Softball Wraps Up NIU Series Wednesday in DeKalb

LINKS: Live Video (NIU) | Live Video (EMU) | Live Stats (All 4 Games)

- The Ball State softball team will look to complete its second Mid-American Conference series sweep of the season Wednesday when it travels to Northern Illinois for a 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT first pitch ... The Cardinals swept an April 4 doubleheader from the Huskies in Muncie with a pair of walk-off wins.

- The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game in first place in the MAC with a 9-2 league record ... Ball State has won its first four league series, including a 3-0 sweep of Miami, 2-1 series victories over both Buffalo and Ohio, plus a 2-0 lead in the three-game set with Northern Illinois.

- The last time Ball State started league play with a 9-2 record was 2015 when the Cardinals won the MAC West Division, captured the MAC Tournament Title and earned a berth into the NCAA Regionals ... The 2015 Cardinals would go on to earn the program's first-ever NCAA Regional victory by defeating South Bend Regional host and No. 16 national seed Notre Dame by a score of 6-3.

- Over the past nine seasons, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 126-49 (.720) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the past nine seasons at 116-61 (.655), while Miami is third at 111-72 (.607) ... Ball State boasts a 398-402-1 (.498) all-time MAC record in 35 years.

- The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game at Northern Illinois with a 968-1009-4 (.490) 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 VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: If one team has been the Cardinals' nemesis of late, it's been the Huskies who hold a 44-29 lead in the all-time series, including ending the Cardinals' season in both the 2013 and 2014 MAC Tournaments ... However, Ball State exacted a little bit of revenge last Tuesday, sweeping a midweek home doubleheader with a pair of come-from-behind victories ... After trailing 2-0, the Cardinals rallied to win the opener 3-2 thanks in part to a fifth inning home run by Janae Hogg ... Ball State trailed 4-0 in the nightcap, only to battle back and earn a 6-4 victory capped by a two-run walk-off home run by Amanda Arnett.

- ALL-TIME VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN: While the Cardinals hold a 58-40 lead in the all-time series, the Eagles closed the gap a little last season by sweeping a three-game series in Ypsilanti ... EMU won the Friday (April 15) game by a score of 1-0 ... Eastern Michigan went on to sweep a Saturday (April 16) doubleheader by scores of 2-0 and 15-11 ... Ball State led 11-6 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Eagles rallied for nine runs in the frame to stun the Cardinals and win the game ... Ball State holds a 34-10 lead in games played in Muncie, including nine straight wins ... EMU's last wins in Muncie came April 27, 2007 in a doubleheader sweep by scores of 7-1 and 6-3 (10).

PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Ball State enters the week as the hottest team in the MAC with a 14-2 record over its last 16 games ... The Cardinals pitchers have led the charge during the run, combining for a 1.85 ERA and holding opposing batters to a .199 average ... On offense, the Cardinals are connecting at a .248 clip and out-scoring opponents 79 to 35.

- With wins in 14 of its last 16 games, the Ball State softball team climbed to 95th in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings ... The Cardinals enter the week with the second-best RPI win in the MAC with a 9-4 victory at No. 37 FAU (March 9), while its four top 100 RPI wins are second in the league only to Ohio's five.

- With its doubleheader sweep of NIU last Tuesday (April 4), the Cardinals improved to 6-0 at home this season ... Ball State is batting .283 at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, including 10 of its league-leading 35 home runs ... The Cardinals have rallied from behind in four of the six wins, with four walk-off victories.

- Of Ball State's four walk-off wins at home, two have come via the long ball ... Senior Rachel Houck provided the first with a two-run blast in the second game of an April 1 doubleheader versus Miami ... Senior Amanda Arnett provided the other, with her two-run shot in the second game versus Northern Illinois Tuesday (April 4).

- Over the last 19 games, junior Carolyn Wilmes leads the Cardinals pitching staff with a 9-1 record ... In 12 appearances and 50.1 innings of work, she has surrendered just 16 earned runs for a 2.23 ERA ... She is also holding opposing batters to a .193 average, allowing just 34 total hits (28 singles, four doubles and two home runs) ... She has struck out a team-high 44 batters during the run, including a career-high nine strikeouts in last Saturday's series opener at Ohio.

- During the run, Wilmes threw three complete game shutouts in wins over Brown (March 10), Northern Kentucky (March 19) and at Buffalo (March 24) ... Add in a pair of scoreless relief appearances and the first inning in the series finale at Buffalo (March 26), Wilmes put together a 22.2 inning shutout streak ... It's the longest shutout streak for a Ball State pitcher since Elizabeth Milian threw 26.2 scoreless innings from May 5, 2010 to May 13, 2010.

