Ball State University Athletics
Softball Travels To Wright State Wednesday
April 03, 2012 | Softball
►THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: After a Wednesday trip to Wright State for a non-conference contest, the Ball State softball team finally opens the home portion of its 2012 slate with a Friday Mid-American Conference doubleheader versus Ohio . . . The Cardinals will remain home the rest of Easter weekend with Akron coming to visit the BSU Softball Complex for single games Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
►FOLLOW LIVE: Ball State fans can follow the action this week with live stats for all five games at the following link: http://ballstatesports.com/livestats . . . In addition, Sports Link Radio WCRD 91.3 FM will broadcast both of BSU's Friday games over the airwaves and online at the following link: http://ballstatesports.com/liveevents.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After posting a 3-2 record last week, the Ball State softball program moved its all-time record to 797-893-4 (.472) 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 184-140 (.568) record at BSU, including a 20-10 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 907-230 (.798) career coaching record including his 723-90 mark in 11 years at Central Arizona.
►THE FIRST TO 20: With its 11-10 (8 inning) victory over Northern Illinois Sunday, the Ball State softball team became the first program in the Mid-American Conference to reach 20 wins this season . . . The Cardinals current 20-10 record ranks BSU 53rd nationally with a .667 winning percentage out of 289 NCAA Division I programs.
►A GLIMPSE AT THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:
WRIGHT STATE enters Wednesday's non-conference showdown with a 14-17 overall record after going 3-2 last week . . . The Raiders dropped both games of a doubleheader at Ohio State Wednesday (6-0 / 6-2), before rebounding to sweep a three-game Horizon League series versus Detroit (3-1 / 8-1 / 8-0) . . . Colleen Schneider leads WSU with a .333 batting average and has a team-high 15 RBI . . . Kacie Rapshus is second among the Raiders' regular starters with a .326 batting average . . . In the circle, Krystian DeWitt has started 23 of WSU's 31 games and owns a 10-15 record and a 2.87 ERA . . . Ball State holds a 9-2 advantage in the all-time series against Wright State, including a 9-0 (5) win in a April 12 match up last season.
OHIO enters Friday's doubleheader with a 14-15 (3-1 MAC) record after going 4-2 last week . . . The Bobcats split a Tuesday non-conference doubleheader versus Eastern Kentucky (W, 4-1 / L, 0-9), before opening league play with a Friday split versus Bowling Green (L, 2-4 / W, 3-1) . . . Ohio would go on to end the weekend with a sweep of Toledo (15-1 /4-3) . . . Jillian Van Wagnen paces the Bobcats' starters with a .392 batting average and has scored a team-best 19 runs . . . Alexis Joseph is second on the squad in both batting average (.299) and runs scored (15) . . . Lauren McClary is Ohio's top starting pitcher with an 8-8 record and a 3.42 ERA . . . Ball State holds a 36-33-1 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio, including a pair of wins last season in Athens . . . BSU won the first contest 7-6 (8) and the nightcap 12-5.
AKRON enters the week with an 11-18-1 (0-4 MAC) record prior to a Tuesday doubleheader against Niagara . . . Last week, the Zips went 0-5-1 starting with a Tuesday twinbill against Youngstown State in which it lost the first game 7-6 and tied the second 5-5 (6) due to darkness . . . Akron opened league Friday by getting swept by Toledo (8-0 / 12-7), before closing the weekend with a pair of losses to Bowling Green (4-0 / 7-6) . . . Alissa Birkhimer leads Akron with a .371 batting average and 19 RBI . . . Rachael Ratcliffe is second on the squad with a .350 batting average and 15 RBI . . . Brittany Maurer is Akron's top pitcher with a 10-15 record and a 3.92 ERA . . . Ball State holds a 23-21 lead in the all-time series versus the Zips after splitting a pair of games last season . . . BSU won the opener 7-1 (April 2, 2011), while Akron took the second 1-0 (April 3, 2011).
