Ball State University
Kent State (GM 1)
Softball Visits Kent State for Three-Game Series
March 28, 2019 | Softball
• THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: After a brief three-game home stint, the Ball State softball team returns to the road for the next five games, starting with a three-game weekend series at Kent State ... With wet weather in the forecast all weekend, the teams are currently slated to play a Noon doubleheader Friday and a 1 p.m. single game Saturday.
• THE SCHEDULE:
Game 36Â - Friday, March 29Â at Kent State (DH - GM 1)Â - Noon
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 37Â - Saturday, March 29Â at Kent State (DH - GM 2) - 2:30Â p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 38 - Saturday, March 30 at Kent State - 1 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can keep tabs on this weekend's action with both live stats and live video at the links above ... In addition, fans can follow @BallStateSB on twitter for updates throughout the season.
• ALL-TIME: Ball State softball enters the weekend with a 1035-1048-4 (.497) 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), seven MAC West Division crowns (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2018), three MAC Tournament championships (1998, 2010 and 2015) and advanced to the NCAA Regionals three times (1998, 2010 and 2015).
• IN #MACTION: Since 2009, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 150-64 (.701) league record ... Kent State is second over the same span at 142-74 (.657), while Ohio is third at 134-85 (.612) ... In addition, Ball State boasts a 422-417-1 (.503) all-time MAC record over 37 years.
• ALL-TIME VS. KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes hold a 50-32 lead in the all-time series, including a 27-8 advantage in games played on its home field ... Ball State won the latest meeting, however, eliminating Kent State from the 2018 MAC Tournament with a 4-2 victory (May 11) in its second of three elimination game victories at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... Unfortunately, KSU won the regular season series, taking two of the three games played at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... Kent State won the first game of an April 6 doubleheader 5-2, while the Cardinals took the nightcap 15-7 ... The Golden Flashes went on to earn a 4-1 victory in the rubber game the following day (April 7) ... Overall, the teams have not play a game at Kent State since splitting an April 27, 2012 doubleheader ... KSU won the first game 7-3, while BSU took the nightcap 8-5.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• The Cardinals opened the 2019 season with 32 straight games away from the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, which ties with the 2016 season for the second-longest road stretch in program history ... The longest road swing came in 2018, when Ball State played its first 33 games on the road.
• With its 10-3 win over Cleveland State (March 16), Ball State became the first MAC team to reach 20 wins this season ... The Cardinals enter the weekend with a league-best 25-10 record this season, with the 25 wins also tying for 13th nationally.
• With a 9-1 victory over Montana (Feb. 24), Ball State softball head coach Megan Ciolli Bartlett picked up her 100th career win as coach of the Cardinals ... The ninth coach in program history, Ciolli Bartlett is the fifth coach to reach 100 wins at Ball State ... With her 114-89 all-time record, Ciolli Bartlett is the fourth-winningest coach in program history behind Craig Nicholson (2007-2013) at 241-162, Terri Laux (1997-2006) at 222-283-1 and Jeri Findlay (1982-92) at 201-302-3.
• With her 17th career save in Ball State's 3-0 victory over Monmouth (Feb. 15), junior closer Alyssa Rothwell etched her name in the record books as the greatest closer in Mid-American Conference history ... Rothwell enters the Kent State series with 23 career saves, which is seven more than the previous MAC record ... Her 23 career saves are also the most among active NCAA Division I players, with the next closest player at 18, and are 10 shy of breaking the NCAA career record of 32 held by Mississippi State's Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02).
• Ball State's pitching staff has proven to be one of the toughest in the nation so far this season, ranking first in the MAC and 55th nationally with a 2.57 team ERA ... Leading the charge is freshman starter Sarah Venker who ranks 109th nationally with a 1.98 ERA and has three complete game shutouts ... Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell leads the nation with nine saves and boasts a 1.78 ERA, while redshirt sophomore starter Darcie Huber holds a 1.37 ERA ... Both are just shy of the minimum innings pitched total to be ranked.
