Ball State University Athletics
Softball On The Road To Buffalo
April 15, 2010 | Softball
TWITTER UPDATES: @BallStSoftball
Game Information: After cruising past Indiana in 5-2 and 9-1 wins Wednesday at the BSU Softball Complex, the Ball State Cardinals (26-9; 4-2 MAC) return to their Mid-American Conference schedule Friday in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. against the University at Buffalo Bulls (13-21; 3-3 MAC) in Buffalo, N.Y. The doubleheader marks the Cardinals first road game since March 30. Live stats will be available on ballstatesports.com as well as Twitter updates via @BallStSoftball.
SERIES HISTORY: Ball State and Buffalo have met 10 times prior to Friday's doubleheader . . . The Cardinals lead the overall series 7-3 . . . In the 2009 season, Ball State swept Buffalo in a doubleheader April 3 in Muncie, Ind., winning 4-2 and 5-2 against the Bulls . . . The last time Buffalo defeated Ball State was April 19, 2007 in Buffalo, N.Y. when the schools split a two-game series . . . The Bulls took game one 3-4 and the Cardinals rallied for a 6-1 win in game two.
CARDINALS RECAP
Cardinals Cruise Past Indiana: Ball State swept Wednesday's doubleheader against Indiana with scores of 5-2 and 9-1 . . . Elizabeth Milian took the mound for the Cardinals in the first game and improved her season record to 19-2 . . . Striking out eight Hoosiers, Milian broke a 21-year-old record to surpass Bernie Coffman (1986-89) as Ball State's career leader in strikeouts . . . Lisa Rozanski, Ball State's career leader in stolen bases, led the Cardinals stolen base count, thieving two . . . She also batted over 400 in the series . . . Kate Wilczynski and Alicia Barkley led the team at bat and each recorded a .667 batting average . . . Wilczynski also notched her fifth double of the season . . . The Cardinals totaled 18 hits and committed zero errors in the field.
Ware a Triple Threat: Jessie Ware, a senior transfer from Arizona State, tallied her tenth triple of the season April 9 against Central Michigan to become Ball State's all-time single season leader in the category . . . She is batting at a team-leading .402 clip and also leads the team with 47 hits, 36 runs and a .761 slugging percentage . . . With 10 doubles, she is second to Amanda Montalto who owns 11 . . . Ware and Montalto are tied with four homeruns apiece . . . She is second to Rozanski with 16 stolen bases to Rozanski's 20 . . . Ware leads the MAC in hits, runs scored, triples and total bases . . . On the field, Ware has 47 putouts and a .917 fielding percentage . . . She was named MAC West Division Player of the Week March 2 and March 30.
Milian Breaking Records: With 174 strikeouts this season, Milian surpassed Ball State's career strikeout leader, Bernie Coffman (1986-89), who amassed 628, against Indiana Wednesday . . . To date, Milian has 630 career strikeouts . . . Milian already owns the school's single season record for strike outs, accumulating 204 in 2009 . . . With 72 career wins, Milian is second to Coffman in this category and needs just five wins to take the lead . . . Milian was chosen as the Mid-American Conference West Pitcher of the Week (April 13), her fifth nod this season and 11th 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 . . . She has also received recognition on ESPN.com.
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 . . . 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.
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 and conference-leading 20 steals in 26 attempts this season . . . 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 is leading the Cardinals in MAC play with a .421 batting average and eight hits . . . She is tied with Ware in conference triples, each tallying one against conference opponents
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 113-99 at Ball State . . . He owns an 836-189 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 championships and eight regional titles in his 11 seasons.
2010 Season: The Cardinals just completed a nine game series of home games which began April 3 . . . They are now 6-3 at home and 26-9 overall . . . Their longest winning streak this season spanned nine games (March 6-March 19) and they lost just two games out of 16 during the month of March . . . One of these March wins was a 2-1 upset against then-ranked No. 3 Missouri.
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.
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.
