Ball State University Athletics
Softball Hosts Ohio Friday & Saturday to Open 2016 Home Slate
March 31, 2016 | Softball
GAME 33 - Ball State hosts Miami
Friday, April 1 at 3 p.m.
Live Stats | SL Digital Audio
GAMES 34 & 35 - Ball State hosts Ohio (DH)
Saturday, April 2 at 1 pm.
Game 1 Live Stats | Game 2 Live Stats | SL Digital Audio
► THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: After 32 road games, the Ball State softball team opens the home portion of its 2016 campaign Friday, when it welcomes Ohio to the Softball Field at the First Merchants Ballpark Complex for a 3 p.m. first pitch ... The Cardinals and Bobcats are also scheduled to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
► FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State Sports Link Digital's Mick Tidrow will return to the booth this weekend to cover all three games LIVE from the Softball Field at the First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... Fans can tune in for FREE on their computer by visiting BallStateSports.com/liveevents ... Fans can 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 ... Live stats will also be available for all three games and fans can get regular updates by following the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, Instagram: @BallStateSB and Facebook: BallStateSoftball.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: With a 14-18 record so far in 2016, Ball State enters Friday's game versus Ohio with a 935-977-4 (.489) 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 enters Friday's home opener on a four-game losing streak ... Following a 9-1 (6) midweek loss at Butler last Tuesday, the Cardinals opened league play with three losses at Miami (4-3, 5-3 and 5-2) ... Ball State had opportunities late in each game, however, with the go-ahead run at the plate in the seventh inning of the first two games, while the game-tying run reached the plate in the seventh inning of the finale ... On the year, junior center fielder Rachel Houck leads the Ball State offense with a .384 batting average ... In addition, her 38 hits ranked first in the MAC entering the week, while her nine doubles tied for first and her 23 runs scored ranked fourth ... Senior shortstop Emily Dabkowski leads the team and ranked third in the MAC with 31 RBIs ... Dabkowski is also tied for first in the MAC in both doubles (9) and triples (4), while her seven home runs were fifth ... In the circle, Nicole Steinbach was fourth in the MAC with 11 pitching wins entering the week, and owns a 3.33 ERA and a .273 opponents batting average.
► ALL-TIME VS. OHIO: The Cardinals hold a 42-35-1 edge in the all-time series versus Ohio, including a 4-1 victory in the second game of an April 24, 2015 doubleheader ... The Bobcats won the first game 6-1 ... Ball State holds a 24-15 lead in games played in Muncie, including a pair of wins in 2014 ... The Cardinals opened the two-game series April 19 with a 10-0 (5) win and followed with a 7-0 victory the next day ... Ohio's last road win in the series came by a score of 7-6 April 6, 2012.
BALL STATE SOFTBALL STORY LINES
► The Cardinals played the first 32 games of the 2016 season on the road, which is the longest stretch of road games in program history ... Entering this season, the longest previous road swing was a 31-game stint to open the 2012 campaign.
► Ball State is currently 14-18 on the year, which is the same record it had through the first 32 games last season ... After opening the 2015 season at 14-18, the Cardinals rebounded to end the season on a 20-7 run, including winning all four of its games in the MAC Tournament and defeating 16th-seed and 21st-ranked Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA South Bend Regional.
► The Cardinals have played one of the toughest schedules in the MAC this season, with 13 of its 32 games coming against teams ranked in the top 100 in the latest NCAA Division I Softball RPI rankings ... Ohio is next on the list with 12 games versus top 100 RPI teams entering the week ... In addition, seven of Ball State's 14 losses have come to teams ranked inside the top 25 of either the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll or the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
► Since the beginning of the 2009 season, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 109-34 (.762) league record ... Kent State is second on the list during the same time frame with a 98-48 (.671) record, while this weekend's opponent Ohio is fourth at 82-67 (.550) ... In addition, Ball State has claimed five (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 & 2014) of the last seven MAC Regular Season titles, the first five in program history, and won the 2010 and 2015 MAC Tournament Championships to earn a pair of NCAA Regional berths.
