Ball State University Athletics
Softball Takes On Bowling Green In A Home Doubleheader Friday
April 22, 2010 | Softball
LIVE AUDIO FOR GAME TWO (91.3 WCRD)
TWITTER UPDATES: (@BallStSoftball)
Game Information: Ball State (28-13; 6-4 MAC) takes on Mid-American Conference foe Bowling Green (10-16; 6-4 MAC) Friday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the BSU Softball Complex in Muncie, Ind. This is the sixth conference opponent of the year for the Cardinals who will play a total of 11 MAC teams. Live stats will be available on ballstatesports.com as well as Twitter updates via @BallStSoftball. The second game will feature live audio courtesy of 91.3 WCRD.
Series History: Ball State and Bowling Green have met 77 times prior to Friday's doubleheader . . . The Falcons lead the overall series 47-30 . . . Ball State posted three wins against Bowling Green in the 2009 season . . . The Cardinals swept the Falcons 7-1 and 10-2 April 10 in Bowling Green, Ohio and then posted a 5-0 shutout against Bowling Green in the 2009 MAC Tournament . . . The last time the Falcons defeated the Cardinals was April 5, 2008 in a 3-0 and 8-4 doubleheader sweep in Muncie, Ind.
CARDINALS RECAP:
Doubleheader dropped to Purdue 6-4 and 7-0: Although Ball State posted wins against Big Ten opponents Penn State and Indiana earlier this year, it was unable to overcome Purdue Wednesday and the Cardinals suffered 6-4 and 7-0 losses to the Boilermakers at the BSU Softball Complex . . . The pair of losses extends the Cardinals losing streak to four games - their longest all season . . . Elizabeth Milian (20-5) took the mound for the Cardinals in the first game and Audra Sanders (6-7) and Kim Mazzapica (2-1) pitched 3.1 and 3.2 innings, respectively, in the second . . . Batting and slugging at a .333 clip against the Boilermakers, Alyssa Collins led the Cardinals batting line-up and was the only Ball State player to notch a multi-hit game . . . Hitting a double in the sixth inning of game two, Jessie Ware is credited with the Cardinals sole hit of the nightcap.
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 .390 clip and also leads the team with 53 hits, 40 runs and a .706 slugging percentage . . . She needs three runs to become Ball State's single season leader in the category . . . With 11 doubles, she is tied with Amanda Montalto . . . Ware, Montalto and Amanda Carpenter are tied with four homeruns apiece . . . She is second to Rozanski with 18 stolen bases to Rozanski's 23 . . . Ware leads the MAC in hits, runs scored, triples and total bases . . . On third base, Ware has 51 putouts and a .923 fielding percentage . . . She was named MAC West Division Player of the Week March 2 and March 30.
Milian Breaking Records: With 200 strikeouts this season, Milian now owns 656 in her career and surpassed Ball State's career strikeout leader, Bernie Coffman (1986-89) who tallied 628, April 14 against Indiana . . . Milian already owns the school's single season record for strikeouts, accumulating 204 in 2009 and needs just five more to break her own record this season . . . With 73 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.
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 23 steals in 29 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 batting .254 overall and a team-leading .355 in conference play.
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 115-103 at Ball State . . . He owns an 838-193 career coaching mark for a .813 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: Currently 28-13 overall, the Cardinals played 31 non-conference games this season and concluded their non-conference schedule Wednesday against Purdue . . . The team finished with a record of 22-9 in non-conference play . . . Ball State's longest winning streak this season spanned nine games (March 6-19) 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.
