Softball Heads to New Mexico State for Troy Cox Classic

Ball State vs. No. 1 Oklahoma
Friday, Feb. 16, 1:15 p.m. ET / 11:15 a.m. MT
Live Audio (Free) | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State vs. Boston University
Friday, Feb. 16, 6:15 p.m. ET / 4:15 p.m. MT
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State vs. Boston University
Saturday, Feb. 17, 1:15 p.m. ET / 11:15 a.m. MT
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

Ball State vs. New Mexico State
Saturday, Feb. 17, 6:15 p.m. ET / 4:15 p.m. MT
Live Video (Free) | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)

- The Ball State softball team returns to the road this weekend as it travels to Las Cruses, New Mexico, for the Troy Cox Classic ... The Cardinals open the event Friday with games versus defending national champion and top-ranked Oklahoma at 1:15 p.m. ET (11:15 a.m. MT) and Boston University at 6:15 p.m. ET (4:15 p.m. MT) ... Ball State is scheduled to battle the Terriers again Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET (11:15 a.m. MT), before closing their portion of the tournament against the host Aggies at 6:15 p.m. ET (4:15 p.m. MT).

- Fans unable to attend this weekend's games can follow the action with live stats for all four games, as well as free live audio for the Oklahoma (KEBC 1560 AM) game and free live video (WAC Digital network) for the New Mexico State contest ... All links can be found on the softball schedule page at: http://ballstatesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball ... Fans can also follow @BallStateSB on twitter for game updates throughout the season.

- Ball State is 5-2 all-time versus teams in the Troy Cox Classic field ... The Cardinals are 0-1 all-time versus Oklahoma, with the lone meeting being a 1-0 loss on March 11, 1994 ... Ball State holds a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series versus Boston University, including a 5-4 victory in the latest meeting March 20, 2016 ... The Cardinals are 1-1 all-time versus New Mexico State, with the Aggies winning the last meeting by a score of 6-1 on March 6, 1999.

- SCOUTING OKLAHOMA: The Sooners enter Friday's game with a 5-0 overall record and ranked first in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll ... In posting a perfect record at last weekend's Grand Canyon University Kickoff Tournament, Oklahoma out-scored opponents 35-4 ... Sydney Romero leads the squad with a .533 batting average, compiling eight hits in 15 at bats ... The Sooners used three different starting pitchers last weekend with Paige Parker throwing a team-high 12.1 innings, allowing just five hits and no runs, while striking out 13 ... Oklahoma boasts a .359 batting average and a 0.82 ERA as a team, while fielding at a .993 clip with just one error opening weekend.

- SCOUTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY: The Terriers went 3-2 at last weekend's FAU Kickoff Classic, including a 6-2 win over Ball State's Mid-American Conference travel partner Northern Illinois to open the event ... BU also scored wins over Duke (7-4 in 8 inn.) and Michigan State ... Alex Heinen leads the squad with a .500 batting average, going 8-for-16 with a pair of doubles and five RBIs ... Ali Dubois led the Boston University pitching staff with a 3-1 record and a 0.90 ERA over 20.0 innings ... She struck out 15 batters, while also throwing a pair of complete games, including a 3-0 shutout of Michigan State ... BU is batting .293 and has a 2.00 ERA as a team, as well as a .955 fielding percentage.

- SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE: The Aggies enter the weekend with a 2-1 record after taking two of three games from then-No. 17/13 Kentucky ... Courtesy of their wins over a ranked opponent, New Mexico State received votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll this week ... Fahren Glackin led the Aggies offense last weekend with an .800 (4-for-5) batting average, drew four walks and was hit by three pitches for a .917 on base percentage ... Victoria Castro belted a pair of home runs and drove in a team-high seven RBIs against Kentucky ... In the circle, Kayla Green picked up both wins, allowing just seven hits and two earned runs over 7.1 innings of work for a 1.91 ERA ... As a team, NM State is batting .375, owns a 6.00 ERA in the circle and has a .922 fielding percentage.

BALL STATE PLAYER / TEAM NOTES
- Ball State opened the 2018 season by going 3-2 at the FGCU Kickoff Classic, including wins over LIU-Brooklyn (10-2 in 5 inn.), NC State (8-2) and Georgetown (5-1) ... The Cardinals book ended the three-game winning streak with losses to Memphis (5-1) and tournament host FGCU (4-1).

- Ball State softball enters the Troy Cox Classic with a 976-1021-4 (.489) all-time record ... Established as a varsity program in 1975, Ball State has won five MAC 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).

- Over the past nine seasons, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 131-57 (.697) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the past nine seasons at 126-64 (.663), while Miami is third at 119-77 (.607) ... Ball State boasts a 403-410-1 (.496) all-time MAC record in 35 years.

