Ball State University Athletics
Softball Hosts NIU Wednesday, Travels To EMU This Weekend
April 12, 2016 | Softball
GAME 41 - Ball State hosts Northern Illinois
Wednesday, April 13 - single game starting at 2 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video | SL Digital Audio
► THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team closes a four-game homestand Wednesday, when it completes a home-and-home series versus Northern Illinois with a 2 p.m. first pitch at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... The Cardinals will then travel to Eastern Michigan for a single game Friday (3 p.m.) and a doubleheader Saturday (1 p.m.).
► FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State fans can listen to all four games this week, as Ball State Sports Link Digital's Mick Tidrow returns to the booth to cover Wednesday's home game and this weekend's three-game series at Eastern Michigan ... 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 (one-time fee of $4.99) on the BallStSports app found in the iTunes and Android stores ... A LIVE one-camera video feed of the Northern Illinois game will also be available for FREE on BallStateSports.com/liveevents and will be linked with the SL Digital broadcast ... Live stats will also be available for all four games and fans can get regular updates by following the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, Instagram: @BallStateSB and Facebook: BallStateSoftball.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: With an 18-22 record so far in 2016, Ball State enters Wednesday's home game versus Northern Illinois with a 939-981-4 (.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: The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game versus Northern Illinois looking to build a little momentum after going 1-4 in league action last week ... Ball State won its last game of the week, avenging a pair of losses to Buffalo by scoring a 5-3 victory in the series finale Saturday ... Sophomore catcher Leigh McAnally led the Cardinals offense over the five games with a .417 (5-for-12) average ... She drove in her first RBI of the season in the Cardinals win over the Bulls, with a double to center field in the bottom of the fifth inning ... Sophomore pitcher Carolyn Wilmes led the Ball State pitching staff on the week, yielding just a pair of earned runs in 8.1 innings of relief work ... Wilmes finished the week with a 1.68 ERA and struck out six batters.
► ALL-TIME VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies hold a 43-27 lead in the all-time series versus the Cardinals after sweeping last Tuesday's (April 5) doubleheader in DeKalb ... NIU holds a 16-9 edge in games played in Muncie after the teams split an April 18, 2015 twinbill at the Softball Field at FMBC ... NIU won the first game 4-2 in nine innings, while Ball State rebounded to take the nightcap 7-6.
► ALL-TIME VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Cardinals hold a 58-37 advantage in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan ... Last season, the teams were scheduled to play a March 27 doubleheader in Ypsilanti, but winter weather forced the cancellation of the games ... The last time the teams played, the Cardinals won a pair of five-inning home games to clinch the 2014 MAC regular season title ... Ball State scored an 8-0 (5) victory May 3 to clinch at least a share of the title, before winning it outright with an 11-3 (5) win May 4 ... The Eagles won the last meeting in Ypsilanti, scoring a 6-4 win April 27, 2013, to take a slim 24-23 edge in games played on its home field ... Overall, Ball State has won 13 of the last 15 meetings between the two programs.
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 opened the home portion of its 2016 schedule with a three-game series sweep of Ohio (April 1-2) ... The Cardinals went on to post a 1-2 record in last weekend's series versus Buffalo (April 8-9) ... Since the 2008 season, the Cardinals own an 84-36 (.700) record in games played at the Softball Field at the First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
► Since the beginning of the 2009 season, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 113-38 (.748) league record ... Kent State is second on the list during the same time frame with a 101-52 (.660) record ... Northern Illinois is fifth on the list at 83-74 (.529), while Eastern Michigan is 10th at 56-99-1 (.362).
► With her 62nd career pitching victory in last Sunday's win over Buffalo, senior pitcher Nicole Steinbach moved into a tie for third on Ball State's career wins list with Cheri Ball (1995-98) at 62 ... She needs 15 more wins to reach second place, which is held by Bernie Coffman (1986-89) at 77.
► Nicole Steinbach, who is just the fourth player in program history to record 50-or-more wins as a pitcher for the Cardinals, earned her 50th career win when she guided the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory over UAB (Feb. 14) to close play in the Sand Dollar Classic earlier this season.
► With her first save of the 2016 season in the second game victory over Ohio (April 2), Nicole Steinbach took over sole possession of the Ball State program record for career saves with her ninth ... Steinbach also enters the week ranked fifth in program history with 474 career strikeouts.
► Nicole Steinbach has made 131 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 36-17 career record, has been particularly dominating in MAC play, with a 15-4 record in conference action.
► Senior Emily Dabkowski has started the last 151 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 40 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 30 career blasts ... She is also fifth in program history with a .609 career slugging percentage, while her 135 runs scored are tied for sixth and her 131 RBIs are seventh ... In addition, she currently holds the 12th-best career batting average in program history at .327.
► Emily Dabkowski enters the week ranked second in the MAC with 22 extra base hits this season ... She is tied for the league lead with four triples, is tied for second in the conference with 10 doubles and is tied for eighth in the MAC with eight home runs ... NIU's Emily Naegele (27 - 9 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR) is the only league player with more extra base hits this season.
► 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 36 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 first on team with a .357 (35-for-98) batting average and is tied for sixth in the MAC with 19 walks for a team-best .466 on-base percentage ... In the win over Valpo (Feb. 28), Lee drove in her first career game-winning RBI with a two-run double.
► Senior outfielder Selena Reyna enters the week ranked fifth in program history with 42 career doubles ... She needs 10 more doubles to move past Amanda Carpenter's (2010-13) career total of 51 for fourth on Ball State's all-time list ... Reyna, who also seventh in program history with 22 career home runs, is 10th on Ball State's career chart with a .496 slugging percentage.
► Sophomore catcher Leigh McAnally enters Wednesday's game versus Northern Illinois as the hottest hitter on the team, logging a .417 (5-for-12) average over the team's last five games ... She strung together a career-long three-game hitting streak during the run and has reached base safely in each of the past five games ... McAnally is also leading the Ball State offense in MAC play with a .318 (7-for-22) average over the 10 league games she has played.
► Sophomore pitcher Carolyn Wilmes has been Ball State's most productive relief pitcher this season, posting a 3.13 ERA and a 2-0 record in 12 relief appearances ... Over 38.0 innings of relief work, she has allowed just 17 earned runs, while striking out 16 batters ... Last week, Wilmes turned in a 1.68 ERA and allowed just two earned runs in 8.1 innings of relief work over three appearances.
► Ball State head coach Megan Ciolli Bartlett spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois from 2008-2012 ... During that time, the Cardinals won seven of the 11 games between the two clubs, including all three meetings in 2010.
► Ball State's favorite jersey to wear this season appears to be home white, as the Cardinals are 8-8 this season in their white tops ... The Cardinals are 3-3 in red tops, while owning a 7-11 mark in black jerseys.
