Ball State University Athletics
Softball Defends MAC Title, Moves To Conference Tournament
May 11, 2010 | Softball
Ball State enters the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed to the Golden Flashes and will play the University at Buffalo at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The winner goes on to play at 5 p.m. Thursday, while the losing team plays at 7:30 p.m.
The Cardinals enter the tournament ranked No. 1 in batting average (.304) and No. 2 in earned run average (2.57) to Miami (1.91) as a team. Additionally, Ball State's 39 wins in the regular season ties the school record set in 1998 for most victories in one season.
The co-MAC champion Cardinals boast five players batting over 300 and are led by Jessie Ware who tallied a .431 batting average and set four single season school records this season, including runs scored (61), hits (78), triples (16) and total bases (140). Ware also leads the team with a .773 slugging percentage, tops the nation in triples and triples per game and is ranked No. 10 in the country in runs scored. In the circle, Ball State's Elizabeth Milian leads the conference and is ranked No. 12 in the nation with 28 victories to five losses. Pitching in 228.2 innings, the ace and Ball State's winningest pitcher in school history, has recorded 259 strikeouts for a Ball State single season record and a 2.14 ERA.
This is the third consecutive year the Cardinals have made it to the conference tournament. After defeating Bowling Green in the opening game of its 2009 showing, Ball State was defeated in consecutive losses to Miami and Akron in the double elimination tournament.
ABOUT BUFFALO
The Bulls finished 9-14 in the MAC, dropping two games to Ball State. The Bulls picked up the seventh seed, after splitting with Bowling Green on Friday, and sweeping Toledo in a doubleheader on Sunday. The trip to the tournament will be just the second in school history, with their only other appearance being in 2005. The team has two players batting over .300 this season with Kristin Waldron leading at a .330 clip with 58 hit, including nine doubles, five triples, one home run and 34 RBI. Ashley Bertot is the second best batting at a .314 clip with 37 hits. Buffalo's bullpen consists of Sharon Barr and Terese Diaz who have posted ERA's of 3.65 and 3.78, respectively.
DIRECTIONS To Firestone Stadium
1575 FIRESTONE PARKWAY
AKRON, OH 44301
(330) 376-8188
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The 2009 tournament bracket is attached above. All-tournament pass adult ticket prices are $40, students with IDs are $24 and children under 12 are $12. Day passes may also be purchased. Visit www.mac-sports.com for more information. Live stats will be available on www.ballstatesports.com as will inning-by-inning Twitter updates courtesy of @BallStSoftball.
