Ball State University Athletics
Softball Heads to Indianapolis to Face IUPUI Tuesday
March 29, 2010 | Softball
IUPUI Show Down - March 30 - Indianapolis, Ind.
Game Information: The Ball State Cardinals (19-6) will face the IUPUI Jaguars (5-19) in a 5 p.m. game at the IUPUI Softball Complex, Tuesday, in Indianapolis, Ind. The match-up marks the Cardinals 23rd straight road game, while the Jaguars have played their last two games at home. Ball State and IUPUI have faced each other 11 other times and the Cardinals maintain a 10-1 record against the Jaguars.
Fans can catch all the action with live stats provided by www.ballstatesports.com or by following @BallStSoftball on Twitter.
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 106-96 at Ball State . . . He owns an 829-186 career coaching mark for a .817 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, Missouri and Ohio under their belt, the Cardinals are leading the Mid-American Conference at 19-6 this season . . . Ball State received nine votes in the Ultimate College Softball poll released March 22, seven votes in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll and one vote in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, both released March 23.
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.
Down Went Dayton: Pitching in game one of the Dayton Doubleheader, Ball State's Audra Sanders (Lynnville, Ind.) gave up just two runs and struck out 10 batters in the Cardinals' 7-2 victory over Dayton . . . Kim Mazzapica (Palm Harbor, Fla.) pitched a 5-0 shutout in game two and allowed just three hits in six innings pitched . . . Ball State's ace, Elizabeth Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich.), pitched in the final inning against Dayton and increased her season strikeout count to 125 . . . Jessie Ware (Phoenix, Ariz.) drilled two RBI doubles, hit at a team-leading .750 clip and stole a perfect four of four bases. . . Amanda Montalto (Las Vegas, Nev.) slugged two homeruns accounting for five of the Cardinals total twelve runs against the Flyers.
Milian Chasing Records: With 125 strikeouts already this year, Milian needs just 47 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 . . . Maintaining a 3.97 grade point average as a secondary mathematics education major, Milian was named the MAC Co-Female Scholar Athlete of the Week (March 26) - the first of her career.
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 .424 through Ball State's first 25 games . . . She also leads the team with 36 hits, 27 runs scored, seven triples and a .753 slugging percentage . . . With 17 runs-batted-in, she is second to Montalto who has 19 . . . On the field, Ware has 34 putouts and a .911 fielding percentage.
Slugfest: The Ball State batting line-up features four starters who are batting better than 300 this season: Ware (.424), Montalto (.324), Jen Reifschneider (.321) and Alyssa Collins (.310) . . . As a team, the Cardinals have hit at a .281 clip to oppenents' .182 . . . The team has 121 runs this season, of which 102 were RBIs . . . Ball State has amassed 279 total bases this season and is 67 for 77 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 a team-leading 16 steals in 22 attempts this season, owns a .299 batting average with 23 hits, including two triples and two RBI . . . Junior Alicia Barkley 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 17 total bases in 79 at bats, including 15 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.
