Ball State University Athletics
Softball Hosts MAC Opener
March 27, 2008 | Softball
ABOUT THE GAMES
The Cardinals open Mid-American Conference play this weekend as they host a doubleheader against Ohio University on Friday . . . Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. . . . Ball State will continue conference play on Saturday and Sunday with a match-up against Akron . . . A year ago Ohio swept Ball State in Athens, 4-0 and 3-1. Ball State rebounded by sweeping Akron 3-1 and 7-1 to start the MAC season 2-2.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals are closing in on another 20 win season . . . Through 32 years of softball at Ball State only 14 teams have had 20 or more wins . . . Alicia Barkley leads the team with a .307 batting average . . . Abby Gross is hitting .278 and leads the team with 20 RBI . . . Lisa Rozanski leads the team in runs scored (20), walks (17), hit by pitch (9), and stolen bases (18) . . . Elizabeth Milian has been consistent at the plate, and on the mound for BSU . . . Milian has seven doubles, a triple, one home run and 14 RBI . . . She leads the pitching rotation with an ERA of 1.53 and a record of 9-5 . . . Tiffany Garofano is 5-6 with an ERA of 2.15.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS
Ohio has an overall record of 10-9 . . . The Bobcats most recently split a doubleheader against Wright State . . . Ohio lost game one 8-0, but came back to win game two 9-4 . . . Melissa Bonner hit a grand slam in game two for the Bobcats . . . Bonner is hitting .328 on the season with three doubles and 12 RBI . . . The grand slam was her first home run of the season . . . Shalene Petrich is hitting .271 with a double and a triple . . . Petrich also leads the team with seven stolen bases . . . Emily Wethington and Michelle Sauter throw a majority of the innings on the mound for Ohio . . . Wethington has the best ERA on the team at 1.64 . . . She has a record of 6-4 and leads the team with 51 strikeouts . . . Sauter is 4-4 with an ERA of 2.10 . . . Ball State leads the all-time series against the Bobcats 31-30.
ABOUT THE ZIPS
Akron currently has a record of 10-16 . . . The Zips will play a doubleheader against Miami OH on Friday at 1 p.m. . . . Akron split a doubleheader against Youngstown State earlier this week . . . The Penguins beat the Zips 8-0 in game one, but the Zips rallied in the sixth inning of the second game to tie and eventually win the game in the seventh 8-7 . . . Lisa McLean hit her fifth triple of the season to help the Zips defeat the Penguins . . . McLean leads the team with a .372 batting average . . . Julie Boyes is hitting .295 and leads the team in home runs (2) and RBI (13) . . . Christina Swierz is the ace in the pitching rotation . . . Swierz has been on the mound for all 10 of Akron's wins . . . Her overall record is 10-8 with an ERA of 4.88 . . . Swierz has thrown 65 strikeouts in 97 innings of softball . . . Akron leads the all-time series 18-16.
STAR SENIORS
Abby Gross entered her senior season as the career home run leader in Ball State history . . . She also ranks first on the career BSU records list with 95 RBI . . . Gross started the 2008 season with a home run against LSU, Feb. 15 at Tiger Park . . . Gross is hitting .278 with a .444 slugging percentage and 20 RBI this season . . . Amanda Pick has three doubles, three home runs and a batting average of .303 . . . Pick is second on the team with 15 RBI.
FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Alicia Barkley, Alyssa Collins and Lisa Rozanski have all made an impact for the Cardinals during thier freshmen season . . . Barkley has started all 32 games at shortstop for BSU . . . Barkley is hitting .307 with three doubles and 10 RBI . . . Collins starts in right field and has a batting average of .283 . . . Rozanski starts in center field for the Cards . . . Rozanski is hitting .264 and leads the team with 18 stolen bases.
STEALING THE SHOW
The Cardinals stole a school record 127 bases in 2007 . . . the old record was 98 stolen bases in a single season set by the 1991 team . . . Ball State has 70 stolen bases in 2008 . . . Lisa Rozanski leads the team with 18, at this pace Rozanski could challenge the single-season record of 37.
MAC WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK (Feb. 27 & March 19)
Tiffany Garofano went 1-1 at the Panera Bread Tournament 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. (Feb. 27) Garofano went 2-0 at the USF Under Armour Tournament. She shut down Long Island leading the Cardinals to a 1-0 victory. Garofano picked up her other win against Georgia Southern. She had an ERA of 1.00 over the weekend and struck out 11. (March 19)
MAC WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Feb. 27)
Amanda Pick hit .429 with a slugging percentage of 1.000 at the Panera Bread Tournament . . . 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
Elizabeth Milian is having another fantastic year on the mound for the Cardinals . . . Milian leads the team with an overall record of 9-5 with an ERA of 1.53 . . . Of her 12 starts, she has thrown 11 complete games and also has three saves . . . Milian has thrown a team-high 96 innings and is second on the team with 45 stikeouts.
HOME SWEET HOME
Ball State's first home game at the BSU Softball Complex is scheduled for March 25 against Butler . . . The Cards will host Ohio University on March 28 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 scored 37 runs last year which placed her second all-time in the single season BSU record books . . . Six Cardinals have scored over 10 runs in 2008 . . . Lisa Rozanski leads the team with 20.
STRIKE THREE, YOUR OUT!
Tiffany Garofano has shut down opponents so far this season . . . Garofano has recorded a team-high 79 strikeouts, and has an ERA of 2.15.
UP NEXT
Ball State will travel to South Bend, Ind. to face the Irish on April 1. The Cardinals stay on the road as they visit Wright State for a doubleheader on Apirl 2.