- Darcie Huber enters the week with a team-leading 2.10 ERA which ranks fourth in the MAC ... Over 80.0 innings of work, Huber has held opponents to just 77 hits for a .248 batting average against which is 12th in the MAC ... She has also struck out 57 batters, including seven in her first career one-hitter versus Oakland (Feb. 24) ... Huber added another one-hitter in a 10-0 (5) victory over Towson (March 4).

- 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, while the Cardinals' defense committed three errors.

- 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 second inning error, spoiling a perfect game.

- Freshman Alyssa Rothwell has also had a major impact in Ball State's pitching rotation, entering the week as the fourth-toughest pitcher in the league to hit with a .210 opponents batting average ... She ranks sixth in the MAC with a 2.30 ERA, while her 48 total strikeouts are 15th in the league.

- Rothwell struck out a career-high nine batters in a 9-1 (6) victory at Buffalo (March 24) ... The nine strikeouts are the most for a Ball State freshman pitcher since Steinbach struck out 10 batters versus Creighton (Feb. 22, 2013).

- Ball State's pitching staff enters the week ranked third in the MAC with a 2.77 ERA ... It's the program's best ERA through the first 43 games of the season since the 2010 squad had a 2.39 ERA ... In addition, Ball State's pitchers have combined to strike out 224 batters so far this season which ranks third in the conference and is the best start to a season since the 2010 squad struck out 291 batters over the first 43 games.

- Senior outfielder Rachel Houck enters the week as one of the nation's top sluggers, leading the MAC and ranking second among all NCAA Division I players with 15 doubles ... Houck's 10 home runs rank second in the MAC and 28th nationally, while her 1.0 runs-per-game average is first in the league and 38th in the nation.

- Houck enters Wednesday's game at Northern Illinois ranked sixth in program history with a .567 career slugging percentage ... She is also 10th in home runs (17), 13th in batting average (.325) and 15th in on base percentage (.389) 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.

- Houck also enters the week tied for eighth in the MAC with a team-leading 12 stolen bases ... Houck is a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts this year and is the first Ball State player to steal 12 bases over the first 43 games since Alicia Barkley (15-for-17) and Lisa Rozanski (12-for-14) in 2011 ... Only two players in program history have finished a season with a perfect stolen base percentage with at least 10 steals.

- Junior second baseman Maddy Labrador has made quite the impact in MAC play, ranking second in the league with 17 hits and sixth in the conference with a .436 batting average ... She opened her MAC career by blasting a 1-2 pitch deep over the fence in center field at Buffalo (March 24) ... She added her second career MAC home run to drive in Ball State's first three runs in the series opener versus Miami (April 1), helping the Cardinals rally from down 5-0 for a 6-5 victory ... Of Labrador's 17 hits in MAC play, she has five doubles, a triple and two home runs.

- Ball State has had a knack for earning free bases this season, as the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 14th nationally with 155 walks ... In fact, seven of Ball State's nine starting batters rank in the top 15 in the MAC in walks led by sophomore catcher Olivia Huffman who is second with 23 free passes.

- Huffman has also been hit by a pitch a league-leading nine times, which has helped her earn a .380 on base percentage this season ... Overall, Ball State's batters have been hit by a pitch 24 times, giving the Cardinals a total of 179 free bases this season.

- Freshman third baseman Janae Hogg has proven to be a clutch batter for the Cardinals this season, including driving in the eventual game-winning run in five of Ball State's last nine victories ... She started with a first inning RBI single in the second game at Buffalo (April 24) ... Next up was an eighth inning sacrifice fly at Indiana State (March 29) ... She followed by smashing a walk-off RBI single into right-center field in the series opener vs. Miami (April 1) ... A three-run home run in the fifth inning of the series finale versus the RedHawks (April 2) was next, followed by a fifth inning solo shot in the first game against Northern Illinois (April 4).

- 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 with a runner at first in the top of the seventh and getting the force play at second for the game's final out.

- 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.

- Ball State's 30 consecutive road games to open the 2017 season is the third-longest in program history ... The Cardinals played a program-record 32 straight road games to open last season, while starting the 2012 campaign with 31 straight road games.

- From Feb. 24 through March 11, the Ball State played 17 straight games in the state of Florida ... It's the longest streak of games played in the same state in program history ... The previous record was 16 in the state of Indiana to end the 2007 season.

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Arnett

Janae Hogg

Rachel Houck

Darcie Huber

Olivia Huffman

Maddy Labrador

Aeshia Miles

Alyssa Rothwell

Nicole Steinbach

Carolyn Wilmes