Softball Opens NCAA Regional Play Friday At Notre Dame
May 13, 2015 | Softball
► NCAA BOUND: The Ball State softball team opens play in the 2015 NCAA South Bend Regional Friday with a 5 p.m. game versus regional host and 16th seed Notre Dame ... The regional's 2 p.m. game features Kentucky and Northwestern.
►HOW THEY GOT HERE: Ball State advanced to the 2015 NCAA South Bend Regional by winning the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament ... The Cardinals went a perfect 4-0 in the event, with an 11-3 (6) win over No. 5 seed Western Michigan in the championship game ... Notre Dame, Kentucky and Northwestern all received at-large bids into the regional.
► FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State softball fans can follow the Cardinals in this weekend's NCAA South Bend Regional by visiting the Notre Dame's Regional Championship Page at: http://www.und.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/nd-regional-central-15.html ... Fans can also get updates by following the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, Instagram: @BallStateSB and Facebook: BallStateSoftball.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: With a 33-23 record so far in 2015, Ball State softball enters the 2015 NCAA South Bend Regional with a 920-957-4 (.490) all-time record in 40-plus 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 & 2014), six MAC West Division crowns (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015), three MAC Tournament championships (1998, 2010 & 2015) and advanced to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship three times (1998, 2010 & 2015).
► BALL STATE IN THE NCAA REGIONALS: Ball State will be making its third appearance in the NCAA Division I Softball Championships and first since the 2010 season ... The Cardinals' first NCAA Championship appearance came in 1998, when Ball State suffered losses to Michigan (12-1 in 5) and Illinois-Chicago (6-1) in Ann Arbor ... Ball State traveled to the Knoxville Regional in 2010, falling to host Tennessee (5-0) and Louisville (5-1).
► BALL STATE IN THE NCAA REGIONALS PART 2: Alicia Barkley owns the program record for hits in an NCAA Regional with four, logging two in each game the Cardinals played in the 2010 Knoxville Regional ... Four other Ball State players have two hits in regional play ... Of the Cardinals 19 all-time regional hits, 16 have been singles and three have been doubles ... Amanda Carpenter (in 2010) and Amy Doyle (in 1998) are the only two Cardinals with RBI in regional action.
► BALL STATE VERSUS 2015 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: Ball State has played 12 games versus 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Championship teams, going 0-12 in those games ... Among South Bend Regional opponents, Ball State has only played Northwestern, dropping a 13-0 (5) contest to the Wildcats (March 8) as part of the Louisville Classic.
► BALL STATE IN THE MAC: The Ball State softball program is 381-384-1 (.498) all-time in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals best two seasons, based on winning percentage, came in 2009 and 2013 when the club went 18-3 (.857) ... This season, the Cardinals won the MAC West Division title for the fourth straight year with a 14-5 (.737) league mark.
► IN THE MAC PART 2: Over the past seven seasons, the Cardinals have proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 109-31 (.779) league record ... Ball State has claimed five (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 & 2014) of the last seven MAC Regular Season titles and won the 2010 and 2015 MAC Tournaments to earn postseason berths ... Kent State has the second-best MAC record over the span at 95-48 (.664).
► BALL STATE IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: Ball State is 24-21 all-time record in MAC Tournament play ... The Cardinals won the event in 1998, 2010 and 2015 with perfect 4-0 marks ... Ball State was also the runner-up in the 2001 tournament with a 3-2 record.
► BALL STATE ON THE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Ball State has had three players earn Most Valuable Player honors at the MAC Tournament: Hanne Stuedemann (2015), Elizabeth Milian (2010) and Heather Hinkle (1998) ... In addition, 17 different players have been All-Tournament selections.
