Ball State University Athletics
Softball Starts Spring Break Trip At Citrus Classic
March 01, 2012 | Softball
►MIGRATING SOUTH: The Ball State softball team opens its annual spring break trip Friday, when it battles South Alabama at 10 a.m. in the 2012 Citrus Classic in Kissimmee, Fla., at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort . . . The Cardinals will also play Temple (2:30 p.m.) Friday, St. John's (4:45 p.m.) and Lipscomb (7 p.m.) Saturday and LIU Brooklyn (1:30 p.m.) Sunday.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can follow the Cardinals with live stats throughout the Citrus Classic at: http://www.ballstatesports.com/livestats
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After compiling a 3-2 record at the Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial last week, the Ball State softball program moved its all-time record to 782-887-4 (.469) in 37-plus seasons of play . . . 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 169-134 (.558) record at BSU, including a 5-4 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 892-224 (.799) career coaching record including his 723-90 mark in 11 years at Central Arizona.
►A GLIMPSE AT THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:
SOUTH ALABAMA enters the week with a 6-5 record after going 2-2 at last weekend's Tiger Classic hosted by LSU . . . At the event, the Jaguars scored wins over Alcorn State (8-0) and McNeese State (3-0), while falling to host LSU twice (5-4 & 1-0) . . . Alyssa Linn leads USA with a .433 batting average, while Hannah Campbell is the team's top starting pitcher with a 3-4 record and a 3.42 ERA . . . The Jaguars are hitting .302 as a team, while limiting opposing hitters to a .249 mark . . . The will be the first meeting in softball for Ball State and South Alabama.
TEMPLE opened its 2012 season last weekend by going 2-3 at the Chanticleer Challenge hosted by Coastal Carolina . . . The Owls scored wins over IPFW (2-1) and Sacred Heart (12-2) at the three-day event, while losing to Coastal Carolina twice (4-0 & 7-0) and in its second game versus IPFW (4-0) . . . Brooklin White and Lacey McKeon each have .500 batting averages, with White starting three of the games on the mound earning a 2-1 record and a 5.29 ERA . . . Temple is hitting .220 as a team, while allowing opponents to bat .254 . . . Ball State holds a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Owls, including a 7-0 victory in the last meeting March 13, 2010.
ST. JOHN'S enters the week with a 2-10 overall record after posting a 1-4 mark at last weekend's Citrus Classic at ESPN Wide World of Sports . . . The Red Storm's lone win came versus Maryland (11-3) . . . SJU suffered losses to Florida State (5-1), Marshall (8-0), Wisconsin (3-0) and Southern Illinois (4-3) . . . Kristi Cady leads St. John's with a .432 batting average, while Ashley Beza has started seven games on the mound, posting an 1-6 record and a 3.36 ERA . . . The Red Storm are batting .265 as a team, while allowing opponent to hit .346 . . . This will be just the second meeting between BSU and SJU, with the Cardinals scoring an 11-2 victory in the first contest Feb. 16, 2008.
LIPSCOMB enters the week with a 7-3 overall record after going 4-0 at last weekend's College of Charleston Classic, earning wins over Virginia Tech (2-0), Wagner (7-6), Middle Tennessee State (8-0) and Louisiana-Monroe (2-0) . . . Kelsey Cartwright leads the team with a .406 batting average, while Whitney Kiihnl has a 7-2 record and 1.30 ERA on the mound for the Lady Bison . . . Lipscomb hits .254 as a team, while limiting opponents to a .238 average . . . Ball State holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series, including a 5-3 win in the last meeting Feb. 24, 2008.
LIU BROOKLYN enters the week with a 2-13 overall record after going 1-4 last weekend at the Cathedral City Classic hosted by Oregon State in Cathedral City, Calif. . . . After losing to No. 14 Stanford (3-0), New Mexico (7-1), BYU (11-4) and Iowa (7-0), the Blackbirds ended the tournament with a 5-2 win over Long Beach State . . . Emily Kakuska has a team-best .222 batting average, while Sarah Reynolds has a 1-8 record and a 3.64 ERA in 10 starts on the mound . . . LIU Brooklyn in batting .162 as a team, while its opponents are connected for at a .281 rate . . . The all-time series is currently tied at 1-1, with BSU suffering a 3-1 loss at the Under Armour Showcase March 11, 2011.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Ball State softball team improved to 5-4 this season after going 3-2 at the Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial hosted by UT-Chattanooga last weekend . . . BSU picked up wins over Belmont (14-3), Cleveland State (3-0) and Dayton (6-3), book ended by losses to Troy (9-4) and Tennessee Tech (2-1) . . . Sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel led Ball State at the plate with a .585 batting average over the five games, including three doubles and a home run . . . As a team, the Cardinals hit .319 at the Frost Classic, with 43 total hits, including 13 doubles and four homers . . . On the mound, senior right-hander Audrey Workman earned a 0.76 ERA and a 1-2 record over 18.1 innings of work in three games . . . Classmate Kim Mazzapica went 2-0 on the mound with a 3.68 ERA in 13.1 innings of work . . . As a staff, the Cardinals posted a 1.93 ERA, while limiting opposing hitters to a .219 batting average and 25 total hits . . . Combined, BSU out-scored its opponents 28-11 at the Frost Classic.
►MAKE IT THREE: Sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel became the third Ball State player to be honored by the MAC this season when she was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for her effort at the Frost Classic Inspired by Memorial . . . Thanks to her stellar play during the three-day tournament, Bickel enters the week ranked first in the league in on base percentage (.613), first in walks (9), second in doubles (4), third in slugging percentage (.800) and ninth in batting average (.450).
►MONTALTO DOUBLES UP: Senior catcher Amanda Montalto smashed her 40th career double at Troy (Feb. 19) to become BSU's all-time career doubles leader, passing the previous record of 39 set by Kate Shae (2000-03) . . . After collecting two more doubles at the Frost Classic, Montalto enters BSU's 11-day spring break trip with 42 career doubles . . . Montalto also entered the 2012 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 (81).
►FRESHMEN CONNECTING: After batting .444 (4-for-9) at the Frost Classic, freshman outfielder Loren Cihlar enters the Citrus Classic as the team leader with a .471 (8-for-17) batting average . . . She has two doubles and four walks on the year . . . Freshman second baseman Taylor Cox is fifth on the squad with a .318 (7-for-22) average . . . Freshmen Jessica Craft and Hanne Stuedemann each collected their first career hit at the Frost Classic, with both tallying RBI singles for their first base knocks.
►"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 GIVES PITCHERS THE CHILLS: Jennifer Gilbert enters the week with a team-best five game hitting streak after recording a hit in each game at the Frost Classic . . . Her best outing came versus Belmont when she went 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double and a single . . . Her second blast of the game was also the second grand slam of her career, which helped her finish the contest with six RBI . . . Gilbert also went yard in the win over Cleveland State . . . She enters the Citrus Classic ranked first in the MAC in home runs (3) and RBI (10), while ranking third in runs scored (8).
►WORKMAN DEALING: Senior right-handed pitcher Audrey Workman finds herself ranked fifth in the MAC with a 1.60 ERA after allowing just two earned runs over 18.1 innings of work at the Frost Classic . . . She limited opposing batters to just 12 hits and a .197 batting average in three appearance at the tournament, while striking out 20 batters . . . Her 30 strikeouts on the year rank fifth in the league.
