Ball State University Athletics
Softball Plays In Conference Championship Game Saturday
May 15, 2010 | Softball
The Ball State softball team has maintained a perfect 3-0 record in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Akron, Ohio and will play in the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. With a 42-14 overall record, the MAC West Division champion Cardinals will take on Kent State who defeated Northern Illinois 1-0 in the early afternoon game Saturday.
"Every game is different - they are going to do different things, we are going to do different things," says Ball State head coach Craig Nicholson. "We just need to stay on our schedule of what we've been doing all week."
Ball State's journey to the championship opened with a 7-0 win against Buffalo Wednesday. Then, the Cardinals defeated Northern Illinois 16-1 Thursday - which set a tournament record in runs scored until Miami defeated Buffalo 17-1 in the next game at Firestone Stadium. The Cardinals most recent win was Friday when they shutout Kent State, the No. 1 seed and co-MAC champions of the regular season with Ball State, 6-0.
Elizabeth Milian (Grand Blanch, Mich./Grand Blanc), a First Team All-MAC selection for the second consecutive year, has pitched all 21 inning for the Cardinals and leads the tournament with a near spotless 0.33 ERA, which includes seven hits and one run, and 31 strikeouts. A four-year ace for Ball State, Milian is 31-5 in the circle this season and has recorded 12 of the team's 15 shutouts this season. She is ranked No. 15 in the nation in victories in games played before May 9.
On offense, the Cardinals are led by MAC All-Freshman Team selection Amanda Carpenter (Santee, Calif./Santana) whose .500 batting average is the fourth best in the tournament. She is the leader in triples (2) and RBI (9).
First Team All-MAC selection for the second year in a row, junior Lisa Rozanski (Tampa, Fla./Alonso) leads the tournament in runs scored (6) and stolen bases (3-3). Rozanski is ranked No. 20 in the country for stolen bases in games played before May 9.
Ball State also tops the tournament in fielding and have made just two errors for a fielding percentage of .976.
Live stats from Saturday's game will be available on www.ballstatesports.com and inning-by-inning updates provided on Twitter by @BallStSoftball. Also, check www.mac-sports.com for specific tournament information.
