Ball State University
Akron
Softball Ends 33-Game Road Swing with Weekend Trip To Akron
March 29, 2018 | Softball
Game 31 - Ball State at Akron
Friday, March 30, 3 p.m.
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 32 - Ball State at Akron
Saturday, March 31, 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 33 - Ball State at Akron
Saturday, March 31, 3 p.m.
Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
• The Ball State softball team wraps up its season opening 33-game road swing with a three-game Mid-American Conference series at Akron this weekend ... The Cardinals and Zips are scheduled to play a single game Friday (3 p.m.) and a doubleheader Saturday (1 p.m.) at Lee R. Jackson Field.
• Fans unable to attend this weekend's games can follow the action with live stats at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/ballstate/softball/ ... Fans can also follow @BallStateSB on twitter for game updates throughout the season.
• SERIES VERSUS AKRON: Ball State holds a 31-22 lead in the all-time series versus Akron, including four straight wins ... The teams have not played since the 2015 season, when the Cardinals swept a two-game set in Akron with a 9-3 victory April 25 and a 5-3 win April 26 ... Ball State also scored a 10-2 (6) win over the Zips in the MAC Tournament that season, in a game played May 6 at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... Since the 2004 season, the Cardinals hold a 18-5 advantage in the series ... Overall, Ball State is 14-9 in games played at Akron's home field, including three straight wins ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.
• SCOUTING AKRON: The Zips enter the weekend with a 1-23-1 overall record, including an 0-3 mark in MAC play ... Akron hosted Toledo in a three-game series last weekend, losing the three games by a 34-7 margin ... The Zips lone win of the season was a 1-0 victory over Fort Wayne (Feb. 18), while the tie came in a 1-1 rain-shortened game versus Drexel (Feb. 25) ... Since the tie, Akron has lost 11 straight games ... Sydney Jascoe leads the squad with a .309 batting average and is tied for the team-lead with six RBIs ... Kimberly Rodriguez is second on the team with a .298 average, has a team-high nine runs scored and is tied for the team lead with six RBIs and three home runs ... Mikayla Newland has a team-best 6.14 ERA over 49.0 innings of work in the circle, and has struck out a team-best 27 batters ... As a team, the Zips have a .217 batting average, a 6.95 ERA and a .944 fielding percentage.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• Ball State's postponed game at Butler has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 18 at 4 p.m. at the Bulldogs' Softball Field ... The game was originally scheduled for March 21, but snow and cold temperatures forced its postponement.
• If the Cardinals and Zips are able to play all three games this weekend, Ball State will have played the first 33 games of the season on the road ... It would be the longest stretch of road games in program history ... Ball State played a program-record 32 straight road games to open the 2016 season, while starting the 2012 campaign with 31 straight road games ... The Cardinals played 30 consecutive road games to open the 2017 season before its first game at the Softball Field at the First Merchants Softball Complex.
• Like last weekend at Bowling Green, senior Carolyn Wilmes is the only player on the active roster who was also on the 2015 roster when Ball State last played Akron ... However, Wilmes did not see action in any of the three games versus the Zips her freshman year.
• Ball State's 20-10 start to the season is the program's best since the 2012 squad also went 20-10 over the first 30 games ... The Cardinals finished the 2012 season with a 40-15 overall record and won the MAC regular season title with a 17-3 league ledger ... It was Ball State's first of three straight MAC regular season titles.
• Ball State softball enters Friday's game at Akron with a 993-1029-4 (.491) 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).
• Opening weekend saw the Cardinals play the 2,000th game in program history, earning a 5-1 win over Georgetown (Feb. 10).
• Since the 2009 season, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 133-58 (.696) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the same span at 128-65 (.663), while Miami is third at 121-78 (.608) ... Ball State boasts a 405-411-1 (.496) all-time MAC record in 35 years.
• After throwing a pair of complete game shutouts at Bowling Green last weekend, Ball State junior pitcher Aeshia Miles was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season ... In addition to holding the Falcons scoreless over 11.0 innings of work, Miles struck out 13 batters while not issuing a single walk ... She also limited BGSU to a .132 batting average for the weekend, surrendering just five hits to a team which entered the weekend hitting a league-best .323.
