Softball Closes Regular Season at Toledo

Game 49 - Ball State at Toledo
Friday, May 4, 3 p.m.
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Game 50 - Ball State at Toledo
Saturday, May 5, 1 p.m.
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Game 51 - Ball State at Toledo
Saturday, May 5, 3 p.m.
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• The Ball State softball team closes the 2018 regular season with a three-game series at Toledo this weekend ... The Cardinals and Rockets are set to battle in a single game Friday (3 p.m.) and a doubleheader Saturday (1 p.m.).

• The Cardinals, who locked up a MAC Tournament berth with last weekend's sweep at Eastern Michigan, enter the final weekend of the regular season holding down the third slot in the MAC standings with a 14-6 league record ... Ohio leads the league at 18-2, while Toledo is second at 15-5 ... The Bobcats can clinch the No. 1 seed in next week's MAC Tournament with a win or a Toledo loss, while the winner of this weekend's series between the Cardinals and Rockets will earn the No. 2 seed.

• SERIES VERSUS TOLEDO: While Ball State holds a 56-45-1 lead in the all-time series with the Rockets, Toledo has won five of the last seven meetings, including a 5-2 victory in the 2017 series finale played April 22 at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... The Cardinals swept a home doubleheader one day earlier (April 21, 2017), by scores of 2-1 and 9-4 ... Ball State has lost four straight games at UT's Scott Park Softball Complex, with its last win on Toledo's home field coming in the first game of an April 10, 2015 twin bill by a score of 1-0 ... The Rockets followed with an 8-7 win in the nightcap and swept a three-game series in 2016 ... Ball State is 24-26-1 all-time in games played at Toledo ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• SCOUTING TOLEDO: The Rockets enter the weekend with a 31-17 (15-5 MAC) record and hold a one game lead over Ball State in the MAC West Division ... Last weekend, Toledo suffered its first MAC series loss of the season by dropping two of three games at Central Michigan ... The Rockets fell in the series opener by a score of 6-2 last Friday, then rebounded for an 8-0 (6) win in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader only to drop the second 3-0 ... Bailey Curry leads the Toledo offense with a .381 batting average, 43 RBI and 13 home runs ... She also has a team-high .464 on base percentage and has scored 20 runs ... Ashley Rausch is second on the squad with a .326 average and has stolen a team-high 14 bases ... In the circle, the Rockets boast a pair of double-digit winners ... Kailey Minarchick leads the way with a 17-4 record and a 2.38 ERA over 141.0 innings ... Heather Webb owns a 13-10 mark, has a 2.46 ERA over 142.0 innings and has stuck out a team-high 95 batters ... As a team, the Rockets have a .269 batting average, a 2.62 ERA and a .953 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 an April 13, 2018 doubleheader ... After the Broncos rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game, 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 seventh save of the season and program-record 10th career save.

• 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 Friday's game at Toledo with a 1005-1035-4 (.493) 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 145-63 (.697) league record ... Kent State is second on the list over the same span at 138-72 (.657), while Ohio is third at 129-84 (.606) ... Toledo is currently 10th on the list at 83-136 (.379) ... In addition, Ball State boasts a 417-416-1 (.501) all-time MAC record in 35 years.

• Ball State enters the weekend ranked second in the MAC and 27th nationally with a .472 slugging percentage ... The Cardinals lead the MAC and are 22nd among all NCAA Division I programs with a 1.54 doubles-per-game average, while Ball State's 1.06 home runs-per-game average is second in the MAC and 21st nationally.

• Four Ball State starters enter the weekend with slugging percentages above .500, led by sophomore slugger Janae Hogg who is third in the MAC and 80th nationally at .688 ... Senior second baseman Maddy Labrador is right behind at .679, which is fifth in the MAC and 89th among all NCAA Division I players.

• Ball State is also one of the nation's best teams at getting runners on base, with the program's .389 on base percentage leading the MAC and ranking 24th nationally ... Sophomore left fielder Haley Dominique is second in the conference and 49th nationally with a .495 OBP, while Janae Hogg ranks fourth in the MAC and 73rd in the country at .480.

