Ball State University Athletics
Softball Heads To Chattanooga For Frost Classic
February 22, 2012 | Softball
►BACK IN ACTION: The Ball State softball team continues its 2012 season this weekend when it heads to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial . . . BSU opens the three-day tournament Friday, with games versus Troy (11 a.m.) and Belmont (3:30 p.m.) . . . BSU will play Cleveland State (11 a.m. ) and Dayton (3:30 p.m.) Saturday, before closing the tournament with a 1:15 p.m. first pitch versus Tennessee Tech on Sunday.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can follow the Cardinals with live stats throughout the Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial . . . The live stats links can be found on the tournament central home page: http://www.gomocs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205364751
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: The Ball State softball program continues its 38th season of play with a 779-885-4 (.468) all-time record, including a 2-2 record so far in 2012 . . . Established as a varsity program in 1975, Ball State has won two Mid-American Conference regular season titles (2009 and 2010), two MAC tournament championships (1998 and 2010) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice (1998 and 2010).
►HEAD COACH CRAIG NICHOLSON: The fastest coach in program history to eclipse the 100-win mark, Craig Nicholson continues his sixth season as Ball State's head coach with a 166-132 (.557) record at BSU, including a 2-2 record so far in 2012 . . . Under his guidance, the program won its first-ever Mid-American Conference regular season championship in 2009 with the best league record in program history (18-3) and repeated the feat in 2010 . . . The 2010 squad, which set program records for wins in a season (43) and winning percentage in a season (.729), also captured just the second MAC Tournament title in program history to advance to the NCAA Tournament . . . Nicholson owns an 889-222 (.800) career coaching record including his 723-90 mark in 11 years at Central Arizona.
►A GLIMPSE AT THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:
TROY scored a nine-inning, 7-4 victory over the Cardinals to cap BSU's play at the Quality Inn Classic last weekend and enters the Frost Classic with a 7-1 overall record . . . The tournament hosts finished the event with a 2-1 record, also topping Eastern Kentucky, 5-4, and losing to No. 5/6 Missouri, 0-4 . . . Hayden Gann leads the Trojans with a .450 batting average, including two home runs . . . Sarah Thomas leads the Troy pitching staff with a 0.00 ERA over 13.2 innings, while logging a 2-0 record and one save . . . Including last Sunday's win, Troy holds a 2-0 edge in the all-time series versus Ball State.
BELMONT enters the Frost Classic with a 0-7 record after suffering losses to Murray State (10-0) and Ole Miss (9-1) in a Sunday doubleheader last weekend . . . Kirbie Ferrell leads the Bruins with a .364 batting average, while Becca Gift has a team-low 9.00 ERA in 23.1 innings of work . . . Belmont has allowed 69 runs over its first seven games, while scoring just 15 . . . Ball State holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series versus the Bruins, including an 8-0 victory in its 2011 season-opener played Feb. 19 at the Austin Peay Spring Classic.
CLEVELAND STATE, who did not play last weekend, opened the 2012 season by going 0-4 at the Palmetto Classic hosted by South Carolina opening weekend . . . In its last game of the event, the Vikings suffered a 7-4 loss to the host Gamecocks . . . Caila Ferro paces CSU with a .462 batting average, including three doubles and a home run . . . Megan Bashak has a team-best 2.00 ERA over 14.0 innings, while owning a 0-2 record . . . Cleveland State holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series, including a 1-0 victory in BSU's second game of the 2011 season Feb. 19 at the Austin Peay Spring Classic.
DAYTON enters the week with a 0-4 record after dropping all four games at the CenturyLink Classic hosted by Texas State . . . Of the four losses, two came versus the host Bobcats . . . Carlyn Harlow paces the Flyers offense with a .500 batting average, while Alysha Isaacson has pitched a team-high 13.0 inning with a 1.62 ERA, three strikeouts and a 0-2 record . . . Ball State is a perfect 7-0 all-time against Dayton, including a doubleheader sweep on March 24, 2011 . . . BSU won the first game 10-2 (5 inn.) and the second 15-1 (5 inn.).