Ball State All-Time MAC All-Tournament Selections
2015 Hanne Stuedemann (MVP), Emily Dabkowski and Nicole Steinbach
2013 Jennifer Gilbert, Taylor Rager
2011 Amanda Montalto
2010 Elizabeth Milian (MVP), Alicia Barkley, Amanda Carpenter, Lisa Rozanski
2009 Alyssa Collins
2008 Abby Gross
2001 Marcy Mobley, Katie Shea
1998 Heather Hinkle (MVP), Cheri Ball, Amy Doyle
► HEAD COACH TYRA PERRY: Head coach Tyra Perry enters the South Bend Regional with a 408-386-1 (.514) career coaching record, including a 66-42 (.611) ledger with the Cardinals ... She earned her 400th career victory in Ball State's 19-9 (5) win over Indiana (April 21), while becoming the second-fastest coach in program history to reach 50 wins with a 7-2 victory over Eastern Illinois (April 7) ... In 2014, Perry became the first first-year coach in program history to earn MAC Coach of the Year accolades after guiding the Cardinals to the MAC regular season title with a 12-4 league record.
► MORE ON PERRY: 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 ... Prior to Ball State, Perry had six-year head coaching stints at 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.
► IN HER PLAYING DAYS: Perry was a two-year letterwinner at LSU (1997-98) and helped the program to a 102-28 (.758) record over her career, including a 58-14 (.806) mark in Southeastern Conference play ... She also helped the Tigers win their first two SEC West Division titles and make its first-ever NCAA Regional appearance, in 1998, where it finished second ... In her first season at LSU, Perry led the Tigers with a .345 batting average, 11 home runs, 40 runs scored, a .416 on-base percentage and a .612 slugging percentage ... Those numbers helped her earn recognition on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region Second Team, as well as first-team All-Louisiana honors and a slot on the SEC's all-tournament team ... Perry led the team with five homers in 1998, while posting a .324 average with 29 runs scored and 38 RBI ... Off the field, she was twice named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll ... Prior to her career at LSU, Perry played two seasons at Nicholls State (1994-95) ... Perry's .402 batting average as a freshman at Nicholls State still stands at the fourth-best single-season average in program history, while her career-long 14-game hitting streak as a freshman stood as the longest in program history until the 2012 season.
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week with a .303 team batting average ... Senior right fielder Hanne Stuedemann has a team-high .394 average, including 11 doubles, nine home runs and a triple ... Stuedemann also leads the team with a .505 on base percentage thanks to the help of being hit by a pitch 14 times and drawing 25 walks ... Junior second baseman Emily Dabkowski enters the week leading the team with 53 runs scored, 53 RBI and 16 home runs, and is second on the squad with a .358 batting average ... In the circle, junior Nicole Steinbach leads the Ball State pitching staff with 18 wins and a 3.35 ERA ... She has started 31 of the Cardinals 56 games and has struck out 160 batters over 194.1 innings of work.
► IN THE RPI: Ball State enters the South Bend Regional ranked 79th in the latest NCAA Division I Softball RPI rankings ... The Cardinals were ranked 91st last week ... Ball State is the second-highest ranked team from the MAC, trailing only Kent State in 59th.
► STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Based on the latest NCAA Division I Softball RPI rankings, the Cardinals have played the 90th-toughest schedule in the nation out of 295 teams ... Of Ball State's 23 losses, 15 have come versus top 85 teams, including LSU (2) and Auburn (3) ... In fact, the Cardinals only have four losses outside the top 150.
► SCOUTING NOTRE DAME (RPI: 19): The Fighting Irish earned an at-large bid and the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship after posting a 40-13 (17-6 ACC) record ... Karley Wester leads the squad with a .432 batting average and has scored a team-best 58 runs ... Katey Haus has a team-best 53 RBI, while her .409 average is second on the squad ... In the circle, Rachel Nasland has thrown a team-high 165.2 innings and has struck out 161 batters ... She also has a 16-7 record and a 2.79 ERA ... Allie Rhodes is also a staple in the circle for Notre Dame, leading the team in wins (19) and ERA (2.76), while collecting 113 strikeouts over 121.1 innings.
► THE SERIES WITH NOTRE DAME: The Fighting Irish hold a 9-4 lead in the all-time series versus the Cardinals, including five consecutive wins in South Bend ... Last season, the Cardinals suffered an 11-4 loss at UND on April 1, 2014 ... It was the first meeting between the squads since 2009 ... Ball State's lone win on Notre Dame's home field was a 5-0 victory April 14, 1994.
