Softball Heads To Orlando for Citrus Classic I

LINKS: LIVE STATS

- The Ball State softball team will make the state of Florida its home over the next three weeks, playing 17 straight games in the Sunshine State.

- First up is a trip to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., for the Citrus Classic I ... Ball State will play four games over two days at the event, starting Friday with contests versus Oakland (11 a.m.) and Lehigh (3:30 p.m.) ... The Cardinals close the trip Saturday with games against Georgia Southern (11 a.m.) and Liberty (1:15 p.m.).

- This will be Ball State's first appearance in the Citrus Classic since the 2012 season when the Cardinals opened spring break by posting a 3-2 record at the event with wins over Temple (8-0 / 5 inn.), Lipscomb (2-0) and LIU Brooklyn (8-1).

- After flying back to Muncie for classes next week, Ball State softball returns to Florida for its annual spring break trip which runs March 3-11 ... In its second stop in the Sunshine State, the Cardinals are scheduled to play five games at the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater (March 3-5), three games at FGCU (March 7-8) and five games at the FAU Parents' Weekend Tournament in Boca Raton (March 9-11).

- The Cardinals enter the Citrus Classic I with a 946-998-4 (.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).

- ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State is 4-0 all-time versus teams it will face in the Citrus Classic I ... The Cardinals are 2-0 all-time versus Georgia Southern and have won the only meetings versus Oakland and Lehigh ... Ball State and Liberty will be playing for the first time in softball.

- ALL-TIME VS. OAKLAND: In the only previous meeting with the Golden Grizzlies, the Cardinals scored a 6-4 home win March 20, 2005.
All-Time vs. Oakland
3/20/2005                Ball State                          6-4                        H
Home: 1-0      Overall: 1-0

- ALL-TIME VS. LEHIGH: The only previous meeting with the Mountain Hawks came at the 2009 USF Under Armour Invitational, with the Cardinals scoring a 5-1 victory March 7, 2009.
All-Time vs. Lehigh
3/7/2009                   Ball State                          5-1                        N
Home: 1-0      Overall: 1-0

- ALL-TIME VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN: Ball State owns a 2-0 all-time record versus the Eagles, including a 4-2 victory in the most recent meeting March 16, 2008 at the USF Tournament in Clearwater, Fla. ... The Cardinals won the first-ever meeting by a score of 4-1 on March 20, 2004 at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic.

All-Time vs. Georgia Southern
3/20/2004                Ball State                          4-1                      N
3/16/2008                Ball State                          4-2                      N
Neutral: 2-0      Overall: 2-0

PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Thanks to its 5-2 win over DePaul on Feb. 10, the Ball State softball program improved to 26-17 all-time in season-opening games.

- Last season, Ball State played a 12-game spring break schedule in the state of Florida, finishing the trip with a 4-8 record capped by an 11-0 (5 inn.) win at Jacksonville (March 13).

- The Ball State offense exploded for 17 runs to open play in last weekend's Wildcat Invitational with a 17-2 (5 inn.) victory over Drake (Feb. 17) ... It was the team's largest offensive output since a 19-9 home win over Indiana April 21, 2015 ... Ball State's largest run total in a game was a 24-0 victory over St. Leo March 2, 1987.

- Senior center fielder Rachel Houck opened Ball State's second weekend of play with a two-run home run in the first inning versus Drake and later capped the scoring in the game with three-run shot in the top of the fifth ... It was the first career two home run game for Houck and upper her Ball State career home run total to nine.

- Houck also had a RBI fielder's choice in the second inning versus Drake and managed to reach base and score a run in all five of her plate appearances ... In addition to her two home runs and fielder's choice, she drew a walk in the third and reached on an error in the fourth ... In all, Houck accounted for nine of Ball State's 17 runs in the game with two home runs, five runs scored and six RBIs.

- Houck enters the weekend ranked ninth in program history with a .519 career slugging percentage ... She is also 17th in home runs (9) and 20th in on base percentage (.376) 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.

- Thanks to a strong performance last weekend, freshman Kenndey Wynn enters the week as the Cardinals' top batter with a .474 average ... She recording seven hits in 13 at bats at the Wildcat Invitational and also drove in four RBIs and scored a run.

- Wynn opened the weekend with 2-for-2 efforts versus Drake and at No. 10 Arizona ... She tallied an RBI in each game and also logged a sacrifice bunt in each contest ... She scored what proved to be the game-winning run versus Abilene Christian after reaching base on a fielder's choice ... She reached base twice versus North Dakota State, on a single and on an error, before going 2-for-4 versus Iowa State ... Her biggest hit versus the Cyclones was a two-run single in the fifth inning to push the Cardinals ahead 4-2 at the time.

- In her first career pitching appearance versus DePaul (Feb. 10), 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.

- Freshman Darcie Huber also had a memorable first career start versus DePaul, 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.

- Huber enters the Citrus Classic I ranked third in the MAC with three pitching wins ... Over 31.0 innings of work, which also ranks third among MAC pitchers, Huber has tallied a 3.61 ERA and held opposing batters to a .294 average ... She is seventh in the league with 17 strikeouts, with her seven batters struck out looking ranking third among conference pitchers.

- 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) ... She enters the Citrus Classic I with a team-high 10 hits, including three doubles ... Three of her hits came in the win over Abilene Christian (Feb. 18), when she went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and a pair of RBI.

- Junior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes tuned in a strong effort versus No. 11 Louisiana (Feb. 11), 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.

- 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 Citrus Classic I ranked 19th in program history by averaging 3.63 strikeouts per seven innings ... In 54 career appearances, Wilmes has struck out 95 batters.

- Junior transfer Maddy Labrador enters the Citrus Classic I with a team-leading .485 on base percentage ... She has tallied eight hits on the season and drawn a team-high seven walks ... The seven walks are also tied for second among MAC players.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Janae Hogg

Rachel Houck

Darcie Huber

Maddy Labrador

Aeshia Miles

Carolyn Wilmes