Ball State University Athletics
Softball Opens 2015 Season Friday In Nashville
February 05, 2015 | Softball
► LET THE GAMES BEGIN: The Ball State softball team opens its 41st season of competition Friday, when it faces South Dakota at 1:30 p.m. CT in the Music City Classic which is co-hosted by Belmont and Lipscomb in Nashville, Tenn. ... The Cardinals will battle a pair of in-state rivals at the event Saturday, in IUPUI (9 a.m. CT) and Indiana State (11:30 a.m. CT) ... Ball State closes play in the classic Sunday versus host Lipscomb (2:30 p.m. CT) ... All four of Ball State's games in the Music City Classic are scheduled to be played at Lipscomb's Draper Diamond.
► LISTEN LIVE: Audio for all four of this weekend's games will be streamed LIVE and FREE on BallStateSports.com, with Torey Fox returning for his third season as the play-by-play announcer for the Cardinals ... Fans can tune in by calling up http://BallStateSports.com/liveevents on their favorite web browser.
► MORE WAYS TO FOLLOW THE ACTION: Cardinals fans can also follow the action at the Music City Classic with live stats for all four games on the tournament central page (http://www.belmontbruins.com/sports/w-softbl/2014-15/2015MusicCityClassic) or on the live stats page of BallStateSports.com (http://BallStateSports.com/livestats) ... Fans can also get regular updates by following the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, Instagram: @BallStateSB and Facebook: BallStateSoftball.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After posting a 33-19 overall record in 2014, the Ball State softball program enters the 2015 season with an 887-934-4 (.487) all-time record in 40 seasons of play ... Established as a varsity program in 1975, Ball State has won five Mid-American Conference regular season titles (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014), two MAC Tournament championships (1998 and 2010) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice (1998 and 2010).
► HEAD COACH TYRA PERRY: After leading the Ball State softball team to a 12-4 league record, the 2014 MAC regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the 2014 MAC Softball Tournament, Tyra Perry became the first first-year coach in program history to earn MAC Coach of the Year accolades ... A two-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year (2009 & 2013), Perry was named the eighth head coach in Ball State softball history Aug. 6, 2013 ... Perry enters the 2015 season with a 375-363-1 (.508) career record, including a 33-19 ledger at Ball State ... Prior to coming to Ball State, Perry had six-year head coaching stints at both Western Kentucky (2008-13) and Birmingham-Southern (2002-07) ... In 2013, Perry guided WKU to the program's first-ever NCAA Regional appearance and to a final ranking of 26th in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the highest final ranking in program history ... The Lady Toppers also posted the program's first 40-plus win season (43-18) under Perry's tutelage in 2013, and earned its first SBC regular season title with a 20-3 league record.
► OFF TO AN EARLY START: When the Cardinals take the field versus South Dakota Friday, it will mark the earliest start to a season in program history ... The previous mark for earliest start was set last season, when Ball State scored a 7-2 win at Texas State on Feb. 8 in the Century Link Classic ... The Cardinals were scheduled to play one day earlier, but snow and freezing rain delayed the start of the tournament by one day ... Prior to the Tyra Perry era, the earliest Ball State had played a softball game was Feb. 12, 2005, when it picked up an 8-0 (6 inn.) victory over Southern Illinois at the Ole Miss Tournament.
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Ball State softball team returns 13 letterwinners, including four position starters and both starting pitchers, from last season's squad which posted a 33-19 (12-4 MAC) record and won the program's fifth MAC regular season title in the past six years ... Highlighting the list of returning players are First Team All-MAC selection Sammi Cowger (Jr./OF) and Second Team All-MAC honoree Nicole Steinbach (Jr./RHP) ... Returning position players include Emily Dabkowski (Jr./2B), Selena Reyna (Jr./SS), Loren Cihlar (Sr./OF) and Shelbie Scamihorn (So./C) ... Also returning as a starter in the circle is Kelsey Schifferdecker (Jr./RHP).
► THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
SOUTH DAKOTA: The Coyotes are picked to finish third in The Summit League Preseason Softball Poll ... South Dakota returns its top five hitters and its entire pitching staff from last season's squad which posted a 29-22 (9-8 SL) record ... Friday's game will mark the first meeting between the two programs.
IUPUI: The Jaguars are picked to finish fourth in The Summit League Preseason Softball Poll ... IUPUI returns 14 letterwinners, including three all-league performers, from last season's squad which posted a 24-24 (7-10 SL) record ... The Cardinals hold a 12-1 advantage in the all-time series versus the Jaguars, including 11 straight wins ... In the latest meeting between the two clubs, Ball State opened the 2013 season with a 15-5 win over IUPUI on Feb. 16 as part of the KSU Classic hosted by Kennesaw State.
INDIANA STATE: The Sycamores are picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Softball Poll ... Indiana State returns eight position starters and both pitchers from last season's team which posted the program's first winning season in 22 years with a 27-26 (5-19 MVC) record ... Ball State owns a 31-24 advantage in the all-time series which last saw the teams play March 1, 2008, with the Cardinals earning a 5-1 victory.
