Softball Closes Non-Conference Play Wednesday at Butler

Game 42 - Ball State at Butler
Wednesday, April 18, 4 p.m.
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Game 43 - Ball State hosts Central Michigan
Friday, April 20, 3 p.m.
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Game 44 - Ball State hosts Central Michigan
Saturday, April 21, 1 p.m.
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Game 45 - Ball State hosts Central Michigan
Saturday, April 21, 3 p.m.
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• The Ball State softball team closes the non-conference portion of the 2018 season Wednesday, when it travels to Butler for a schedule 4 p.m. first pitch ... The Cardinals then close the home portion of its 2018 schedule with a three-game weekend series versus Central Michigan ... The teams are set to play a single game Friday (3 p.m.) and a doubleheader Saturday (1 p.m.).

• Following the conclusion of Saturday's doubleheader with CMU, the Ball State softball team will honor its five-member senior class; Brittany Hopper, Danae King, Maddy Labrador, Cadie O'Donnell and Carolyn Wilmes.

• This weekend's three-game series versus Central Michigan will be produced by Ball State Sports Link and aired on ESPN+ ($4.99 per month) ... Launched April 12th, fans will access ESPN+ as an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App (and also via ESPN.com) ... For just $4.99 a month, subscribers will receive thousands of additional live events, and original shows and films, and an on-demand library, which is not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks.

• SERIES VERSUS BUTLER: Ball State enters Wednesday's game with a 20-4 lead in the all-time series versus Butler ... The team's played twice last season, with the Cardinals earning a 7-1 victory at the SIUE Tournament (March 18) and a 10-2 (6) victory in its 2017 home opener at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex (March 22) ... The Bulldog's last win in the series was a 9-1 (6) victory on March 23, 2016 at the Butler Softball Field ... Overall, the Cardinals are 10-1 in games played at Butler, with the lone loss coming in the 2016 matchup ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• SCOUTING BUTLER: The Bulldogs enter Wednesday's game with a 15-21 overall record after going 3-2 last week ... Butler split a Tuesday doubleheader versus Indiana, losing the first game (7-2) and winning the second (4-1) ... They also went 2-1 at Georgetown over the weekend, opening the series with a 6-2 loss, before winning the final two games by scores of 7-6 and 13-9 ... Jenna Foreman leads the Bulldog's offense with a .393 batting average and also paces the team in hits (48), runs (21) and stolen bases (30) ... In the circle, Alyssa Graves has thrown a team-high 97.1 innings, earning a 2.01 ERA and a .214 opponent's batting average to go along with a 7-9 record ... She also has a pair of shutout wins and a save, as well as a team-leading 82 strikeouts ... As a team, the Bulldogs have a .234 batting average, a 3.77 ERA and a .957 fielding percentage.

• SERIES VERSUS CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas hold a 73-30 lead in the all-time series, including five straight wins ... Last season, CMU swept the three-game series in Mount Pleasant (April 28-29), while also eliminating the Cardinals from the MAC Tournament with a 3-0 victory May 11 ... Ball State's last win in the series was a 2-1 victory in the opening game of an April 23, 2016 doubleheader in Muncie ... The teams are 5-5 in the last 10 games played at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas enter the weekend series with an 18-18 (8-6 MAC) record after going 1-3 in conference play last week ... CMU split a Wednesday doubleheader versus Western Michigan, winning the opener (6-2) and dropping the nightcap (4-1) ... Central Michigan then dropped both ends of a Friday twin bill at Eastern Michigan by scores of 3-0 and 6-0 ... The third game in the series was canceled due to weather, as was their Tuesday game versus Oakland ... Erika Underwood leads the Chippewas in batting average (.406), RBI (24) and home runs (7) ... She also has a team-best .484 on base percentage ... Shaidan Knapp is second on the team with a .397 batting average, while Lacy Tolfree has scored a team-best 26 runs ... In the circle, Hanna Warren has thrown a team-high 81.1 innings, has a team-low 2.58 ERA and owns a 6-6 record with three complete game shutouts to her credit ... She also has a team-high 53 strikeouts and is holding batters to a .266 average ... As a team, the Chippewas have a .298 batting average, a 3.04 ERA and a .962 fielding percentage.

BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• The Ball State softball team earned the 1,000th win in program history with a 7-6 victory over Western Michigan in the second game of last Friday's doubleheader ... After WMU rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth, sophomore left fielder Haley Dominique drove in the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double to left-center field ... Freshman pinch runner Taylor Castleberry scored what proved to be the game-winning run, scoring from first on Dominique's two-out double.

• Another key player in the program's 1,000th win was sophomore closer Alyssa Rothwell who struck out all three batters she faced in the seventh inning to record her program-record 10th career save ... With a BSU single season record seven saves this season, Rothwell is one save away from the MAC single season record of eight set by BGSU's Lisa Mountjoy in 1993 ... The MAC career record is currently 16 set by BGSU's Jamie Kertes (2012-15).

• Opening weekend saw the Cardinals play the 2,000th game in program history, earning a 5-1 win over Georgetown (Feb. 10).