• Ball State's pitching staff has already thrown nine shutouts this season, which is tied for the 10th-best single season total in program history ... Sarah Venker has had a hand in a team-high six of the shutouts, while closer Alyssa Rothwell has been involved in five ... Venker threw Ball State's first complete game shutout of the season in the win over Delaware (Feb. 16) and picked up two more versus Bethune-Cookman (March 6) and Georgetown (March 9) ... Freshman Tieghan Morio added her first career complete game shutout in the nightcap at Bethune-Cookman (March 6), while combining for another versus Presbyterian (March 9) ... Darcie Huber and senior starter Aeshia Miles have each had a hand in one of BSU's shutout wins.
• A big reason for Ball State's success in the circle this season has been strikeouts ... The Cardinals pitching staff ranks first in the league and 17th nationally with 218 strikeouts ... Sarah Venker leads the way with 75 strikeouts over 74.1 innings of work, while Aeshia Miles is right behind with 62 strikeouts over 63.2 innings pitched ... In addition, Alyssa Rothwell has struck out 30 batters over just 19.2 innings, including all seven batters she faced to earn the win in Ball State's 3-2 (8) come-from-behind victory over Quinnipiac (Feb. 17) ... The Cardinals pitching staff is currently averaging 6.67 strikeouts per seven-innings, just shy of the program record of 7.01 set by the 2010 squad.
• Aeshia Miles became just the 13th player in program history to register 200 career strikeouts when she fanned her first of seven batters at FGCU (Feb. 9) ... She enters the week with 257 career strikeouts which ranks 10th in program history ... She needs 25 more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) for ninth on the program's all-time list.
• By earning the win in Ball State's 11-3 (6) victory over Fordham (March 17), freshman starting pitcher Sarah Venker became the first player from the MAC to reach 10 wins this season ... After picking up two more victories against Akron last weekend, Venker is one of only 41 pitchers nationally to have reached 12 wins entering the weekend.
• Junior first baseman/designated player Janae Hogg enters the week as one of the top power hitters in the Mid-American Conference, tying for fourth in home runs (6) and ranking 13th in slugging percentage (.600) ... Three of her home runs this season have driven in what proved to be the game-winning RBI, giving her 17 career game-winning RBI which leads Ball State's active players ... Of the 17 game-winning RBI, 11 have come via the long ball.
• A .343 career batter, junior left fielder Haley Dominique enters the Kent State series ranked third on Ball State's career list with a .459 on base percentage, including a team-best .474 mark last season ... Dominique reached base safely in 51 of Ball State's 56 games in 2018, putting together a career-long 12-game hitting streak and a career-best 17-game streak of reaching base safely ... So far this season, Dominique has reached base safely in 29 of Ball State's 35 games.
• One new role for Haley Dominique this season appears to be power hitter ... Dominique is currently tied for the team lead with six home runs, more than doubling her career total of four entering the season ... She has also doubled her career total with two triples this season, and is six shy of her previous season high with eight doubles in 2019.Â
• Ball State enters the weekend ranked second among all NCAA Division I programs with 151 walks this season ... No. 4/4 Alabama is first on the list at 155, while No. 3/3 Florida State is right behind in third at 147 ... Individually, Haley Dominique leads the squad and is tied for second in the MAC with 21 walks, while sophomore infielder Stacy Payton has 18 walks to tie for fifth in the league ... Last season, the Cardinals finished the year ranked fifth in the country with 235 walks.
• Ball State enters the weekend ranked 29th nationally with 34 home runs this season ... A total of 13 different Cardinals have hit at least one home run so far in 2019, led by six each from Janae Hogg and Haley Dominique ... Last weekend, the Cardinals hit three home runs in the series sweep of Akron, with sophomore outfielder Kennedy Wynn blasting her 11th career home run, Stacy Payton adding her sixth career bomb and freshman outfielder Trinity Eckerty collecting her third career homer.
• Freshman outfielder Kim Manuel enters the week ranked second in the MAC with 13 stolen bases this season ... In fact, Manuel is a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts so far in 2019 and is the only MAC player with more than nine attempts with a perfect stolen base percentage ... Manuel is looking to become just the fourth player in program history to finish a season with a perfect stolen base mark with at least 10 attempts, with the previous three being Rachel Houck (2017, 16-for-16), Roshelle Lee (1998, 13-for-13) and Loren Cihlar (2013, 11-for-11).
