a .545 batting average . . . Crystal Keiper leads the team with three home runs and nine RBI . . . On the mound, Ashley Lepley is off to a 4-0 start . . . Lepley has a 2.25 ERA and a team-high 18 strikeouts . . . Sarah Bakey contributes with an ERA of 1.40 and 10 strikeouts . . . Northern Iowa leads the all-time series 4-0.
ABOUT THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth will open the 2008 season in Martin, Tenn. . . . Alyssa Parker provided power at the plate for Dartmouth with six home runs in 2007, leading her to a team-high 24 RBI . . . Stephanie Trudeau threw a team-high 142.1 innings . . . Trudeau finished with a 10-13 record, and had the best ERA on the team at 3.44 . . . The team finished with an overall record of 16-24 . . . The Big Green defeated BSU last year 4-3 at the Speedline Tournament . . . J.J. Wright went 2-3 in the game with 2 RBI to lead the way for Dartmouth . . . Dartmouth leads the all-time series 1-0.
STEALING THE SHOW
The Cardinals stole a school record 127 bases in 2007 . . . The 2006 team only managed to steal 16 bases . . . the old record was 98 stolen bases in a single season set by the 1991 team . . . Ball State has 22 stolen bases in 2008 . . . Allie Pennock leads the team with six.
MAC WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Tiffany Garofano went 1-1 in tournament play with an ERA of 2.00 . . . She recorded 21 strikeouts and only gave up four runs through 14 innings pitched . . . She recorded a career high 12 strikeouts against St. Francis to lead BSU to a 2-1 victory.
MAC WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Amanda Pick hit .429 with a slugging percentage of 1.000 over the weekend . . . She had two doubles, two home runs and five RBI helping the Cardinals to a 4-1 record in the tournament . . . Pick hit her first home run of the season against East Tennessee State . . . She also hit a three-run home run against Lipscomb to lead Ball State to a 5-3 victory.
MILIAN ON THE MOUND
Freshman Elizabeth Milian made an immediate impact during her freshman season on the mound for Ball State . . . She ended the year with a 14-19 record with an ERA of 2.66 . . . Milian recorded a team-high 113 strikeouts while also leading the team in innings pitched (221) . . . In 2008 she leads the team with three wins and 28.2 innings pitched.
STRIKE THREE, YOUR OUT!
Tiffany Garofano and Laura Masch have shut down opponents so far this season . . . Garofano has recorded a team-high 30 strikeouts, while Masch has 11 strikeouts in just 12 innings on the mound.
HOME SWEET HOME
Ball State's first home game at the BSU Softball Complex is scheduled for March 18 against Eastern Illinois . . . The Cards will host Ohio University to start Mid-American Conference play.
SEND HER HOME
The Cardinals broke the runs scored record in 2007 with 221 . . . The old record was 214 set by the 1998 team . . . Allie Pennock returns for her junior season -- Pennock scored 37 runs last year which placed her second all-time in the single season BSU record books.
STAR SENIOR
Abby Gross entered her senior season as the career home run leader in Ball State history with 15 . . . Gross also ranked third on the career BSU records list with 75 RBI . . . Gross started the 2008 season with a home run against LSU, Feb. 15 at Tiger Park . . . Gross is hitting .310 with a .517 slugging percentage and 9 RBI so far this season.
FANTASTIC FRESHMAN
Alicia Barkley leads the team with a .333 batting average . . . Barkely has started every game at shortstop for Ball State . . . She has nine hits, four stolen bases and has scored five runs for the Cardinals.
THREE GAME WINNING STREAK
The Cardinals have put together a three game winning streak . . . Ball State came back to score five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat East Tennessee State . . . The next day they defeated Lipscomb by a score of 5-3 . . . The third win was a 2-1 victory over St. Francis . . . Amanda Pick hit .556 over the three games with two home runs and five RBI.
UP NEXT
Ball State will travel to Miami, Fla., to compete in the Flordia International Tournament March 7-9. The Cardinals will face Oregon State, FIU and Harvard in the tournament.
