Ball State University Athletics
Saturday's Softball Game Rained Out, DH Sunday
April 13, 2012 | Softball
►THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team will make its second trip to Oxford, Ohio, this season when it opens a two-game Mid-American Conference crossover series versus Miami at 2 p.m. Saturday . . . The Cardinals and RedHawks will conclude the two-game set with a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday.
►FOLLOW LIVE: Ball State fans can follow the action this weekend with live stats for both games at the following link: http://ballstatesports.com/livestats.
►SPORTS LINK TV: For the first time in program history, the Ball State softball team will have several of its home games televised thanks to Ball State Sports Link . . . The first and only academic program in the nation where students are totally immersed in sports and electronic media, Ball State Sports Link will produce the April 20 doubleheader versus Eastern Michigan and the April 21 series opener against Central Michigan . . . The April 22 contest versus Central Michigan could also be pick up and will serve as a rain date if one of the previous two dates are cancelled due to weather . . . The games will appear live on campus (Cardinal Vision 57) and can be watched free online at http://ballstatesports.com/liveevents . . . In addition, the games will be tape delayed on Comcast Indiana 81 and Fox College Sports with the possibility of airing live throughout the state on Comcast Indiana 81 depending on other scheduling factors.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After splitting a Thursday non-conference doubleheader with Purdue, the Ball State softball program upped its all-time record to 802-895-4 (.473) 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 picked up his 900th collegiate coaching victory versus Northern Colorado (March 11) . . . In his sixth season as Ball State's head coach, Nicholson has amassed a 189-142 (.571) record at BSU, including a 25-12 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 a 912-232 (.797) career coaching record including his 723-90 mark in 11 years at Central Arizona.
►THE FIRST TO 20: The first team from the Mid-American Conference to reach 20 wins this season, the Cardinals are currently tied with Miami for the best overall record in the league at 25-12 (.676) . . . BSU entered the week ranked 42nd in the nation among the 289 NCAA Division I programs with a .686 winning percentage.
►SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS: Miami enters the weekend with a 25-12 (6-2 MAC) record after sweeping a Thursday doubleheader versus Morehead State . . . The RedHawks won the first game 5-2 and the nightcap 7-5 . . . Daniela Torres leads the Miami offense with a .343 batting average and 21 RBI . . . Kirstie Fehrenbach is second on the team with a .331 average and has scored a team-high 25 runs . . . Jessica Simpson is the RedHawks' aces in the circle, as she leads the team and the MAC in wins (16), ERA (1.20), strikeouts (192) and opponent's batting average (.185) . . . Ball State holds a 45-39 advantage in the all-time series versus Miami, despite a season-ending 4-1 loss (May 13) to the RedHawks in the MAC Tournament a year ago . . . The Cardinals did sweep the regular season series in 2011 by scores of 5-3 (April 9) and 1-0 (April 10).
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 25-12 (4-2 MAC) overall record after Thursday's doubleheader split with Purdue . . . Senior shortstop Alison Mercado paces the Ball State offense with a .392 batting average, while senior catcher/designated player Amanda Montalto is second at .389 . . . As a team, the Cardinals are first in the league with a .311 batting average, including a MAC-best 39 home runs . . . On the mound, senior right-hander Audrey Workman has a 2.58 ERA and an 11-9 record over 130.0 innings of work, while classmate Kim Mazzapica is 14-3 in the circle with a 2.86 ERA over 115.0 innings . . . As a staff, the Cardinals enter the weekend with a 2.70 ERA, while limiting opposing hitters to a .246 batting average and just 95 earned runs in 246.0 innings of work . . . Combined, BSU has out-scored its opponents 229-131 this season.
►GOING, GOING, GONE: In addition to leading the Mid-American Conference, the Cardinals entered the week ranked 20th in the nation with a 1.06 home runs per game average . . . The Cardinals added two more home runs Thursday versus Purdue to move its average to 1.05 . . . Sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager, sophomore outfielder Jennifer Gilbert and Amanda Montalto are tied for the team lead with eight long balls apiece . . . The Cardinals are on pace to shatter the school record for home runs in the season set last year at 44 . . . Through the first 37 games this season, BSU has already tallied 39 home runs, compared to 20 in the same span in 2011.