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 20-10 (1-1 MAC) record after splitting a weekend series at Northern Illinois, losing the first game 12-5 and winning the second 11-10 (8) . . . BSU's Friday doubleheader at Western Michigan was rained out . . . Senior catcher/designated player Amanda Montalto leads the team with a .385 batting average, while sophomore third baseman Audrey Bickel is second at .333 . . . As a team, the Cardinals are first in the league with a .308 batting average, including a MAC-best 31 home runs . . . On the mound, senior right-hander Audrey Workman has a 2.17 ERA and a 10-7 record over 106.2 innings of work, while classmate Kim Mazzapica is 10-3 in the circle with a 2.53 ERA over 91.1 innings . . . As a staff, the Cardinals rank second in the league with a 2.32 ERA, while limiting opposing hitters to a .234 batting average and just 66 earned runs in 199 innings of work . . . Combined, BSU has out-scored its opponents 177-96 this season.
►GOING, GOING, GONE: In addition to leading the Mid-American Conference, the Cardinals enter the week ranked 21st in the nation with a 1.03 home runs per game average . . . Sophomore first baseman Taylor Rager leads BSU's sluggers and ranks 89th nationally with a 0.23 hpg average, having blasted seven homers this season . . . The Cardinals are on pace to shatter the school record for home runs in the season set last year at 44 . . . Through the first 30 games this season, BSU has already tallied 31 home runs, compared to 16 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, ranking sixth in the nation with a 1.73 doubles per game average . . . Sophomore outfielder Jennifer Gilbert leads the MAC and ranks 13th nationally with a 0.37 double-per-game average, while Amanda Montalto is second in the league and 25th nationally at 0.33 . . . BSU has collected 52 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 20th nationally . . . BSU players have combined for eight triples so far this year, which ranks the squad 28th in the nation in triples per game (0.27).
►MONTALTO IN THE RANKINGS: Amanda Montalto enters the week as one of the greatest sluggers in MAC history . . . BSU's career leader in home runs (29) and doubles (48), 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 . . . Montalto also ranks second on BSU's all-time career list for RBI (125), which is fifth in the conference, and third for walks (92), which is third in league annals.
►"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.
►STEPPING IT UP: Senior infielder Alison Mercado has done a great job filling in at shortstop for the injured Jessica Craft over the last 11 games, leading the team with a .464 (13-for-28) batting average over the span . . . Mercado, who started all 58 games at second base for BSU last season, came up with BSU's biggest hit last Sunday in the come-from-behind win over Northern Illinois by driving in the game-tying run with a RBI single past the third baseman with two outs in the seventh inning.
►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 116 walks so far this season . . . Bowling Green is second in the league with just 86 walks . . . Amanda Montalto ranks second in the MAC with 19 free passes, while freshman designated player/outfielder Hanne Stuedemann is fourth with 16.
►CARDS DEALING: FROM THE CIRCLE: The Ball State pitching staff entered the week ranked second in the MAC with a 2.32 team ERA . . . Senior right-handed pitcher Audrey Workman was fifth at 2.17, while senior right-hander Kim Mazzapica was eighth at 2.53 . . . Both Workman and Mazzapica are tied for second in the league with 10 wins . . . Workman was also fourth in complete games (12), fifth in innings pitched (106.2), seventh in strikeouts (75) and seventh in opponent batting average (.221) . . . Mazzapica was also sixth in complete games (9) and eighth in innings pitched (91.1).
►CARDINALS SHOWING THE GLOVE: With BSU ranking in the top 35 nationally in nearly every offensive category, including its .308 team batting average, it's easy to forget about the Cardinals' top-notch defense . . . BSU enters the week ranked 49th among the 289 NCAA Division I teams with a 0.968 fielding percentage . . . In addition, the Cardinals have turned a MAC-best 16 double plays and rank seventh in the nation with a 0.53 double plays-per-game average . . . Wednesday's opponent Wright State enters the week ranked first in the nation with a 0.65 double plays-per-game average.
