Friday, February 17
Tucson, AZ
3pm
Ball State University
vs
Drake University
Photo by: Buddy Delahoussaye
Softball Heads to Arizona for Wildcat Invitational
February 16, 2017 | Softball
LINKS: SL DIGITAL AUDIOÂ |Â LIVE VIDEOÂ |Â LIVE STATSÂ | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
-Â Ball State will be making its second trip to the state of Arizona in the last four seasons when it opens play in the 2017 Wildcat Invitational Friday with games versus Drake (1 p.m. MST) and No. 10 Arizona (3 p.m. MST).
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- In its last trip to the state of Arizona, Ball State earned a 5-2 overall record in 2014 ... The Cardinals opened the trip by winning the Louisville Slugger Invitational with a perfect 5-0 record, including a 3-0 victory over tournament host No. 3 Arizona State (March 2) ... Ball State concluded the trip out west by dropping both ends of a March 4 doubleheader at No. 7 Arizona.
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- Ball State softball fans can listen to this weekend's games at the Wildcat Invitational live online as Mick Tidrow returns to the broadcast booth to call the action for BallStateSports.com and SL Digital ... Broadcasts are FREE and can be found at: BallStateSports.com/watch
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- Live video will also be available for all five games at pac-12.com/live/university-arizona-2, with the non-Arizona broadcasts featuring a static single-camera feed with crowd noise ... Live stats for all games will be available at: ArizonaLiveStats.com
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- The Cardinals enter the second weekend of the 2017 season with a 944-995-4 (.487) all-time record ... 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).
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- Thanks to its 5-2 win over DePaul last Friday, Ball State improved to 26-17 all-time in season-opening games.
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- ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State is 3-6 all-time versus teams in the 2017 Wildcat Invitational field ... Of the five other teams in the tournament, the Cardinals have never faced Drake or Abilene Christian.
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- ALL-TIME VS. ARIZONA: The Wildcast own a 2-0 lead in the all-time series after taking both ends of a March 4, 2014 doubleheader at Hillenbrand Stadium by scores of 16-2 (5) and 12-3 (5).
All-Time vs. Arizona
3/4/2014             Arizona             2-16 (5)   A
3/4/2014             Arizona             3-12 (5)   A
Away: 0-2Â Â Â Â Â Overall: 0-2
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- ALL-TIME VS. NORTH DAKOTA STATE: While the Bison hold a 3-2 lead in the all-time series, the Cardinals won the last meeting by a score of 6-4 on March 22, 2014 in the Mizzou Tournament ... The teams were scheduled to play at last season's Maryland Tournament, but the game was rained out.
All-Time vs. North Dakota State
2/28/1984           Louisiana            2-8         A
3/26/2005           Ball State            2-0         N
3/26/2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NDSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â N
3/24/2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NDSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â N
3/21/2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NDSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3-9Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â N
3/22/2014           Ball State            6-4         N
Neutral: 2-3Â Â Â Â Â Overall: 2-3
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- ALL-TIME VS. BOSTON COLLEGE: The Cardinals and Boston College have only met once in softball, with the Eagles winning the first-ever meeting by a score of 10-1 (6) on Feb. 2, 2002.
All-Time vs. Boston College
2/24/2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â BCÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-10 (6)Â Â N
Neutral: 0-1Â Â Â Â Â Overall: 0-1
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PLAYER NOTES
- Utility player Amanda Arnett paced the Ball State offense with a .333 batting average at last weekend's 31st Annual Louisiana Classics ... She tallied five hits over the five games, including her 13th career home run ... She also added a pair of doubles.
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- Arnett, who has played in 127 of a possible 170 games over her career, has also made 14 career appearances in the circle and is one of only 27 players in program history to earn at least one career save.
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- In her first career pitching appearance versus DePaul last Friday, sophomore Aeshia Miles became the 27th different Ball State player to earn a save when she limited the Blue Demons to no runs and two hits over 2.0 innings of work ... She also notched her first two career strikeouts in the game.
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F- reshman Darcie Huber also had a memorable first career start versus DePaul last Friday, earning the win in the collegiate pitching debut ... Over 5.0 innings of work, Huber scattered five hits and allowed just two runs, while also striking out two batters.
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- Huber finished her first weekend of collegiate play with a 2.68 ERA, which currently ranks 10th in the MAC ... Over 15.2 innings of work, the fourth-most in the MAC on opening weekend, Huber allowed just six earned runs and struck out eight batters .. The eight strikeouts tie as the ninth-best strikeout total in the MAC opening weekend, while her .246 opponents' batting average is 11th.
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- Senior outfielder Rachel Houck wasted little time getting back into a rhythm at the plate, lacing a RBI double in her first at bat of the season in the win over DePaul (Feb. 10) ... She finished opening weekend with a MAC-leading three doubles, which also ranks her 43rd nationally in doubles per game.