• The Ball State pitching staff enters the week ranked second in the MAC with a 2.64 team ERA ... Sophomore closer Alyssa Rothwell owns a league-low 1.70 ERA over 66.0 innings, while junior starter Aeshia Miles is fourth in the MAC with a 2.18 ERA over 157.2 innings.

• In addition to boasting one of the best ERAs in the MAC, Ball State's pitching staff also ranks second in the conference with 290 strikeouts ... All three Cardinals pitchers rank in the top 13 in the league in total strikeouts, with Aeshia Miles in fourth (138), senior starter Carolyn Wilmes in 10th (87) and sophomore closer Alyssa Rothwell tied for 13th (66).

• Alyssa Rothwell recorded her ninth save of the season in last Saturday's 8-1 first-game victory at Eastern Michigan ... Rothwell's nine saves are a MAC single season record, topping the previous mark of eight set by BGSU's Lisa Mountjoy in 1993 ... In addition, her 12 career saves are four shy of the MAC career record of 16 set by BGSU's Jamie Kertes (2012-15).

• Alyssa Rothwell 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)

• Of Ball State's 14 league wins, Alyssa Rothwell has factored in eight, boasting a 3-0 record and five saves ... Over 10 appearances and 20.1 innings of work in the team's 14 MAC wins, Rothwell has struck out 24 batters and held the opposition to a .143 batting average.

• Aeshia Miles was named the MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week for the fourth time this season after turning in another dominating effort at Eastern Michigan last weekend, holding the Eagles to a .128 batting average and one run over 11.0 innings of work for a 0.64 ERA ... She also struck out 12 batters while yielding just one walk.

• It's been an interesting career for Aeshia Miles, who was originally recruited as a fielder ... In fact, Miles has earned 88 starts at eight different positions over her Ball State career; 32 (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.

• 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.

• Carolyn Wilmes has established herself as one of the top 10 starting pitchers in program history ... Entering this weekend's series at Toledo, Wilmes is eighth in program history with 292 career strikeouts and ninth with 34 career wins ... She is also seventh in both appearances (104) and starts (73), while her 390.2 innings pitched are ninth.

• Ball State enters the week with the 31st-most prolific scoring offense in the country, averaging 5.65 runs per game ... The Cardinals have scored six-or-more runs in 21 games, owning an 20-1 record in those contests ... In fact, Ball State has scored six-or-more runs in an inning 10 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.

• Maddy Labrador enters Friday's game at Toledo having reached base safely in each of the last 20 games she has played ... During the run, which started with a 3-for-3 day at the plate versus Rhode Island (March 16), Labrador leads the Ball State offense with a .453 (29-for-64) batting average, nine home runs, eight doubles, a 1.000 slugging percentage, a .526 on base percentage, 32 RBI and 24 runs scored.

• A two-time MAC West Division Player of the Week, sophomore left fielder Haley Dominique leads the Ball State offense and ranks fourth in the MAC with a .397 batting average ... Dominique's team-leading 42 runs scored are tied for third in the MAC, while her 36 RBI are third on the team and 10th in the league ... 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 .346 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the weekend ranked third on Ball State's career list with a .460 career on base percentage, including a team-best .495 mark so far this season ... Dominique has reached base safely in 44 of Ball State's 48 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 weekend tied for second in the MAC and tied for 36th nationally with 13 home runs this season ... Of her 13 home runs this season, five have driven in what has stood to be the game-winning run.

• Janae Hogg leads Ball State's active players with 12 career game-winning RBI, including her six this season ... Seven of her 12 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), at Bowling Green (March 24, 2018) and at Eastern Michigan (April 28, 2018).

• Janae Hogg's 13 home runs this season are tied as the seventh-best single season total in program history, while Maddy Labrador's 11 are tied for 11th ... Hogg and Labrador are also tied for 11th in program history with 18 career home runs.

• Ball State batters have drawn 208 walks so far this season which ranks first in the MAC and third nationally ... Janae Hogg leads the Cardinals and is second in the MAC with 42 walks ... The team total already ranks as the third-best single season mark in program history ... The program record for walks in a season is 238 set by the 2008 squad.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Castleberry

Haley Dominique

Janae Hogg

Maddy Labrador

Aeshia Miles

Alyssa Rothwell

Carolyn Wilmes