- When the Cardinals open play in the Troy Cox Classic, the will be battling the No. 1 team in the country for just the second time in program history ... The only other time the Cardinals faced the nation's top ranked team, they suffered a 21-0 (5) loss at No. 1 Florida on March 12, 2011.

- While Ball State is 0-1 all-time versus the top ranked team in the nation, the Cardinals do boast a pair of wins over top five teams ... Ball State defeated No. 3 Missouri by a score of 2-1 on March 19, 2010 and picked up a 3-0 win at No. 3 Arizona State on March 2, 2014 ... Ball State is 6-62 all-time versus ranked teams, with its last ranked win coming at No. 21 Notre Dame by a score of 6-3 on May 15, 2015 in NCAA Regional play.

- For her play in the FGCU Kickoff Classic, Ball State sophomore center fielder Kennedy Wynn was named the MAC West Division Player of the Week ... Wynn produced a .385 batting average, a .556 on base percentage and a 1.154 slugging percentage over the five games ... Three of her five hits on the weekend were home runs, while another was a double ... She also led the team with seven RBIs and five walks, while her four runs scored were second on the squad ... Wynn's three home runs were one more than she collected in 56 games played as a freshman, while her five total walks were two shy of the seven she drew all of last season.

- Kennedy Wynn enters the Troy Cox Classic with the highest slugging percentage of all players in the tournament ... Her 1.154 mark was the 42nd-best in the nation opening weekend and also ranks second among MAC players ... The second-best slugging percentage among regular starters in this weekend's field is held by New Mexico State's Victoria Castro at 1.000.

- Kennedy Wynn is only the third player in program history to record three home runs opening weekend ... Jen Reifschneider was the first with three long balls and a 1.000 slugging percentage in 2009, while Ball State's all-time home runs leader Jennifer Gilbert opened the 2013 season with three bombs and a 1.583 slugging percentage.

- Freshman Hailey Demnianiuk opened her collegiate career by leading the Ball State offense with a .417 batting average and six runs scored opening weekend ... Demnianiuk entered the season-opener versus Memphis (Feb. 9) as a pinch runner and went on to score the Cardinals' first run of the season ... In her first plate appearance later in the game, she was hit by a pitch ... Demnianiuk would get the start versus LIU-Brooklyn (Feb. 9) later in the day, drawing a second-inning walk in her first plate appearance, before breaking through with a RBI single in the fifth for her first career hit and RBI ... She went on to collect two hits apiece versus NC State (Feb. 10) and Georgetown (Feb. 10), including her first career double versus the Hoyas.

- Sophomore Haley Dominique led the Ball State offense with six hits opening weekend, going 6-for-16 for a .375 average ... Her best game came versus LIU-Brooklyn (Feb. 9), when she went 3-for-4 from the plate with a career-high five RBIs ... It was the first three hit game of her career and the first game in which she drove in more than three RBIs.

- Ball State's pitching staff picked up right where it left off in 2017, combining for a 2.19 ERA to open the 2018 season ... All three Cardinals pitchers had an ERA of 2.55-or-better last weekend, led by sophomore Alyssa Rothwell's 1.56 mark ... Last season, Ball State's pitching staff finished the year with a combined 2.99 ERA, the program's best mark since the 2013 squad finished the year with a 2.74 ERA.

- Senior Carolyn Wilmes earned two of the three wins in the circle for Ball State at the FGCU Kickoff Classic, raising her career total to 26 ... Her 26 wins are 13th in program history and leave her four shy of breaking into the top 10 ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 85 wins, while only six pitchers have reached 40 wins in program history.

- With her team-leading nine strikeouts last weekend, Carolyn Wilmes raised her career total to 218 which is 12th in program history ... Wilmes needs 12 more strikeouts to move into the top 10 in program history ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 762 strikeouts, while only seven pitchers have reached 300 strikeouts in program history.

- Ball State's batters also picked up where they left off last season, drawing 27 walks opening weekend, which currently ranks first in the MAC and seventh nationally ... Kennedy Wynn led the Cardinals with five walks last weekend, while Janae Hogg drew four ... In all, 11 of the 14 Ball State batters to step in the box last weekend drew at least one walk ... Last season, the Cardinals ranked second in the MAC and 32nd nationally with 197 walks.

- In addition to drawing 27 walks, Ball State's patience at the plate forced opposing pitchers to work hard every plate appearance, with Cardinals batters seeing an average of 4.25 pitches per plate appearance ... In fact, Ball State batters faced a total of 40 full count pitches in 162 plate appearances.

- Ball State pitchers on the other hand are throwing 3.61 pitches per plate appearance and have only thrown 12 full count pitches in 139 plate appearances ... The Cardinals only surrendered 10 walks last week which ranks second in the league and 64th nationally.

Softball Heads to New Mexico State for Troy Cox Classic

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Players Mentioned

Hailey Demnianiuk

Haley Dominique

Janae Hogg

Alyssa Rothwell

Carolyn Wilmes

Kennedy Wynn