►DOUBLING UP: As impressive as the home run total is, the Cardinals are even better when it comes to two-base hits, entering the week ranked second in the nation with a 1.80 doubles per game average . . . BSU sluggers combined for five double Thursday, improving the average to 1.84 . . . Jennifer Gilbert leads the MAC and entered the week ranked third nationally with a 0.40 doubles-per-game average, while Amanda Montalto was second in the league and 30th nationally at 0.31 . . . BSU has collected 68 two-base hits so far in 2012, with the school record standing at 93 set in 2010.
►DON'T FORGET THE TRIPLES: Amanda Montalto also owns a team-best three triples this season, which ranks second in the MAC and 30th nationally . . . BSU players have combined for 11 triples this year, including two by Jennifer Gilbert and two from freshman second baseman Taylor Cox, and the team entered the week ranked 29th in the nation in triples per game (0.26).
►MONTALTO IN THE RANKINGS: Amanda Montalto enters the weekend as one of the greatest sluggers in MAC history . . . BSU's career leader in home runs (31) and doubles (51), she ranks second in both categories in MAC history . . . Akron's Kelli Metzger (1996-99) is the MAC's all-time home runs leader at 57, while Ohio's Jenn Morris (1996-99) is the league's all-time doubles leader with 55 . . . With three RBI Thursday, Montalto also moved to second in league annals with her school-record 133 career RBI and trails only Metzger's total of 167 . . . Her 98 career walks are also second in both program and league history.
►"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.
►HEATING UP: Over the last 17 games, Jennifer Gilbert has been the hottest hitter on the club with a .441 batting average . . . She has recorded 26 hits during the span, including nine doubles, five home runs and two triples . . . Her 23 runs scored are also a team-high, while her 18 RBI tie for the team lead.
►SCORING MACHINE: Jennifer Gilbert entered the week as the only player in the MAC and one of just 36 players nationally to average over a run per game this season . . . Through 37 games, Gilbert has scored 40 runs for an 1.08 average . . . She is also tied for the team lead with 33 RBI for a 0.89 average . . . Factoring out eight RBI for her eight home runs (so the runs are not counted twice), Gilbert has been directly responsible for 65 of BSU's 229 runs this season, which equates to 28.4 percent of Ball State's scoring offense.
►THE STREAK IS ON: Hanne Stuedemann enters the weekend having reached base safely in each of the past 28 games, while Jennifer Gilbert is right behind at 20 games . . . Stuedemann's, who did not reach base in her first five collegiate games, streak includes reaching base on a hit in 20 games, by a walk six times and being hit by a pitch twice . . . Gilbert's career-long streak includes 16 games with a hit, three games with a walk and one game by being hit by a pitch.
►WALK THIS WAY: In addition to being the league's top hitting team, the Cardinals have also shown tremendous patience at the plate with a league-leading 146 walks this season . . . Entering the week, Bowling Green was second in the league with 108 walks . . . Amanda Montalto entered the week ranked second in the MAC with 25 free passes, while sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel was third (21) and freshman designated player/outfielder Hanne Stuedemann was fifth (18) . . . Stuedemann added one walk versus Purdue to raise her total to 19.
►CARDS DEALING FROM THE CIRCLE: The Ball State pitching staff enters the weekend with a 2.70 team ERA . . . Senior right-handed pitcher Audrey Workman paces the team with a 2.58 ERA, while senior right-hander Kim Mazzapica follows at 2.86 . . . Mazzapica leads Ball State and ranks second in the conference with 14 wins, while Workman is tied for third in the conference with 11 wins.
►CARDINALS SHOWING THE GLOVE: With BSU ranking in the top 30 nationally in nearly every offensive category, including its .311 team batting average, it's easy to forget about the Cardinals' top-notch defense . . . BSU entered the week ranked 45th among the 289 NCAA Division I teams with a 0.968 fielding percentage . . . In addition, the Cardinals have turned a MAC-best 24 double plays and rank second in the nation with a 0.65 double plays-per-game average.
