Saturday, March 18
Edwardsville, IL
1pm
Ball State University
at
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Photo by: Buddy Delahoussaye
Softball Travels to SIUE For Three Games This Weekend
March 16, 2017 | Softball
LINKS: Live Stats (All 3 Games)  |  Ball State vs. SIUE Live Video  |  Tournament CentralÂ
- The Ball State softball team returns to the road this weekend for three games at the SIUE Tournament ... The Cardinals open play in the event Saturday with games versus the host Cougars (1 p.m. ET / Noon CT) and in-state rival Butler (5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT) ... Ball State closes the event Sunday against Northern Kentucky (3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT).Â
- Entering the SIUE Tournament, the Ball State softball team has played its first 27 games on the road ... The Cardinals played a program-record 32 straight road games to open last season, while starting the 2012 campaign with 31 straight road games ... Ball State's 2017 home opener is scheduled for next Wednesday (March 22), which would end this season's run at 30 consecutive road games.
- Ball State played its last 17 games in the state of Florida which is the longest streak of games played in the same state in program history ... The previous record was 16 games played in the state of Indiana to end the 2007 season.Â
- The Cardinals enter the SIUE Tournament with a 954-1007-4 (.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 holds an 18-5 advantage in the all-time series versus opponents in the SIUE Tournament ... The host Cougars are 1-0 all-time versus Ball State, winning the only meeting by a score of 3-0 on April 28, 1984 ... The Cardinals hold an 18-4 lead in the all-time series versus Butler, despite the Bulldogs winning the last two games ... Saturday's game will mark the first neutral site meeting between Ball State and Butler ... The Cardinals and Northern Kentucky will be meeting for the first time in softball Sunday.
PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Ball State finished its 13-game spring break trip with an 8-5 record, doubling its win total from last season's stay in the Sunshine State which saw the Cardinals go 4-8 ... In fact, the eight wins are the most for Ball State on spring break since the 2012 squad went 8-2.
- Senior slugger Rachel Houck led the Ball State offense over spring break by producing a .457 batting average with four doubles and five home runs over the 13 games ... She scored 18 of the team's 74 runs, while adding nine RBI and going a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts.
-Â Houck enters the week as one of the nation's top sluggers, ranking eighth among all NCAA Division I players in both doubles (10) and home runs (8) ... Her eight home runs are also first in the Mid-American Conference, while her 10 doubles are second, trailing only Aspen Searle's (BGSU) total of 11 ... Houck ranks 32nd nationally in runs per game, with her 1.11 average also topping the MAC.
-Â Houck put together one of the best weekends of her career at the USF Under Armour Invitational (March 3-5), batting .500 over the five games with nine hits, four home runs and three doubles to earn her first career MAC West Division Player of the Week honor ... She scored 10 of the Cardinals' 36 runs in the tournament, while driving in six RBI and posting a 1.333 slugging percentage ... She also drew a pair of walks, stole three bases and finished the tournament with a .550 on base percentage.
- Houck enters the SIUE Tournament ranked sixth in program history with a .585 career slugging percentage ... She is also 10th in home runs (15), tied for 10th in batting average (.333) and 12th in on base percentage (.398) 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.
- Ball State has had a knack for earning free bases this season, as the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 15th nationally with 101 walks ... In fact, seven of Ball State's nine starting position players rank in the top 15 in the MAC in walks, led by sophomore catcher Olivia Huffman who is second with 14.
- Huffman has also been hit by a pitch a league-leading eight times which ranks 36th nationally and has helped her earn a .403 on base percentage, which is fourth on the team ... Overall, Ball State's batters have been hit by a pitch 16 times, giving the Cardinals a total of 117 free bases so far this season.
- Freshman slugger Janae Hogg leads the Ball State offense and ranks 10th in the MAC with a .383 batting average ... Of her 31 hits on the season, seven have been doubles and three have been home runs, helping her rank 13th in the league with a .580 slugging percentage.
-Hogg has proven to be one of the nation's toughest batters to strike out, fanning just four times in 81 at bats ... Her average of 20.3 at bats per strikeout ranks Hogg as the sixth-toughest player in the MAC and the 149th-toughest player in the nation to strikeout.
- 2016 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honoree Madison Lee is starting to find her groove at the plate, having reached base safely in each of Ball State's last 12 games ... It is the longest active streak on the team, and the third-longest for a Cardinals batter this season, trailing only Houck (16) and Hogg (14).
- Freshman left fielder Kennedy Wynn led the Ball State offense with 13 RBI over spring break, aided by three doubles, a triple and a home run ... Among Wynn's total were game-winning RBI versus St. Bonaventure (March 5), Florida Atlantic (March 9) and Brown (March 10) ... She also scored five runs, including the game-winner versus Holy Cross (March 8) ... Wynn's three game-winning RBI pace the Cardinals.