• Led by Aeshia Miles' three MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week honors, Ball State has claimed seven of the 14 possible MAC West Division weekly awards so far this season ... Sophomore Haley Dominique has been named the MAC West Division Player of the Week twice, while sophomore Kennedy Wynn and senior Maddy Labrador have each earned one player of the week honor.
• Aeshia Miles enters the weekend ranked first in the MAC with a 1.85 ERA ... She has held opponents scoreless in each of her last 16 innings of work, including her final two innings at Belmont (March 16), her 3.0 innings of work in a combined no-hitter versus St. Bonaventure (March 17) and her back-to-back shutout wins at Bowling Green this past weekend.
• Led by Aeshia Miles league-leading 1.85 ERA over 94.2 innings, Ball State's pitching staff enters the week ranked first in the MAC with a 2.59 team ERA ... Sophomore Alyssa Rothwell is not far behind, ranking second on the team and second in the league with a 2.04 ERA over 37.2 innings ... Senior Carolyn Wilmes rounds out Ball State's staff with a 3.97 ERA over 61.2 innings.
• In addition to leading the league with a 1.85 ERA, Aeshia Miles has a MAC-best 11 pitching wins this season ... Her win total ranks 41st nationally and is as many or more than five league schools have earned this season; Buffalo (11), Central Michigan (10), Northern Illinois (9), Eastern Michigan (4) and Akron (1).
• Aeshia Miles earned her first career no-hitter in Ball State's 8-0 (6) victory over Robert Morris (March 2) ... She retired the first 17 batters she faced before issuing a two-out, sixth-inning walk to spoil the perfect game ... She responded by inducing a ground out to herself for the final out to also lock up her first career complete game shutout ... Miles also joined Alyssa Rothwell in a combined no-hitter versus St. Bonaventure (March 17) ... Miles threw the first 3.0 innings with the only baserunners coming from a pair of Ball State errors ... Rothwell pitched the final two, with her only baserunner coming via a walk.
• Aeshia Miles has been one of the top strikeout pitchers in the league this season, ranking fourth in the MAC and 82nd nationally with 85 strikeouts ... Miles struck out a career-high 14 batters in a one-hit, 1-0 victory over Niagara (March 4), while striking out 10 batters in the team's 5-3 win at FAU (March 8) and the team's 9-0 (6) win at BGSU (March 23) ... She has at least five strikeouts in nine of her 16 starts this season.
• It's been an interesting career for Aeshia Miles, who was originally recruited as a fielder ... In fact, Miles has earned 78 starts at eight different positions over her Ball State career; 22 (3B), 22 (P), 17 (2B), six (LF), five (RF), four (1B), one (CF) and one (DP) ... She made her first career pitching appearance in the 2017 season opener versus DePaul (Feb. 10), starting the game in left field before entering the circle to throw the final two innings and earn her first career save.
• Ball State's 12 runs in last Saturday's win over Bowling Green (March 24) were the most runs in a league game for the Cardinals since a 12-4 (6) victory over Buffalo April 4, 2015 in a game which was played at the Miami Softball Stadium in Oxford, Ohio ... In fact, Ball State's 23 total runs in the series versus Bowling Green are the program's most in a MAC series under the league's current three-game format which began in 2016 ... The previous best was 21 runs in a three-game set versus Western Michigan April 29-30, 2016 at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
• Of Ball State's 12 runs in last Saturday's game at BGSU (March 24), seven came courtesy of senior second baseman Maddy Labrador who did something not even the MAC's career RBI leader Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) could accomplish in her Ball State career; tally seven RBIs in a single game ... Her first three RBIs came on a three-run home run in the top of the third inning ... She one-upped herself in the fourth by blasting her first career grand slam for the Cardinals to raise her RBI total to seven on the day ... Her seven RBIs are the most in a single game in program history.