LIPSCOMB: The Lady Bisons are picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Softball Poll ... Lipscomb returns five position starters and two pitchers from last season's squad which produced a 41-15 (18-8 A-Sun) record ... Ball State holds a 3-1 lead in the all-time series versus Lipscomb, despite suffering a 3-1 loss to the Lady Bison on March 25, 2012, in the final game of the Mustang Classic hosted by Cal Poly ... The Cardinals did score a 2-0 win over Lipscomb earlier in the 2012 season (March 3) at the Citrus Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
► MAC PRESEASON POLL: The Ball State softball team was picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the league's annual preseason coaches poll ... Central Michigan edged out Ball State for the top spot in the division by picking up six first place votes, compared to five for the Cardinals ... Northern Illinois earned the final first place vote in the division and was selected third, followed by Western Michigan, Toledo and Eastern Michigan ... Ball State also garnered a pair of votes to win the 2015 MAC Tournament.
► CLASS OF THE MAC: Ball State's three-member senior class, which includes Jessica Craft, Hanne Stuedemann and Loren Cihlar, are in the position to do what no Mid-American Conference senior class has ever done, finish their careers as four-time MAC regular season champions ... In fact, the three comprise one of only two classes in league history to win three consecutive titles, joining last season's Ball State senior class of Audrey Bickel, Jennifer Gilbert, Taylor Rager and Lauren Schroeder.
► THE LAST SIX YEARS IN THE MAC: Over the past six seasons, Ball State has proven to be the league's premier program by tallying a 95-26 (.785) record in league play during the span ... Ball State has captured five MAC regular season titles and one MAC Tournament championship during the run ... Kent State has the second-best league record over the past six seasons at 78-44 (.639), while Miami (77-53/.592), Ohio (73-55/.570) and Northern Illinois (66-62/.516) round out the top five programs.
► WINNING IN THE CIRCLE: Junior Kelsey Schifferdecker enters the 2015 season tied for eighth in program history with 30 career pitching victories, while junior Nicole Steinbach is not far behind, ranking 11th with 29 career wins in a Ball State uniform ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) is the program's all-time wins leader at 85 ... A two-time Second Team All-MAC selection, Steinbach also enters the 2015 season tied for second in BSU annals with six career saves, while her 206 career strikeouts are 11th.
► BUILDING ON A STRONG SOPHOMORE SEASON: Junior second baseman Emily Dabkowski looks to build upon a strong sophomore campaign in which she tied for first on the team by helping account for 13 game-winning runs ... Dabkowski scored the winning run eight times, while adding five game-winning RBI ... She also reached base safely in 42 of Ball State's 52 games and put together a career-best 10-game hitting streak starting at No. 3 Arizona State (March 2) and ending following a single at No. 23 Auburn (March 15).
► DABKOWSKI CLUTCH IN 2014: Emily Dabkowski drove in what proved to be the game-winning run at No. 3 Arizona State (March 2) with a two-out RBI single through the left side in the top of the seventh ... She also showed a flair for the dramatic versus Murray State (Feb. 22) with an eighth inning walk-off two-run homer to give BSU the 5-3 victory ... In BSU's 7-4 win at Northern Illinois (April 11), Dabkowski smashed her first career grand slam with two outs in the seventh to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run ... Dabkowski added another game-winning home run at Indiana (April 16), blasting a three-run shot with one out in the seventh.
► THE LONG BALL; 2015 EDITION: Junior outfielder Hanne Stuedemann enters her senior campaign as Ball State's active career leader with 18 home runs ... The total currently ranks seventh in program history ... Junior shortstop Selena Reyna leads Ball State's active players with three career grand slams, while Stuedemann and Emily Dabkowski each have one ... Reyna is 13th on Ball State's career list with nine home runs, while Dabkowski is tied for 19th with six.
► MAKING A RUN FOR IT: Senior outfielder Loren Cihlar enters the 2015 season ranked first in program history with a .908 (29-for-32) career stolen base percentage ... She went 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts last season, after finishing the 2013 campaign as one of only two players in program history to finish a year with a perfect stolen base percentage (min. 10 attempts), going 11-for-11 ... Cihlar also ranks 12th in program history with 88 career runs scored.
► COWGER STEPS UP IN MAC PLAY: Junior outfielder/pitcher Sammi Cowger was named to the 2014 All-MAC First Team after posting a .343 (12-for-25) batting average in league play last season ... She crushed her first career home run in Ball State's 15-2 (5 inn.) win over Akron (April 18) and also had a pair of doubles in league action ... Cowger was sixth in MAC-only contest with a .478 on base percentage, having been walked and hit by a pitch five times each.
► IN THE NCAA STAT RANKINGS: Ball State finished the 2014 season ranked in the top 50 nationally (of 289 teams) in nearly every major offensive category ... The Cardinals ranked seventh in doubles per game (1.62), eighth in slugging percentage (.527), 13th in batting average (.322), 19th in home runs per game (1.15), 33rd in scoring (5.73) and 49th in triples per game (0.23).