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- Houck started the first 47 games of 2016 season before suffering a season-ending injury in game one of a doubleheader versus Central Michigan (April 23) ... She is currently ninth in program history with a .508 career slugging percentage ... She is also 18th in batting average (.318), t-18th in home runs (7) and 19th in on base percentage (.379) over her three-year playing career for the Cardinals ... Houck played the 2014 season at Louisville before transferring to Ball State for the 2015 campaign.
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- Junior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes tuned in a strong effort versus No. 11 Louisiana last Saturday, holding the Rajin' Cajuns to three hits and three runs, only two of which were earned, over 5.0 innings of work ... She also struck out four batters in the contest.
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- In her 2017 debut versus Southern Miss (Feb. 10), Wilmes struck out a career-high five batters over 4.0 innings of work ... She allowed just three hits and a pair of earned runs in the game ... Wilmes enters the weekend ranked 19th in program history by averaging 3.55 strikeouts per seven innings ... In 50 career appearances, Wilmes has struck out 89 batters.
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- Junior transfer Danae King, who entered the season on a 35-game hitting streak, opened her Ball State career by tallying one hit in each of the first three games ... Unfortunately, her hitting streak came to an end in the second game versus Southern Miss (Feb. 11) ... However, King still managed a walk in the game and also collected a hit versus Iowa State (Feb. 12) to reach base safely in each of the last 40 games she has played.
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- King smashed Ball State's first home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning versus No. 11 Louisiana (Feb. 11) ... She enters the weekend with 29 career home runs, including 28 at Phoenix College last season.
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- Junior transfers Maddy Labrador and Brittany Hopper also reached base safely in each of their first five games in a Ball State uniform, raising their current streaks of reaching base safely to 13 and nine games, respectively ... Labrador and Hopper both connected for singles in their first Ball State at bats versus DePaul (Feb. 10) and both came around to score, with Hopper's run standing up as the game-winner.
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- Coming off a stellar freshman campaign in which she was earned 2016 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honors and MAC All-Freshman Team accolades, Madison Lee made her outfield debut for the Cardinals opening weekend, starting all five games in right field ... She also picked up where she left off last season, driving in what turned out to be the game-winning run versus DePaul (Feb. 10) with a RBI single to left-center field.
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- Freshman Janae Hogg's first career hit was a two-run double in the third inning of Ball State's 5-2 win over DePaul (Feb. 10) ... Hogg finished opening weekend tied for second among Ball State's starters with a .286 batting average ... Her first career two-hit game came versus Iowa State (Feb. 12) when she connected for a fourth inning single and a sixth inning double.
-Â Ball State will be making its second trip to the state of Arizona in the last four seasons when it opens play in the 2017 Wildcat Invitational Friday with games versus Drake (1 p.m. MST) and No. 10 Arizona (3 p.m. MST).
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- In its last trip to the state of Arizona, Ball State earned a 5-2 overall record in 2014 ... The Cardinals opened the trip by winning the Louisville Slugger Invitational with a perfect 5-0 record, including a 3-0 victory over tournament host No. 3 Arizona State (March 2) ... Ball State concluded the trip out west by dropping both ends of a March 4 doubleheader at No. 7 Arizona.
Â
- Ball State softball fans can listen to this weekend's games at the Wildcat Invitational live online as Mick Tidrow returns to the broadcast booth to call the action for BallStateSports.com and SL Digital ... Broadcasts are FREE and can be found at: BallStateSports.com/watch
Â
- Live video will also be available for all five games at pac-12.com/live/university-arizona-2, with the non-Arizona broadcasts featuring a static single-camera feed with crowd noise ... Live stats for all games will be available at: ArizonaLiveStats.com
Â
- The Cardinals enter the second weekend of the 2017 season with a 944-995-4 (.487) all-time record ... 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).
Â
- Thanks to its 5-2 win over DePaul last Friday, Ball State improved to 26-17 all-time in season-opening games.
Â
- ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State is 3-6 all-time versus teams in the 2017 Wildcat Invitational field ... Of the five other teams in the tournament, the Cardinals have never faced Drake or Abilene Christian.
Â
- ALL-TIME VS. ARIZONA: The Wildcast own a 2-0 lead in the all-time series after taking both ends of a March 4, 2014 doubleheader at Hillenbrand Stadium by scores of 16-2 (5) and 12-3 (5).
All-Time vs. Arizona
3/4/2014             Arizona             2-16 (5)   A
3/4/2014             Arizona             3-12 (5)   A
Away: 0-2Â Â Â Â Â Overall: 0-2
Â
- ALL-TIME VS. NORTH DAKOTA STATE: While the Bison hold a 3-2 lead in the all-time series, the Cardinals won the last meeting by a score of 6-4 on March 22, 2014 in the Mizzou Tournament ... The teams were scheduled to play at last season's Maryland Tournament, but the game was rained out.
