Softball Travels To Ohio for Battle of League Leaders

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- It will be a battle of league leaders this weekend, as the Mid-American Conference leading Ball State softball team travels to Athens, Ohio, to battle MAC East Division leader Ohio in a three-game weekend series ... The teams play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at noon.

- The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 7-1 MAC record, including a Tuesday doubleheader sweep of Northern Illinois by scores of 3-2 and 6-4 ... The Bobcats are 6-2 in conference play after splitting a Tuesday doubleheader at Kent State, winning the first game 6-0 and losing the second 7-1.

- Over the past nine seasons, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 124-48 (.721) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the past nine seasons at 115-59 (.661), while Miami is third at 109-71 (.605) ... Ball State boasts a 396-401-1 (.497) all-time MAC record in 35 years.

- The Cardinals enter Saturday's doubleheader at Ohio with a 966-1008-4 (.489) 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. OHIO: The Cardinals hold a 45-35-1 lead in the all-time series versus the Bobcats, including a three-game series sweep last season in Muncie ... Ball State opened the 2016 season series with a 2-1 victory on April 1, before sweeping both ends of an April 2 doubleheader by scores of 3-2 and 8-6 ... Overall, the Cardinals have won 15 of the last 19 games in the all-time series, including an April 24, 2015 doubleheader split in its last trip to Athens ... Ohio won the first game 6-1, before the Cardinals rebounded for a 4-1 victory ... Overall, the Bobcats hold a slim 18-15-1 advantage in games play on their home field.

- 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 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 ... 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 senior Amanda Arnett.

PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Ball State enters the weekend as the hottest team in the MAC with a 12-1 record over its last 13 games ... The Cardinals pitchers have led the charge during the run, combining for a 1.73 ERA and holding opposing batters to a .187 average ... On offense, the Cardinals are connecting at a .264 clip and out-scoring opponents 71 to 28.

- With its doubleheader sweep of NIU Tuesday, the Cardinals improved to 6-0 in home games this season ... Ball State is batting .283 at home, including 10 of its league-leading 34 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 a 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).

- The Cardinals' last at bat magic started in the March 22 home opener versus Butler when Rachel Houck came around to score on a Bulldogs error in a 10-2 (6) victory ... The second was Ball State's first true walk-off win of the season when freshman Janae Hogg blasted a RBI single to right-center field in the series opener against Miami (April 1) to hand the Cardinals a 3-2 victory.

- Prior to playing at home, Ball State had a pair of final at bat wins, with both coming in run-rule fashion in back-to-back games ... Freshman Kennedy Wynn provided the first with a walk-off RBI double in an 8-0 (5) victory over Brown (March 10) ... The next time out, freshman Haley Dominique capped an eight-run fifth inning by scoring on a wild pitch versus Rutgers (March 11) to end the game at 12-4 (5).

- Ball State's run of 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 softball team 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 games played in the state of Indiana to end the 2007 season.

- Over the last 16 games, junior Carolyn Wilmes leads the Cardinals pitching staff with an 8-1 record ... In 10 appearances and 42.0 innings of work, she has surrendered just 13 earned runs for a 2.17 ERA ... She is also holding opposing batters to a .193 average, allowing just 28 total hits (23 singles, four doubles and one home run) ... She has struck out a team-high 34 batters during the run and thrown three complete game shutouts.

- Wilmes opened league play by picking up her third consecutive complete game shutout victory after limiting Buffalo (March 24) to six hits over 7.0 innings of work ... With the effort, Wilmes extended her shutout streak to 21.2 innings ... Wilmes also held Buffalo scoreless in the first inning of the March 26 game, extending her streak to 22.2 innings without surrendering a run ... Unfortunately, the Bulls snapped it with a run in the second inning of the contest.

- In her first appearance in the circle since March 11, freshman Darcie Huber did not miss a beat in last Saturday's nightcap versus Miami, limiting one of the MAC's top offensive teams to just three hits and one unearned run to improve to 6-5 on the year ... She also struck out a career-high eight batters, while issuing just two walks in the game.

- Huber enters the week with a team-leading 2.11 ERA which ranks fourth in the MAC ... Over 73.0 innings of work, Huber has held opponents to just 66 hits for a .237 batting average against which is ninth in the MAC ... She has also struck out 54 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 pitcher Alyssa Rothwell led the Ball State pitching staff with 13 strikeouts the week of March 20, starting with four in her relief appearance versus non-conference rival Butler (March 22) ... She followed with a career-high nine strikeouts at Buffalo (March 24) ... Her nine strikeouts are the most for a Ball State pitcher since Nicole Steinbach struck out 10 at Bowling Green (April 11, 2015) ... Rothwell's nine strikeouts are also 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 fourth in the MAC with a 2.81 ERA ... It's the program's best ERA through the first 40 games of the season since the 2010 squad had a 2.17 ERA ... In addition, Ball State's pitchers have combined to strike out 203 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 276 batters over the first 40 games.

- Senior outfielder Rachel Houck enters the week as one of the nation's top sluggers, leading the MAC and ranking third among all NCAA Division I players with 14 doubles ... Houck's 10 home runs currently rank second in the MAC and 25th nationally, while her 1.05 runs-per-game average is first in the MAC and 33rd in the nation.

- Houck enters Saturday's doubleheader versus Ohio ranked sixth in program history with a .578 career slugging percentage ... She is also 10th in home runs (17), 11th in batting average (.330) and 13th in on base percentage (.395) 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 seventh in the MAC with a team-leading 11 stolen bases ... Houck is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts this year and is the first Ball State player to steal at least 11 bases over the first 40 games of the season since Alicia Barkley went 15-for-17 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 her first two-plus weeks of MAC play, leading all league players with 15 hits and ranking fifth with a .517 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 15 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 12th nationally with 143 walks ... In fact, six of Ball State's nine starting batters rank in the top 15 in the MAC in walks, led by sophomore catcher Olivia Huffman who has a league-high 23 free passes.

- Huffman has also been hit by a pitch a league-leading eight times, which has helped her earn a .392 on base percentage this season ... Overall, Ball State's batters have been hit by a pitch 22 times, giving the Cardinals a total of 165 free bases this season.

- Freshman third baseman Janae Hogg has proven to be one of the nation's toughest batters to strike out, fanning just six times in 126 at bats ... Her average of 21.0 at bats per strikeout ranks Hogg as the second-toughest player in the MAC and the 79th-toughest in the nation to strikeout.

- Since working her way into the starting lineup for the March 7 game at FGCU, freshman outfielder Haley Dominique has been one of Ball State's main offensive threats ... She is second on the team with a .346 batting average over the last 20 games, with seven of her 18 hits being doubles ... She has also scored 11 runs and driven in nine ... In addition, she leads the team in walks (15) and on base percentage (.500) since taking over the reins in left field.

- 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.

Softball Travels To Ohio for Battle of League Leaders

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Players Mentioned

Amanda Arnett

Haley Dominique

Janae Hogg

Rachel Houck

Darcie Huber

Olivia Huffman

Maddy Labrador

Aeshia Miles

Alyssa Rothwell

Nicole Steinbach

Carolyn Wilmes

Kennedy Wynn