Â
- Ball State's pitching staff enters the week ranked sixth in the MAC with a 3.38 ERA ... It's the program's best ERA through the first 27 games of the season since the 2013 squad had a 2.87 ERA ... In addition, Ball State's pitchers have combined to strike out 132 batters so far this season which ranks third in the conference and is the best start to a season since the 2011 squad struck out 141 batters over the first 27 games.
- Freshman Darcie Huber enters the week with a team-leading 2.33 ERA which ranks ninth in the MAC ... Her five wins also lead the team and are seventh among league pitchers ... Over 66.0 innings of work this season, Huber has held opponents to just 63 hits for a .248 batting average against ... She has also struck out 46 batters, including a career-high seven in her first career one-hitter versus Oakland (Feb. 24).
- Huber's one-hitter versus Oakland (Feb. 24) was the first one-hitter for a Ball State pitcher since a 4-1 win at Bowling Green March 29, 2013 ... In the game, Nicole Steinbach limited the Falcons to just one hit over 7.0 innings of work ... She did not issue a walk or hit a batter, Â while the Cardinals' defense committed three errors.Â
- Huber threw her second career one-hitter and earned her first career complete game shutout in Ball State's  10-0 (5 inn.) victory over Towson (March 4) ... Huber limited the Tigers to a second inning single up the middle, which was just beyond her reach ... Huber also struck out five batters and retired the final 11 batters she faced.
- Ball State's last no-hitter came in a 7-0 win versus Buffalo May 12, 2010 in the MAC Tournament ... Elizabeth Milian threw for the Cardinals, striking out 10 of the 22 batters she faced ... The lone blemish was a one-out error in the second inning, spoiling a perfect game.
- Junior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes picked up her first career complete game shutout over spring break, holding Brown (March 10) to just three hits in an 8-0 (5 inn.) victory ... Wilmes struck out a career-high eight batters, including the Bears' first five outs ... She added two more strikeouts in the third inning and one more in the fourth.
Â
- 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 ... Miles added her second career save versus Holy Cross (March 8), entering the with a runner at first in the top of the seventh and getting the force play at second for the game's final out.
- Miles earned her first career pitching victory in her next outing, picking up a complete game win at FAU (March 9) ... Over 7.0 innings of work, she held the Owls to six hits and four runs while striking out a career-high six batters in the 9-4 win.
- Freshman pitcher Alyssa Rothwell also picked up her first career win over spring break, earning the victory versus Holy Cross (March 8) after holding the Crusaders to just two hits over 4.2 innings of work ... She struck out three batters in the game, only to top the mark in her next outing with four strikeouts versus Rutgers (March 11).
- The Ball State offense exploded for 17 runs to open play in the 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.
- The Ball State softball team returns to the road this weekend for three games at the SIUE Tournament ... The Cardinals open play in the event Saturday with games versus the host Cougars (1 p.m. ET / Noon CT) and in-state rival Butler (5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT) ... Ball State closes the event Sunday against Northern Kentucky (3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT).Â
- Entering the SIUE Tournament, the Ball State softball team has played its first 27 games on the road ... The Cardinals played a program-record 32 straight road games to open last season, while starting the 2012 campaign with 31 straight road games ... Ball State's 2017 home opener is scheduled for next Wednesday (March 22), which would end this season's run at 30 consecutive road games.
- Ball State played its last 17 games in the state of Florida which is the longest streak of games played in the same state in program history ... The previous record was 16 games played in the state of Indiana to end the 2007 season.Â
- The Cardinals enter the SIUE Tournament with a 954-1007-4 (.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 holds an 18-5 advantage in the all-time series versus opponents in the SIUE Tournament ... The host Cougars are 1-0 all-time versus Ball State, winning the only meeting by a score of 3-0 on April 28, 1984 ... The Cardinals hold an 18-4 lead in the all-time series versus Butler, despite the Bulldogs winning the last two games ... Saturday's game will mark the first neutral site meeting between Ball State and Butler ... The Cardinals and Northern Kentucky will be meeting for the first time in softball Sunday.
PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Ball State finished its 13-game spring break trip with an 8-5 record, doubling its win total from last season's stay in the Sunshine State which saw the Cardinals go 4-8 ... In fact, the eight wins are the most for Ball State on spring break since the 2012 squad went 8-2.
- Senior slugger Rachel Houck led the Ball State offense over spring break by producing a .457 batting average with four doubles and five home runs over the 13 games ... She scored 18 of the team's 74 runs, while adding nine RBI and going a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts.
-Â Houck enters the week as one of the nation's top sluggers, ranking eighth among all NCAA Division I players in both doubles (10) and home runs (8) ... Her eight home runs are also first in the Mid-American Conference, while her 10 doubles are second, trailing only Aspen Searle's (BGSU) total of 11 ... Houck ranks 32nd nationally in runs per game, with her 1.11 average also topping the MAC.
