Ball State University Athletics
Softball Travels To Houston For Five Games This Weekend
February 18, 2016 | Softball
Game 6 vs. No. 24 Texas
Friday, Feb. 19 - 11:30 a.m. CT
SL Digital Live Audio | Live Stats
Game 7 vs. Iowa State
Friday, Feb. 19 - 2 p.m. CT
SL Digital Live Audio | Live Stats
Game 8 vs. No. 24 Texas
Saturday, Feb. 20 - 10:30 a.m. CT
SL Digital Live Audio | Live Stats
Game 9 vs. Houston
Saturday, Feb. 20 - 3:30 p.m. CT
SL Digital Live Audio | Live Stats | Houston Live Video (PPV)
Game 10 vs. Iowa State
Sunday, Feb. 21 - 9 a.m. CT
SL Digital Live Audio | Live Stats
► CARDINALS BACK IN ACTION: The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday, when it opens play in the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational with games versus No. 24 Texas (11:30 a.m. CT) and Iowa State (2 p.m. CT) ... On Saturday, the Cardinals will play a second game vs. No. 24 Texas (10:30 a.m. CT), before battling tournament host Houston (3:30 p.m. CT) ... Ball State closes the event Sunday with a second game versus Iowa State (9 a.m. CT).
► FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State softball fans can follow the Cardinals at the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational with live stats and live audio available FREE on BallStateSports.com ... Mick Tidrow will call the action live for Ball State Sports Link Digital from Cougar Softball Stadium ... Fans can tune in for FREE on their computer by visiting BallStateSports.com/liveevents ... Fans can also listen to the broadcasts on their mobile devices by purchasing the premium upgrade (on-time fee of $4.99) on the BallStSports app found in the iTunes and Android stores ... Fans can also get updates by following the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, Instagram: @BallStateSB and Facebook: BallStateSoftball.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: With a 2-3 record after opening weekend, the Ball State softball program enters the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational with an 923-961-4 (.490) all-time record in 41-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 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: Ball State opened the 2016 season by going 2-3 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala., last weekend ... Junior outfielder Rachel Houck led the Ball State offense with a .357 batting average and drove in the game-winning run versus Louisiana Tech (Feb. 12) ... She also hit a two-run home run in the win over UAB (Feb. 14) and helped push across the game-winning run with a hard shot the Blazers' second baseman misplayed, allowing a winning run to score from second ... In the circle, senior Nicole Steinbach earned both wins for the Cardinals and finished the weekend with a 2.95 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 19.0 innings of work.
► ALL-TIME VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Ball State trails Iowa State 5-3 in the all-time series, despite wins in the last two meetings ... The Cardinals and the Cyclones have not met since a 4-2 Ball State victory March 9, 2002, at the Florida State Tournament in Tallahassee ... Ball State will be playing both Texas and Houston for the first time in softball.
BALL STATE SOFTBALL STORY LINES
► Ball State will be facing its third ranked opponent of the season this weekend in No. 24 Texas ... Last weekend at the Sand Dollar Classic, the Cardinals suffered losses to No. 11 Louisiana Lafayette and No. 25 South Alabama.
► The Cardinals have defeated a ranked opponent in each of the last three seasons (2013-15) ... In 2015, Ball State opened NCAA regional play with a 6-3 victory over No.21 Notre Dame (May 15), who also entered the tournament as the No. 16 national seed ... Ball State shutout No. 3 Arizona State for a 3-0 victory March 2, 2014 and collected a 3-1 win over 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 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 earned her 50th career victory when she guided the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over UAB last Sunday (Feb. 14) to close play in the Sand Dollar Classic ... Steinbach is just the fourth player in program history to record 50 wins as a pitcher for the Cardinals ... Third on Ball State's career wins list is Cheri Ball (1995-98) at 62.
► Nicole Steinbach has made 105 career appearances in the circle for the Cardinals, with her 100th coming in the 2015 NCAA Regional opener versus No. 21 Notre Dame ... 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 383 career strikeouts are sixth on Ball State's career chart.
► Nicole Steinbach is also responsible for the other two ranked wins the Cardinals have earned over the previous three seasons ... As a freshman in 2013, Steinbach led Ball State to a 3-1 victory over No. 24 North Carolina (March 16), holding the Tar Heels to one run, six hits and a walk over seven innings ... As a sophomore, Steinbach earned her first complete game shutout victory of the 2014 season at No. 3 Arizona State (March 2), holding the Sun Devils to just six hits over seven innings of work while striking out three batters in a 3-0 victory.
► 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 Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational 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 has started the last 116 games for the Cardinals ... Dabkowski started all 111 games over the 2014 and 2015 seasons at second base ... This season, she started the first five games at shortstop, a position she looks to play the entire season.
► A 2015 First Team All-MAC selection, Emily Dabkowski is Ball State's active career home run leader with 22 career blasts ... She also ranks fifth in program history with a .576 career slugging percentage, while her 109 runs scored and 102 RBI are both ninth ... In addition, she currently holds the 13th-best career batting average in program history at .326.
► Another full-time starter holding down a new position for the Cardinals her senior season is Selena Reyna ... Over her first three seasons, Reyna started 154 of Ball State's 165 games at shortstop ... This season, she has taken over the reins in left field, starting the first five games of the season in the outfield.
► Selena Reyna currently ranks eighth in program history with 20 career home runs, including four career grand slams ... 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 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.
► Junior Rachel Houck shined as Ball State's starting right fielder opening weekend, leading the team's starters with a .357 batting average ... Houck, who started one game at third base and four as the designated player for the Cardinals last season, drove in the game-winning run versus Louisiana Tech (Feb. 12) with a RBI single to center field ... She also helped produce all of Ball State' runs versus UAB (Feb. 14), blasting a two-run home run in the third inning and pushing across the game-winning run from second in the fifth with a hard shot the Blazers' second baseman misplayed.
► Freshman Madison Lee made the most of her first career at bat versus No. 25 South Alabama (Feb. 13), splitting the outfielders in left-center field for a pinch hit double ... The effort helped her earn the spot as the Cardinals' starting designated player the next day versus UAB (Feb. 14) ... Lee went 1-for-3 versus the Blazers and currently owns the highest batting average on the team at .500 (2-for-4).
► MORE FIRSTS FOR BALL STATE FRESHMEN: Becca Rodriguez was the first Ball State freshman to reach base in 2016, drawing a walk in her third career plate appearance versus No. 11 Louisiana Lafayette (Feb. 12) ... Rodriguez also recorded the first hit for a Ball State freshman in 2016, with an infield single to shortstop in the fourth inning versus Southern Miss (Feb. 13) ... Aeshia Miles also collected her first career hit against Southern Miss with a fifth inning single down the third base line ... Madeline Porter's first career hit came in the win over UAB (Feb. 14), when she tallied a leadoff double down the right field line in the seventh inning.
► Ball State scored four runs against No. 11 Louisiana Lafayette in a 22-4 (5) setback Feb. 12 ... The four runs are the most the Ragin' Cajuns gave up in a game opening weekend ... In addition, junior Amanda Arnett is the only player to hit a home run off Louisiana Lafayette pitching this season, while junior India Steward is one of only two players with a double against the Ragin' Cajuns' staff.
► Junior Amanda Arnett shined in the leadoff position for the Cardinals at the Sand Dollar Classic, ranking second on the team with a .333 (5-for-15) batting average ... She opened the season with a single versus Louisiana Lafayette (Feb. 12) and went 2-for-3 in the game, including her home run ... She also logged a pair of hits versus Louisiana Tech (Feb. 13) and scored what stood as the game-winning run.
