Ball State University Athletics
Softball Travels To Northern Illinois For Doubleheader Friday
April 28, 2010 | Softball
Twitter: @BallStSoftball
Game Information: Ball State (32-13; 10-4 MAC) takes on the Northern Illinois Huskies (20-28; 8-6 MAC) in a doubleheader Friday beginning at 1 p.m. at Mary M. Bell Field in DeKalb, Ill. . . . This marks the eighth conference opponent of the year for the Cardinals who will play a total of 11 MAC teams . . . Ball State is currently on a four game winning streak and has scored runs in the double digits for four consecutive games . . . The Huskies dropped two to Loyola Tuesday . . . Live stats will be available on www.ballstatesports.com and inning-by-inning updates provided by @BallStSoftball on Twitter.
Series History: Ball State and Northern Illinois have met 52 times prior to Friday's doubleheader . . . The Huskies lead the overall series 33-19 . . . In 2009, Ball State swept Northern Illinois, 5-1 and 8-3, in a doubleheader in Muncie April 17 . . . The last time the Huskies defeated the Cardinals was in the 2008 season when the teams split a weekend series May 3-4 in DeKalb . . . Ball State won the first game of the series 4-2 and Northern Illinois won the second 6-5.
RECENT GAME NEWS:
Two-Game Sweep of Toledo 10-1 and 13-12 Saturday and Sunday: The Ball State softball team swept Mid-American Conference opponent Toledo in a two-game weekend series Saturday and Sunday at the BSU Softball Complex in Muncie, Ind. . . . The Cardinals topped the Falcons 10-1 in a five-inning win in the first game and 13-12 in the second . . . The second game was won on a walk-off home run by Amanda Carpenter after the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Rockets by five runs after the top of the sixth inning . . . The two wins improve Ball State's overall record to 32-13 and its conference record to 10-4, which ties the Cardinals with Central Michigan for the top spot in the MAC West Division .
PLAYER UPDATE:
Barkley Bouncing Back: Junior shortstop 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 team with three triples against MAC opponents. . . Her batting average has improved steadily over the last three weeks and she is now batting .280 overall and is second on the team in coference play, batting at a .409 clip with five extra base hits and nine RBI.
Rookie on the Rise: Freshman left fielder Amanda Carpenter is second on the team with five home runs . . . Named the MAC Player of the Week March 16, she is batting .323 overall and .390 in conference play . . . The rookie is ranked second in the conference with 36 runs scored and 32 RBI . . . She leads the team with three home runs in MAC play.
Collins Proving Clutch: Right fielder Alyssa Collins leads the team with 17 multi-hit games this season . . . The junior's .333 batting average and 51 hits are the second best marks on the team . . . Her hit count is the third best in the conference . . . Collins was named to the All-MAC Second Team and MAC All-Tournament Team in 2009.
Milian Breaking Records: Ace pitcher Elizabeth Milian owns 672 strikeouts in her career and surpassed Ball State's career strikeout leader, Bernie Coffman (1986-89) who tallied 628, April 14 against Indiana . . . Ball State's single season record holder in strikeouts after accumulating 204 in 2009, Milian broke her 2009 record Friday against Bowling Green and has 216 this season . . . With 76 career wins, Milian is second to Coffman in this category and needs just two 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 . . . In 2009, Milian was named the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Montalto on a Mission: Catcher Amanda Montalto leads the team and the conference with 13 doubles and 38 RBI . . .She also leads the team with six home runs and slugged her sixth this season against Toledo Sunday . . . Montalto has been walked a team and conference-high 23 times.
Rozanski Running: Center fielder Lisa 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 28 steals this season . . . With 105 stolen bases in three years, she owns the Ball State career record in this category . . . Rozanski's single season record for stolen bases is 43, which she tallied in 2008 to become the school's leader . . . The redshirt junior also leads the team in conference play this season batting at a .422 clip and has tallied 19 hits against MAC opponents, four of which are extra base hits . . . She hit two triples in one game April 24.
Ware a Triple Threat: Jessie Ware, a senior transfer from Arizona State, has broken three Ball State single season records this year . . . Her first record was set April 9 against Central Michigan when she hit her 10th triple . . . She also became the school's single season leader in runs and total bases April 23 against Bowling Green with 46 and 102 to date, respectively . . . She is batting at a team-leading .389 clip and also leads the team with 58 hits and a .685 slugging percentage . . . Ware leads the MAC in hits, runs scored, triples and total bases . . .She was named MAC West Division Player of the Week March 2 and March 30.
Wilczynski Wowing: Starting every game for the Cardinals since April 9, first baseman Kate Wilczynski is batting at a .318 clip, owns a .553 slugging percentage overall and leads the team with a .448 on-base percentage . . . Wilczynski and Montalto lead the team with 15 RBI and two doubles in conference play . . . She was named the MAC Player of the Week April 20.
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 119-103 at Ball State . . . He owns an 842-193 career coaching mark for a .814 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 32-13 overall, Ball State is ranked No. 45 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the highest in the MAC . . . The Cardinals played 31 non-conference games this season and concluded their non-conference schedule April 21 against Purdue . . . The team finished with a 22-9 record 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 players have earned nine weekly conference awards.
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.