• The Ball State softball team played its first 33 games of the season on the road which is the longest stretch of road games in program history ... Ball State played 32 straight road games to open the 2016 season, while starting the 2012 campaign with 31 straight road games.

• Ball State softball enters Wednesday's game at Butler with a 1000-1033-4 (.492) 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 Regionals three times (1998, 2010 and 2015).

• Since the 2009 season, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 140-62 (.693) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the same span at 132-72 (.647), while Ohio is third at 124-83 (.599) ... Ball State boasts a 412-415-1 (.498) all-time MAC record in 35 years.

• Ball State enters the week ranked first in the MAC and 19th nationally with a .489 slugging percentage ... Of the Cardinals' 320 hits on the year, 66 have been doubles and 46 have been home runs, both of which lead the conference ... Five Ball State players enter the week with slugging percentages above .500, led by sophomore slugger Janae Hogg who is fourth in the MAC and 79th nationally at .701.

• The Ball State pitching staff enters the week ranked second in the MAC with a 2.73 team ERA ... Sophomore closer Alyssa Rothwell owns a league-low 2.06 ERA over 54.1 innings of work, while junior starter Aeshia Miles is fifth in the MAC with a 2.36 ERA over 133.2 innings of work.

• 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 grounder 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.

• It's been an interesting career for Aeshia Miles, who was originally recruited as a fielder ... In fact, Miles has earned 85 starts at eight different positions over her Ball State career; 29 (P), 22 (3B), 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.

• In addition to ranking second in the league in ERA, Ball State ranks second in the MAC with 254 strikeouts ... Aeshia Miles leads the team, ranks fourth in the conference and is 80th nationally with 119 strikeouts ... Senior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes is eighth in the league with 76 strikeouts, while Alyssa Rothwell is 14th at 58.

• Ball State enters the week with the 23rd-most prolific scoring offense in the country, averaging a MAC-best 5.88 runs per game ... The Cardinals have scored six-or-more runs in 19 games, owning an 18-1 record in those contests ... In fact, Ball State has scored six-or-more runs in an inning nine times this season.

• Ball State's 16 runs in the series finale at Akron (March 31) were the most runs the Cardinals have scored in a regular season MAC game since a 17-4 (5) win over Bowling Green April 23, 2010 ... Ball State also scored a 16-1 victory over NIU (May 13) in a 2010 MAC Tournament game played at Firestone Stadium.

• In addition, the Cardinals finished the three-game series sweep of Akron with 30 total runs, which is the most runs Ball State has scored in a MAC series in the current three-game format which started in 2016 ... The previous record was 23 runs in the March 23-24, 2018 series at Bowling Green.

• In Ball State's 12-0 (5) win at Bowling Green (March 24), Maddy Labrador did something not even the MAC's career RBI leader Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) could accomplish in her Ball State career; tally seven RBI in a single game ... Her first three RBI 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 RBI are the most in a single game in program history.

• 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 .393 batting average ... Dominique has scored a team-high and MAC-leading 40 runs this season and is third on the team and 13th in the league with 29 RBI ... She also 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 .339 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the week ranked fourth in program history with a .454 career on base percentage, including a team-best .488 mark so far this season ... Dominique has reached base safely in 37 of Ball State's 41 games this season ... She has also put together a career-long 12-game hitting streak and a career-best 17-game streak of reaching base safely this season.

• Sophomore slugger Janae Hogg enters the week ranked first in the MAC and 27th nationally with 12 home runs this season ... Of her 12 home runs this season, four have driven in what has stood to be the game-winning run ... Hogg leads Ball State's active players with 10 career game-winning RBI, including her four this season ... Six of her 10 career game-winning RBI 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).

• Ball State enters the week with a league-leading 46 home runs ... Nine different Cardinals have hit at least one home run this season which ties with Western Michigan for the league lead ...Janae Hogg's 12 home runs are tied as the eighth-best single season total in program history, while Maddy Labrador's nine are tied for 15th ... Hogg also ranks 11th in program history with 17 career home runs, while Labrador is right behind in 12th with 16 home runs over her two-year career with the Cardinals.

• Alyssa Rothwell, who holds both the Ball State single season (7) and career (10) saves record, made history at the ECU Pirate Invitational by becoming the first Ball State player to record three saves in a single weekend ... She picked up saves versus both Canisius (Feb. 23) and ECU (Feb. 23) on the opening day of the tournament, while adding her third in the tournament finale against Canisius (Feb. 25)

• With 76 strikeouts so far this season, Carolyn Wilmes has raised her career total to 285 which is eighth in program history ... Wilmes needs 15 more strikeouts to become just the eighth Ball State pitcher to record 300 career strikeouts ... Elizabeth Milian (2007-10) holds the program record with 762 strikeouts.

• Ball State batters have drawn 168 walks so far this season which ranks first in the MAC and 10th nationally ... Janae Hogg leads the Cardinals and is second in the MAC with 33 walks ... The team total already ranks as the sixth-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.

Softball Closes Non-Conference Play Wednesday at Butler

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Castleberry

Haley Dominique

Janae Hogg

Brittany Hopper

Danae King

Maddy Labrador

Aeshia Miles

Cadie O'Donnell

Alyssa Rothwell

Carolyn Wilmes