Ball State University Athletics
Softball Drives to Dayton for Doubleheader Wednesday
March 23, 2010 | Softball
Dayton Doubleheader - March 24 - Dayton, Ohio
Doubleheader Information: The Ball State Cardinals (17-6) will face the Dayton Flyers (9-12) in a doubleheader at UD Stadium, Wednesday, in Dayton, Ohio. The match-up marks the Cardinals 22nd straight road game, while the Flyers have played their last six games at home. Ball State and Dayton have faced each other three other times and the Cardinals maintain a perfect 3-0 record against the Flyers.
Ball State's Coach Nicholson: Ball State head coach Craig Nicholson, in his fourth season at the helm for the Cardinals and 15th year as a head coach, earned his 100th win at Ball State in a 7-0 shutout against Temple March 13 . . . This makes him the first head coach in school history to reach 100 wins in just 195 games . . . The 2009 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year is currently 104-96 at Ball State . . . He owns an 827-186 career coaching mark for a .816 winning percentage . . . Prior to coming to Ball State, Nicholson spent 11 years as the head coach at Central Arizona College where he was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2005 . . . He was also the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Junior College Coach of the Year in 1997, 1999 and 2005 . . . Nicholson led Central Arizona to NJCAA National Championships in 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2005, and garnered national runner-up finishes in 1996 and 2000 . . . Central Arizona won seven conference championship and eight regional titles in his 11 seasons.
2010 Season: With roadtrips to Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Missouri under their belt, the Cardinals are 17-6 this season . . . Defeating the University of Missouri, the No. 3 ranked team in the country, 2-1, Friday, the Cardinals received nine votes in the Ultimate College Softball poll released Monday and seven votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll released Tuesday.
The 2009 Season: Ball State won the school's first-ever Mid-American Conference Championship with an 18-3 league mark, which was the best regular season record in school history . . . The Cardinals were 29-24 overall.
Rattling the Rankings: Pitcher, Elizabeth Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc), and third baseman, Jessie Ware (Phoenix, Ariz./Hamilton), led the Cardinals' charge in a 2-1 upset of No. 3 ranked Missouri at the DeMarini Invitational in Columbia, Mo. Friday . . . In the three-game tournament, Milian pitched 17 innings, struck out 13 batters and posted a 0.41 earned run average . . . Milian is 13-1 this season and owns a 0.52 overall ERA . . . Ware tallied a team-leading five hits, including one double and one triple, for a .500 batting average that improved her season average to .390.
Milian Chasing Records: With 124 strikeouts already this year, Milian needs just 48 to pass Ball State's career strike out leader, Bernie Coffman (1986-89) . . . Milian already owns the school's single season record for strike outs, accumulating 204 in 2009 . . . With 66 career wins, Milian is second to Coffman in this category and needs just 11 wins to take the lead . . . Milian was chosen as the Mid-American Conference West Pitcher of the Week (March 23), her fourth nod this season and ninth of her career, including a Player of the Week honor in 2008.
Returning MAC Pitcher of the Year: Milian, a Ball State senior, was selected as the 2009 MAC Pitcher of the Year and Nan Harvey Sportswoman of the Year . . . One of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the sport of softball, Milian owns a 3.97 grade-point average on Ball State's 4.0 scale as a secondary mathematics education major . . . She tallied a 21-15 pitching record last season and was named to the All-MAC and National Fastpitch Coaches Association first teams . . . A member of the Academic All-MAC team two straight years, Milian was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team last season . . . She ranked second in the MAC in wins (21), innings pitched (224) and complete games (27) as a junior plus held opponents to a .214 batting average, which ranked third in the league.
Ware a Triple Threat: A senior transfer from Arizona State, Ware is batting .390 through Ball State's first 23 games, is leading the team with 30 hits, 14 runs-batted-in, 24 runs scored, seven triples and a .727 slugging percentage . . . She is also tied with Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif. /Santana) with two homeruns this season . . . On the field, Ware has 29 putouts and a .910 fielding percentage.
Slugfest: The Ball State batting line-up features six starters who are batting better than 300 this season: Ware, .390; Amanda Montalto (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde),.317; Alyssa Collins (Fortville, Ind./Mt. Vernon), .316; Lisa Rozanski (Tampa, Fla./Alonso), .314; Carpenter, .310; and Jen Reifschneider (Wichita, Kan./Maize), .306 . . . As a team, the Cardinals have hit at a .284 clip to oppenents' .180 . . . The team has 109 runs this season, of which 91 were RBIs . . . Ball State has amassed 254 total bases this season and is 57 for 65 in stolen bases.
Additional Team Leaders: Rozanski, a 2009 All-MAC First-Team choice, ranked fifth in the nation in triples and 19th in the nation in stolen bases last year . . . She has 15 steals in 21 attempts this season, owns a .314 batting average with 22 hits, including two triples and two RBI . . . Junior Alicia Barkley (Oklahoma City, Okla./Putnam City) was named the 2009 MAC Player of the Year after posting a .337 batting average, including hitting at a .446 clip in conference play . . . She was named to the All-MAC First Team and the NFCA All-Region First Team . . . This season, Barkley has 15 total bases in 71 at bats, including 13 hits with one triple.
Ball State's 2010 Preseason: The Cardinals were selected by the MAC head coaches as the preseason favorite to win the 2010 Mid-American Conference West Division . . . In addition, Ball State begins the 2010 season ranked No. 38 in the country in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Collegiate Top 25 Poll released Jan. 25 . . . Ball State was joined by BYU and San Diego State, who also received four votes in the poll.