► SCOUTING KENTUCKY (RPI: 25): The Wildcats earned an at-large bid into the South Bend Regional by posting a 29-24 (5-19 SEC) record ... Christian Stokes leads the squad with a .318 batting average and has scored a team-best 33 runs ... Griffin Joiner has a team-best 40 RBI, while her .299 average is second on the squad ... In the circle, Kelsey Nunley has thrown a team-high 180.0 innings, striking out 169 batters while logging a 12-14 record and a 2.45 ERA
► THE SERIES WITH KENTUCKY: The Cardinals hold a 2-1 lead in the all-time series versus Kentucky ... Ball State swept a March 3, 1998 doubleheader by scores of 7-4 (9) and 8-0 (6) ... Kentucky's lone win was a 1-0 victory Feb. 29, 2004 ... All three games were played at Kentucky.
► SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN (RPI: 34): The Wildcats earned an at-large bid into the South Bend Regional by posting a 28-21 (14-8 Big Ten) record ... Sabrina Rabin leads the squad with a .411 batting average and has scored a team-best 50 runs ... Andrea Filler has a team-best 60 RBI, while her .392 average is second on the squad ... In the circle, Kristen Wood has thrown a team-high 182.2 innings, striking out 221 batters while logging a 16-10 record and a 4.18 ERA
► THE SERIES WITH NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats hold a 9-3 advantage in the all-time series versus the Cardinals, including three consecutive wins ... Earlier this season, Northwestern held the Cardinals hitless in a 13-0 (5) victory March 8 as part of the Louisville Classic ... Ball State's last win in the series was a 2-1 (8) victory at the Florida State Tournament in March 2, 2001 ... Northwestern holds a 4-1 edge in neutral site games.
► JERSEY WATCH 2015: Ball State is 13-11 in its black jersey, 9-5 in its red jersey and 11-7 in its white jersey this season.
BALL STATE PLAYER NEWS & NOTES
► STUEDEMANN'S MVP RUN: Senior outfielder Hanne Stuedemann was named the 2015 Mid-American Conference Softball Championship's MVP after batting .462 (6-for-13) over Ball State's four games ... In guiding the Cardinals to the third tournament title in program history, and first since 2010, Stuedemann also belted a pair of home runs and collected six RBI ... She also scored four runs, including what stood to be the game-winner versus Miami (May 7) ... In the championship game versus Western Michigan (May 9), Stuedemann went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI, including a three-run home run in the fifth inning.
► STUEDEMANN BECOMES 7TH IN 100/100 CLUB: Hanne Stuedemann became the seventh player in program history to score 100 runs and drive in 100 RBI with a RBI fielder's choice in the first inning versus Jacksonville (Feb. 21) ... She scored her 100th career run in the first inning at Lipscomb (Feb. 8) ... She enters the South Bend Regional ranked fifth in program history in runs scored (139) and sixth in RBI (141).
► STEINBACH MOVING UP THE CHARTS: With a pair of saves at the Purple & Gold Challenge (Feb. 27-March 1), junior pitcher Nicole Steinbach moved into a tie for first in program history with eight career saves ... She also enters the South Bend Regional ranked fifth in program history with 47 career wins ... Steinbach broke into the top 10 on BSU's career strikeouts chart after fanning nine batters in a win over Eastern Illinois (Feb. 15) ... Steinbach is currently sixth on the list with 366 career strikeouts.
► STEINBACH SET FOR APPEARANCE 100: Nicole Steinbach will celebrate an anniversary of sorts at the South Bend Regional, as her next appearance in the circle will be her 100th ... In 99 previous appearances, including 78 starts, Steinbach has thrown 503.2 innings and has a 3.09 ERA ... She also has 12 complete game shutouts in her career.
► SCHIFFERDECKER EARNS MAC ACADEMIC HONOR: After three solid outings in the circle at Ohio (April 24) and Akron (April 25-26), junior pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker was named the MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week for the week of April 20-27 ... Schifferdecker, who earned the honor for the first time this season and the second time in her career, continued her inspirational comeback story by picking up two more league victories and logging a 1.91 ERA over those three appearances ... You can learn more about her injury and comeback by watching her story on BallStateSports.com.
► SCHIFFERDECKER CLIMBING CHARTS TOO: Kelsey Schifferdecker enters the South Bend Regional ranked eighth on Ball State's career chart with 34 pitching victories ... She is also 18th on Ball State's all-time list with 145 career strikeouts.