-Â Houck put together one of the best weekends of her career at the USF Under Armour Invitational (March 3-5), batting .500 over the five games with nine hits, four home runs and three doubles to earn her first career MAC West Division Player of the Week honor ... She scored 10 of the Cardinals' 36 runs in the tournament, while driving in six RBI and posting a 1.333 slugging percentage ... She also drew a pair of walks, stole three bases and finished the tournament with a .550 on base percentage.
- Houck enters the SIUE Tournament ranked sixth in program history with a .585 career slugging percentage ... She is also 10th in home runs (15), tied for 10th in batting average (.333) and 12th in on base percentage (.398) 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.
- Ball State has had a knack for earning free bases this season, as the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 15th nationally with 101 walks ... In fact, seven of Ball State's nine starting position players rank in the top 15 in the MAC in walks, led by sophomore catcher Olivia Huffman who is second with 14.
- Huffman has also been hit by a pitch a league-leading eight times which ranks 36th nationally and has helped her earn a .403 on base percentage, which is fourth on the team ... Overall, Ball State's batters have been hit by a pitch 16 times, giving the Cardinals a total of 117 free bases so far this season.
- Freshman slugger Janae Hogg leads the Ball State offense and ranks 10th in the MAC with a .383 batting average ... Of her 31 hits on the season, seven have been doubles and three have been home runs, helping her rank 13th in the league with a .580 slugging percentage.
-Hogg has proven to be one of the nation's toughest batters to strike out, fanning just four times in 81 at bats ... Her average of 20.3 at bats per strikeout ranks Hogg as the sixth-toughest player in the MAC and the 149th-toughest player in the nation to strikeout.
- 2016 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honoree Madison Lee is starting to find her groove at the plate, having reached base safely in each of Ball State's last 12 games ... It is the longest active streak on the team, and the third-longest for a Cardinals batter this season, trailing only Houck (16) and Hogg (14).
- Freshman left fielder Kennedy Wynn led the Ball State offense with 13 RBI over spring break, aided by three doubles, a triple and a home run ... Among Wynn's total were game-winning RBI versus St. Bonaventure (March 5), Florida Atlantic (March 9) and Brown (March 10) ... She also scored five runs, including the game-winner versus Holy Cross (March 8) ... Wynn's three game-winning RBI pace the Cardinals.
Â
- Ball State's pitching staff enters the week ranked sixth in the MAC with a 3.38 ERA ... It's the program's best ERA through the first 27 games of the season since the 2013 squad had a 2.87 ERA ... In addition, Ball State's pitchers have combined to strike out 132 batters so far this season which ranks third in the conference and is the best start to a season since the 2011 squad struck out 141 batters over the first 27 games.
- Freshman Darcie Huber enters the week with a team-leading 2.33 ERA which ranks ninth in the MAC ... Her five wins also lead the team and are seventh among league pitchers ... Over 66.0 innings of work this season, Huber has held opponents to just 63 hits for a .248 batting average against ... She has also struck out 46 batters, including a career-high seven in her first career one-hitter versus Oakland (Feb. 24).
- Huber's one-hitter versus Oakland (Feb. 24) was the first one-hitter for a Ball State pitcher since a 4-1 win at Bowling Green March 29, 2013 ... In the game, Nicole Steinbach limited the Falcons to just one hit over 7.0 innings of work ... She did not issue a walk or hit a batter, Â while the Cardinals' defense committed three errors.Â
- Huber threw her second career one-hitter and earned her first career complete game shutout in Ball State's  10-0 (5 inn.) victory over Towson (March 4) ... Huber limited the Tigers to a second inning single up the middle, which was just beyond her reach ... Huber also struck out five batters and retired the final 11 batters she faced.
- Ball State's last no-hitter came in a 7-0 win versus Buffalo May 12, 2010 in the MAC Tournament ... Elizabeth Milian threw for the Cardinals, striking out 10 of the 22 batters she faced ... The lone blemish was a one-out error in the second inning, spoiling a perfect game.
- Junior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes picked up her first career complete game shutout over spring break, holding Brown (March 10) to just three hits in an 8-0 (5 inn.) victory ... Wilmes struck out a career-high eight batters, including the Bears' first five outs ... She added two more strikeouts in the third inning and one more in the fourth.
Â
- 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 ... Miles added her second career save versus Holy Cross (March 8), entering the with a runner at first in the top of the seventh and getting the force play at second for the game's final out.
- Miles earned her first career pitching victory in her next outing, picking up a complete game win at FAU (March 9) ... Over 7.0 innings of work, she held the Owls to six hits and four runs while striking out a career-high six batters in the 9-4 win.
- Freshman pitcher Alyssa Rothwell also picked up her first career win over spring break, earning the victory versus Holy Cross (March 8) after holding the Crusaders to just two hits over 4.2 innings of work ... She struck out three batters in the game, only to top the mark in her next outing with four strikeouts versus Rutgers (March 11).
- The Ball State offense exploded for 17 runs to open play in the 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.
Players Mentioned
INF/C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ SoftballSoftball // Workouts
Wednesday, September 17
Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Sports Link: Katie Van Der Mark (Softball)
Wednesday, May 21