► Ball State is proving the old adage “the early bird gets the worm” right so far this season, boasting a perfect 8-0 record in games started at or before 11 a.m. ... The Cardinals own morning wins over UAB (10a), Iowa State (10a), Western Carolina (10:30a), Valparaiso (10:30a), Stony Brook (11a), Murray State (9a), Jacksonville (9a) and Boston (10:35a) ... The Cardinals are out-scoring opponents 61-to-21 in morning games, and boast a .349 batting average in the contests, including five batters at .400-or-better ... Senior Nicole Steinbach is 6-0 in the circle in such games, boasting a 2.55 ERA and .286 opponents batting average.
► Senior pitcher Nicole Steinbach enters the week ranked fourth in program history with 59 career pitching victories ... She earned her 50th career win when she guided the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over UAB (Feb. 14) to close play in the Sand Dollar Classic ... Steinbach is just the fourth player in program history to record 50-or-more wins as a pitcher for the Cardinals ... Third on Ball State's career wins list is Cheri Ball (1995-98) at 62 ... Steinbach is also tied for first in program history with eight career saves, while her 447 career strikeouts are fifth on Ball State's all-time chart.
► Nicole Steinbach has made 124 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.
► Senior pitcher Kelsey Schifferdecker also looks to continue her climb up the Ball State record books, as she enters the week ranked seventh in program history with 36 career pitching victories ... Schifferdecker, who owns a 36-16 career record, has been particularly dominating in MAC play, with a 15-3 record in conference action ... In five career appearances versus Ohio, Schifferdecker owns a 4-1 record and a 1.48 ERA over 28.1 innings of work ... She has limited the Bobcats to a .226 batting average over her career, including striking out 11 of the 122 batters she has faced.
► Senior Emily Dabkowski has started the last 143 games for the Cardinals ... Dabkowski started all 111 games over the 2014 and 2015 seasons at second base ... This season, she has started the first 32 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 and ranks fourth in program history with 29 career blasts ... She is also fifth in program history with a .616 career slugging percentage, while her 129 runs scored and 128 RBIs are seventh ... In addition, she currently holds the 12th-best career batting average in program history at .332.
► In her first season as a starter for the Cardinals, Rachel Houck has been Ball State's most consistent batter, ranking first on the team and eighth in the MAC with a .384 batting average ... In addition, Houck has been directly responsible for the winning run in five of Ball State's 14 victories.
► Rachel Houck entered the weekend ranked first in the MAC with 38 hits, including a league-high nine doubles ... She is also tied for 16th in the MAC with four home runs and is tied for 13th with one triple, giving her 14 extra base hits this season ... Only three players in the MAC have more extra base hits than Houck this season; NIU's Emily Naegele (23 - 9 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR), teammate Emily Dabkowski (20 - 9 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR) and Kent State's Maddy Grimm (18 - 7 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR)
► 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 ... Since then, Lee has started the last 28 games as either the designated player or at catcher ... In her first at bat versus No. 24 Texas (Feb. 19), Lee blasted her first career home run in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-1 at the time ... Overall, Lee is tied for first on team with a .384 (28-for-73) batting average and has drawn a MAC-leading 17 walks for a team-best .500 on-base percentage ... In the win over Valpo (Feb. 28), Lee drove in her first career game-winning RBI with a two-run double.
► Over the last five games, junior outfielder India Steward has paced the Ball State offense with a .375 batting average ... She also has a team-high four stolen bases and ranks second on the squad with four RBIs over the span ... On the year, Steward ranks fourth in the team with a .308 batting average and has stolen a team-high seven bases.
► With her double in the series finale at Miami (March 26), senior outfielder Selena Reyna climbed to fifth in program history with 40 career doubles ... Reyna, who also seventh in program history with 22 career home runs, is 11th on Ball State's career chart with a .503 slugging percentage.
► Ball State's favorite jersey to wear this season appears to be home white, as the Cardinals are 7-6 this season in their white tops ... The Cardinals are 3-3 in red tops, while owning a 4-9 mark in black jerseys.