► THE LONG BALL; 2015 EDITION: Hanne Stuedemann is Ball State's active career leader with 27 home runs, which ranks fourth on Ball State's career charts ... Emily Dabkowski is sixth on BSU's all-time list with 22 career home runs, including a team-high 16 so far in 2015 ... Junior shortstop Selena Reyna leads Ball State's active players with four career grand slams, while Dabkowski is second with two ... Seven other players have one ... Reyna is also tied for eighth on Ball State's career list with 19 home runs.
► THE LONG BALL; 2015 EDITION PART 2: Sophomore catcher Shelbie Scamihorn became the 10th different Cardinal to smash a home run this season when she launched her first career blast in the first inning of Ball State's 19-9 (5) win over Indiana (April 21).
► THE LONG BALL; 2015 EDITION PART 3: Sophomore infielder Rachel Houck became the eighth different player to record a grand slam as a Cardinal with her blast over the left-center field wall in the second inning of Ball State's 10-2 (6) MAC Tournament win over Akron (May 6) ... Overall, seven Ball State players have recorded a grand slam this season ... Nine Cardinals have at least one career grand slam, with junior transfer Kirsten O'Conner's coming when she was a freshman playing for Evansville in 2013.
► TRIPLE THREAT: The Ball State offense enters the week ranked first in the MAC with 14 triples ... After collecting her first career triple in the series finale versus Western Kentucky (March 22), senior catcher Jessica Craft finds herself tied for first in the league with five triples this season.
► MAKING A RUN FOR IT: Senior outfielder Loren Cihlar ranks 13th in program history with an .824 (42-for-51) career stolen base percentage ... Cihlar picked up her first stolen base of the 2015 season versus Georgia State (Feb. 13) and is currently 13-for-19 on the year ... 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 is also sixth in program history with 133 career runs scored.
► THE BIG INNING: Ball State has scored 11 runs in an inning twice this season, once in the fourth inning versus IPFW (March 18) and once in the seventh inning at Central Michigan (March 29) ... The effort stands as the second-best single-inning output in program history, trailing only the 16-run seventh inning at Toledo (April 13, 2007) ... Ball State also had an 11-run seventh inning versus Grambling State (Feb. 22, 2013) ... The Grambling State game marks one of only two games in program history the Cardinals have scored 20-or-more runs, as they won the contest 20-3 ... The other game was a 24-0 victory over St. Leo March 2, 1987 ... Ball State's 19 runs scored versus IPFW and in the April 21st victory over Indiana rank third in program annals.
BALL STATE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CONNECTIONS
► PLAYING IN THE EVENT: Ball State head coach Tyra Perry and assistant coach Kassie Stanfill have both played in the NCAA Division I Softball Championships ... Perry helped guide LSU to its first-ever Regional appearance in 1998, while Stanfill was a four-time participant as a player at Louisville (2006-09).
► PLAYING IN THE EVENT PART 2: Ball State does have one player with NCAA Regional experience, as sophomore infielder Rachel Houck helped Louisville to a 36-22 overall record, the American Athletic Conference Championship and a berth in the Tucson Regional of the 2014 NCAA Softball Championship.
► COACHING IN THE EVENT: In her final year at Western Kentucky in 2013, Tyra Perry coached the Lady Toppers to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Regional ... WKU advanced to the championship game of the 2013 Tuscaloosa Regional (3-0 win over USC Upstate; 7-6 loss to Alabama; 3-0 win over USC Upstate; 13-1 (5) loss to Alabama in championship game).
► FAMILY CONNECTION: Junior first baseman Sammi Cowger's younger sister Ellie Cowger is a freshman on the Minnesota softball team which will be competing in the Tucson Regional starting Friday ... Her older sisters Kate Cowger (2006-08) and Tori Cowger (2008-09) were also letterwinners in softball at Minnesota.
► FAMILY CONNECTION PART 2: Jessica Craft's twin brother Jake Craft is a senior on the Anderson (Ind.) University baseball team which qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships and enters as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Central Region ... Anderson's first NCAA game is Wednesday (5/13) at 7 p.m.
