Ball State University Athletics
Let The Games Being, Softball Opens 2016 Season Friday
February 11, 2016 | Softball
Game 1 - Ball State vs. No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette
Friday, Feb. 12 – 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
Radio | Live Stats
Game 2 - Ball State vs. Louisiana Tech
Friday, Feb. 12 – 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
Live Stats
Game 3 - Ball State vs. Southern Miss
Saturday, Feb. 13 – 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT
Live Stats
Game 4 - Ball Sate vs. No. 25 South Alabama
Saturday, Feb. 13 – 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
Live Stats
Game 5 - Ball State vs. UAB
Sunday, Feb. 14 – 10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. CT
Live Stats
► LET THE GAMES BEGIN: The Ball State softball team opens its 42nd season of play Friday, when it faces 11th-ranked Louisiana Lafayette at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT it its first of five games at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala. ... Over the course of the three-day tournament the Cardinals will also play Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, 25th-ranked South Alabama and UAB.
► FOLLOW ONLINE: Live stats will be available for all five of Ball State softball's games at the Sand Dollar Classic on BallStateSports.com ... Fans can also keep up--to-date on the games by following the team on twitter @BallStateSB.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After posting a 34-25 overall record in 2015, the Ball State softball program enters the 2016 season with an 921-959-4 (.490) all-time record in 41 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), six MAC West Division crowns (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015), three MAC Tournament championships (1998, 2010 and 2015) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times (1998, 2010 and 2015).
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Ball State softball team returns 13 letterwinners, including six position players who started at least half the team's games last season ... Highlighting the list of returning position players is 2016 First Team All-MAC honoree Emily Dabkowski, who ranked fifth in the MAC in home runs (16) and 10th in batting average (.357) last season ... Ball State also returns all three of its top starting pitchers from last season, including three-time All-MAC Second Team honoree Nicole Steinbach.
► WELCOMING IN A NEW COACH: Megan Ciolli Bartlett enters her first season as the head coach of the Ball State softball program ... The ninth head coach in program history, she spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Purdue ... Prior to joining the Purdue staff, Ciolli Bartlett helped guide DePaul to a 44-11 overall record, the Big East regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA Regional berth as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2014 season ... She also spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois (2008-12) ... A four-year letterwinner and two-time All-American as a player at Notre Dame (2002-05), Ciolli Bartlett began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Loyola University Chicago for the 2006 and 2007 seasons ... Following her collegiate career, Ciolli Bartlett played two seasons of professional softball for the Chicago Bandits.
► MORE ON THE COACHING STAFF: A familiar face will be returning to the Ball State softball coaching staff after serving as a volunteer coach last season, as two-time All-American and professional player Jenny Gilbert has been named a full-time assistant coach for the Cardinals ... Gilbert, who also plays for the Akron Racers in the NPF, helped guide the Cardinals to three MAC Regular Season Championships (2012, 2013 & 2014) over her playing career and is the only All-American in program history ... The only three-time MAC Player of the Year (2012, 2013 & 2014) in league history, Gilbert finished her collegiate career as the league's record holder in runs batted in (246), runs scored (215), home runs (75), doubles (62) and slugging percentage (.810) ... Also new to the staff is pitching coach Josh Johnson, a five-year member of the US Men's National Fastpitch Softball Team and an experienced NCAA Division I coach with Super Regional experience ... Johnson, who started his fastpitch softball career in 1995, has been playing at the Major level of the North American Fastpitch Association (NAFA) since 2004 as both a pitcher and an outfielder ... A 16-time NAFA All-World Team selection, Johnson was inducted into the NAFA Hall of Fame in 2013 and was the association's most valuable player in 2014 ... Rounding out Ball State's staff changes is the addition of volunteer coach Jon Sanders ... Sanders has enjoyed successful careers as both a collegiate and high school softball coach ... Including his time at both levels, Sanders has amassed a 210-105 career record, won four conference championships and mentored two Collegiate All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans and four High School All-Americans.
BALL STATE SOFTBALL STORY LINES
► Ball State has opened the year with wins in each of the past seven seasons, including a thrilling 11-8 (9) come-from-behind victory over South Dakota (Feb. 6) last season ... The Cardinals trailed 8-1 heading into the sixth inning, but scored one run in the top of the sixth and six runs in the top of the seventh to force extra innings ... After a scoreless eighth, Emily Dabkowski would drive in what proved to be the game-winning runs in the ninth with a three-run home run to center field.
► Ball State will face two ranked teams opening weekend in No. 11 Louisiana Lafayette and No. 25 South Alabama ... The Cardinals have defeated a ranked opponent in each of the last three season ... In 2015, Ball State opened NCAA regional play with a 6-3 victory over then-No.21 Notre Dame (May 15), who also entered the tournament as the No. 16 national seed ... Ball State shutout then-No. 3 Arizona State for a 3-0 victory March 2, 2014 and collected a 3-1 win over then-No. 24 North Carolina March 16, 2013.
► The highest-ranked team Ball State has ever defeated is No. 3, which has happened twice ... The Cardinals defeated then-No. 3 Missouri by a score of 2-1 on March 19, 2010 and earned a 3-0 victory at No. 3 Arizona State March 16, 2013.
► Senior pitcher Nicole Steinbach enters the season ranked fifth in program history with 48 career pitching victories ... She has made 102 career appearances in the circle for the Cardinals, with her 100th coming in the 2015 NCAA Regional opener versus No. 21 Notre Dame, in which she guided Ball State to its first-ever NCAA regional win by limiting the Fighting Irish to six hits and two earned runs to earn the complete game victory ... Steinbach is also tied for first in program history with eight career saves, while her 370 career strikeouts are sixth on Ball State's career chart.
► After missing a majority of the 2015 season due to injury, senior pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker looks to continue her climb up the Ball State record books, as she enters the season ranked eighth in program history with 34 career pitching victories ... Schifferdecker, who owns a 34-13 career record, has been particularly dominating in MAC play, with a 15-2 record in conference action.
► After seeing limited action as a freshman, playing in 25 games with just two starts, senior Emily Dabkowski enters the 2016 season having started the last 111 games for the Cardinals at second base ... A First Team All-MAC selection last season, Dabkowski is Ball State's active career home run leader with 22 career blasts ... She also ranks fifth in program history with a .581 career slugging percentage, while her 108 runs scored are ninth and her 98 RBI are 10th ... In addition, she enters her senior season with the 13th-best career batting average in program history at .328.
► Selena Reyna enters her senior season ranked eighth in program history with 20 career home runs, including four career grand slams ... She has started 154 of a possible 165 games over her career, with all 154 starts coming at shortstop ... Statistically, she has improved in every season, hitting .243 as a freshman, .286 as a sophomore and .348 as a junior ... Reyna ranked second in the MAC with 19 doubles last season, while her 11 home runs were fourth in the league.
► Senior Sammi Cowger has played in a variety of roles for the Cardinals over her career, including starting 57 games at first base and two as pitcher last season ... As a sophomore, she earned First Team All-MAC honors after starting the final 14 league games as the team's designated player.
► Ball State was picked to finish second, behind Central Michigan, in the MAC West Division in the 2016 Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches ... The Cardinals also picked up one vote each to win the MAC Regular Season and MAC Tournament titles ... The four-time defending MAC West Division Champions and defending MAC Tournament Champions, Ball State was also selected to finish second in the MAC West Division behind Central Michigan in the 2014 and 2015 preseason polls ... The Cardinals were last picked to win the division in the 2013 preseason poll.