All-Time vs. North Dakota State
2/28/1984           Louisiana            2-8         A
3/26/2005           Ball State            2-0         N
3/26/2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NDSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â N
3/24/2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NDSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â N
3/21/2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â NDSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3-9Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â N
3/22/2014           Ball State            6-4         N
Neutral: 2-3Â Â Â Â Â Overall: 2-3
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- ALL-TIME VS. BOSTON COLLEGE: The Cardinals and Boston College have only met once in softball, with the Eagles winning the first-ever meeting by a score of 10-1 (6) on Feb. 2, 2002.
All-Time vs. Boston College
2/24/2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â BCÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-10 (6)Â Â N
Neutral: 0-1Â Â Â Â Â Overall: 0-1
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PLAYER NOTES
- Utility player Amanda Arnett paced the Ball State offense with a .333 batting average at last weekend's 31st Annual Louisiana Classics ... She tallied five hits over the five games, including her 13th career home run ... She also added a pair of doubles.
Â
- Arnett, who has played in 127 of a possible 170 games over her career, has also made 14 career appearances in the circle and is one of only 27 players in program history to earn at least one career save.
Â
- In her first career pitching appearance versus DePaul last Friday, sophomore Aeshia Miles became the 27th different Ball State player to earn a save when she limited the Blue Demons to no runs and two hits over 2.0 innings of work ... She also notched her first two career strikeouts in the game.
Â
F- reshman Darcie Huber also had a memorable first career start versus DePaul last Friday, earning the win in the collegiate pitching debut ... Over 5.0 innings of work, Huber scattered five hits and allowed just two runs, while also striking out two batters.
Â
- Huber finished her first weekend of collegiate play with a 2.68 ERA, which currently ranks 10th in the MAC ... Over 15.2 innings of work, the fourth-most in the MAC on opening weekend, Huber allowed just six earned runs and struck out eight batters .. The eight strikeouts tie as the ninth-best strikeout total in the MAC opening weekend, while her .246 opponents' batting average is 11th.
Â
- Senior outfielder Rachel Houck wasted little time getting back into a rhythm at the plate, lacing a RBI double in her first at bat of the season in the win over DePaul (Feb. 10) ... She finished opening weekend with a MAC-leading three doubles, which also ranks her 43rd nationally in doubles per game.
Â
- Houck started the first 47 games of 2016 season before suffering a season-ending injury in game one of a doubleheader versus Central Michigan (April 23) ... She is currently ninth in program history with a .508 career slugging percentage ... She is also 18th in batting average (.318), t-18th in home runs (7) and 19th in on base percentage (.379) over her three-year playing career for the Cardinals ... Houck played the 2014 season at Louisville before transferring to Ball State for the 2015 campaign.
Â
- Junior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes tuned in a strong effort versus No. 11 Louisiana last Saturday, holding the Rajin' Cajuns to three hits and three runs, only two of which were earned, over 5.0 innings of work ... She also struck out four batters in the contest.
Â
- In her 2017 debut versus Southern Miss (Feb. 10), Wilmes struck out a career-high five batters over 4.0 innings of work ... She allowed just three hits and a pair of earned runs in the game ... Wilmes enters the weekend ranked 19th in program history by averaging 3.55 strikeouts per seven innings ... In 50 career appearances, Wilmes has struck out 89 batters.
Â
- Junior transfer Danae King, who entered the season on a 35-game hitting streak, opened her Ball State career by tallying one hit in each of the first three games ... Unfortunately, her hitting streak came to an end in the second game versus Southern Miss (Feb. 11) ... However, King still managed a walk in the game and also collected a hit versus Iowa State (Feb. 12) to reach base safely in each of the last 40 games she has played.
Â
- King smashed Ball State's first home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning versus No. 11 Louisiana (Feb. 11) ... She enters the weekend with 29 career home runs, including 28 at Phoenix College last season.
Â
- Junior transfers Maddy Labrador and Brittany Hopper also reached base safely in each of their first five games in a Ball State uniform, raising their current streaks of reaching base safely to 13 and nine games, respectively ... Labrador and Hopper both connected for singles in their first Ball State at bats versus DePaul (Feb. 10) and both came around to score, with Hopper's run standing up as the game-winner.
Â
- Coming off a stellar freshman campaign in which she was earned 2016 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honors and MAC All-Freshman Team accolades, Madison Lee made her outfield debut for the Cardinals opening weekend, starting all five games in right field ... She also picked up where she left off last season, driving in what turned out to be the game-winning run versus DePaul (Feb. 10) with a RBI single to left-center field.
Â
- Freshman Janae Hogg's first career hit was a two-run double in the third inning of Ball State's 5-2 win over DePaul (Feb. 10) ... Hogg finished opening weekend tied for second among Ball State's starters with a .286 batting average ... Her first career two-hit game came versus Iowa State (Feb. 12) when she connected for a fourth inning single and a sixth inning double.
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
INF/C
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballSoftball // Workouts
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