• Maddy Labrador has been an offensive juggernaut for Ball State over the last two weeks, leading the Cardinals with a .480 batting average and five home runs over the last seven games ... She also has a team-high 18 RBIs during the span, which is eight more than the next closest Ball State player, while her 10 runs scored are third ... She also has a team-best 1.160 slugging percentage during the run, to go along with a .548 on base percentage.
• A two-time MAC West Division Player of the Week, sophomore left fielder Haley Dominique leads the Ball State offense and ranks sixth in the MAC with a .380 batting average ... Dominique has scored a team-high 27 runs this season and is third on the team with 24 RBIs ... She tallied Ball State's first triple of the season versus Fordham (March 2) and hit the Cardinals' first grand slam of the year against Robert Morris (March 2).
• A .324 career batter, Haley Dominique entered the week ranked fifth in program history with a .438 career on base percentage, including a .466 mark so far this season ... Dominique has reached base safely in 27 of Ball State's 30 games this season, including a string of 12 straight games starting versus Boston University (Feb. 17) and ending after the win over Virginia Tech (March 6).
• Sophomore slugger Janae Hogg entered the week ranked first in the MAC and 11th nationally with 11 home runs ... She has hit a home run in six of the team's last 10 games, including driving in the game-winning runs via the long ball versus Florida A&M (March 9) and at Bowling Green (March 24).
• In fact, of Janae Hogg's 11 home runs this season, four have driven in what stood to be the game-winning run ... Hogg leads Ball State's active players with 10 career game-winning RBIs, including her four this season ... Six of her 10 career game-winning RBIs have come via the long ball; vs. Miami (April 2, 2017), at Northern Illinois (April 4, 2017), vs. Boston University (Feb. 17. 2018); at New Mexico State (Feb. 17, 2018, vs. Florida A&M (March 9, 2018) and at Bowling Green (March 24, 2018).
• Janae Hogg's 11 home runs tie as the 10th-best single season total in program history ... She is currently on pace to finish the regular season with 19 home runs which would tie as the second-best single season total in program history ... Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) holds the season-season record with 23 home runs in 2013 ... In addition, Hogg's 16 career home runs are 11th in program history and three shy of breaking into the top 10.
• Kennedy Wynn became only the third player in program history to record three home runs on an opening weekend for the Cardinals when she blasted two home runs versus Georgetown (Feb. 10) and one versus FGCU (Feb. 11) at the FGCU Kickoff Classic ... Jen Reifschneider (2009-10) was the first with three long balls on opening weekend in 2009, while Ball State's all-time home runs leader Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) started the 2013 season with three bombs opening weekend.
• Sophomore pitcher Alyssa Rothwell made history at the ECU Pirate Invitational, becoming the first Ball State player to record three saves in a single weekend ... In fact, Cardinals' pitchers had only earned three -or-more saves in a season eight times prior to Rothwell breaking onto the scene ... The program record for saves in a season is five set by Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) in 2008 ... With her four saves so far this season, Rothwell joins Milian as only the second Ball State player to have more than three saves in a season ... Add her three saves as a freshman and Rothwell's seven career saves are two shy of the program record of nine held by Nicole Steinbach (2013-16).
• With seven pitching wins so far this season, Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 31 ... Her 31 wins are 10th in program history and two shy of Kim Mazzapica's (2009-12) career total of 33 for ninth ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 85 wins, while only six pitchers have reached 40 wins at Ball State.
• With her 60 strikeouts so far this season, Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 269 which is ninth in program history ... Wilmes needs 13 more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) career total of 281 for eighth on Ball State's all-time list ... 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 have drawn 118 walks so far this season, which ranks first in the MAC and 17th nationally ... Janae Hogg leads the Cardinals and is second in the MAC with 25 walks, while Haley Dominique, Hailey Demnianiuk and Kennedy Wynn are tied for sixth in the league with 13 walks apiece ... The total already ranks as the 13th-best single season mark in program history ... The program record for walks in a season is 238 set by the 2008 squad, while last season's squad is third on the list with 197.