TENNESSEE TECH enters the week with a 4-4 record after posting a 1-2 record at last weekend's Georgia State Panther Invitational . . . TTU topped IUPUI (13-5), before losing to the host Panthers (5-1) and Eastern Illinois (5-4) . . . Sara Poteat leads the Lady Mocs with a .483 batting average, while Taylor Deason has a 3-2 record, a 2.76 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 25.1 innings of work on the mound . . . The Cardinals hold a 3-1 edge in the all-time series versus Tennessee Tech, including a 4-0 victory in its 2010 season opener Feb. 19 at the Phyliss Rafter Memorial Tournament.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Ball State softball team returns 15 letterwinners, including five position starters and four pitchers, from last season's squad which posted a 34-24 (13-8 MAC) record . . . During its opening weekend, the Cardinals logged a 2-2 record at the Quality Inn Classic, hosted by Troy, with wins over East Tennessee State (7-2) and Nicholls State (3-1) and losses to No. 5/6 Missouri (3-2) and Troy (7-4, 9 inn.) . . . Sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager led Ball State at the plate with a .615 batting average, including a pair of two-run home runs, which helped earn her Mid-American Conference West Division and College Sports Madness MAC Softball Player of the Week honors . . . As a team, the Cardinals hit .243 over the four games, with 26 total hits, including five doubles and three homers . . . On the mound, senior right-hander Audrey Workman was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week after earning a 2.52 ERA and a 1-2 record over 16.2 innings of work in three games . . . As a staff, the Cardinals posted a 2.44 ERA over the four games, limiting opposing hitters to a .228 batting average, with 23 total hits . . . Combined, BSU out-scored its opponents 16-13 at the Quality Inn Classic.
►MONTALTO DOUBLES UP: Senior catcher Amanda Montalto smashed her 40th career double in last Sunday's game versus Tory to become BSU's all-time career doubles leader, passing the previous record of 39 set by Kate Shae (2000-03) . . . Montalto entered the season as BSU's career home runs leader and added another blast versus the Trojans to up her career total to 24 . . . Montalto also ranks third on BSU's all-time career list for RBI (106) and walks (77).
►FRESHMEN CONNECTING: A pair of BSU freshman made impressive debuts last weekend at the Quality Inn Classic . . . Freshman outfielder Loren Cihlar was the only BSU player to record in hit in all four games last weekend, including a double in her lone at bat versus No. 5/6 Missouri as a pinch hitter . . . Cihlar, who hit .500 (4-for-8) in the tournament, scored three of BSU's 16 runs and also drew three walks for a .636 on-base percentage . . . Freshman second baseman Taylor Cox recorded a hit in each of BSU's first three games, finishing the weekend with a .333 (4-for-12) batting average . . . Cox's best game came in the season opener versus East Tennessee State, when she went 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI.
►"O CANADA": For the past three years, sophomore outfielder Jennifer Gilbert has played in numerous international competitions as part of the Canadian National Team Program . . . This past December, Gilbert (who was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) helped guide the Canadian Junior Women's National Team to a fifth-place showing at the ISF IX Junior Women's World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa (Dec. 6-17) . . . In the event, Gilbert hit .411 with 14 hits in 34 at bats, including a grand slam . . . Gilbert also played for the 2010 Canadian Junior Women's National Team and the 2009 Canadian Women's U16 National Team.
►GILBERT DELIVERS VERSUS ETSU: With Ball State trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Jennifer Gilbert sliced a two-run double up the middle to drive in what turned out to be the game-winning runs in BSU's 7-2 victory over East Tennessee State . . . She also tagged a sacrifice fly in the sixth to drive the final run across . . . The three RBI mark the 19th time in her career that Gilbert has driven in multiple runs in a game . . . Her best effort was a six RBI game versus Western Michigan (May 6, 2011) to help the Cardinals secure 12-4 victory over the Broncos.
►RAGER IN THE RANKINGS: After her solid opening weekend, Taylor Rager enters the week ranked first in the Mid-American Conference in slugging percentage (1.077), home runs per game (.50), RBI per game (1.25) and total bases per game (3.50) . . . Her .615 batting average ranks third among all league players, while her on base percentage of .667 ties for second.
