Ball State University Athletics
Friday, April 19
Muncie, Ind.
1 p.m.
Ball State University
vs
Toledo (GM 1)
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Update: Softball's Senior Weekend Schedule Adjusted
April 18, 2019 | Softball
• THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team welcomes Toledo to the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex for a three-game weekend series ... With wet weather in the forecast all weekend, the schedule has been adjusted for this weekend's action ... The teams are now scheduled to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday and a 3 p.m. single game Saturday ... In addition to being senior weekend, all three game will be carried live on ESPN3.
• THE SCHEDULE:
Game 45 - Friday, April 19 hosts Toledo (DH - GM 1) - 1 p.m.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 46 - Friday, April 19 hosts Toledo (DH - GM 2) - 3:30 p.m.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 47 - Saturday, April 20 hosts Toledo - 3 p.m.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can follow this weekend's action with live stats for all three games at the links above ... In addition, the series will be carried live on ESPN3 with Joel Godett calling the play-by-play action ... Maddy Labrador, a two-year letterwinner for the Ball State softball program (2017-18), will serve as the analyst Friday ... Kelsi Jones Rynard, who finished her collegiate career at Louisville (2014-15) after playing her first two seasons at Missouri (2012-13), will take over analyst duties on Saturday ... In addition, fans can follow @BallStateSB on twitter for updates throughout the season.
• ALL-TIME: Ball State softball enters the weekend with a 1039-1053-4 (.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 154-69 (.691) league record ... Kent State is second over the same span at 148-77 (.658), while Ohio is third at 140-91 (.606) ... In addition, Ball State boasts a 426-422-1 (.502) all-time MAC record over 37 years.
• ALL-TIME VS. TOLEDO: The Cardinals hold a 59-46-1 lead in the all-time series versus the Rockets after winning three of four games between the two clubs last season ... Ball State clinched its seventh MAC West Division title by winning the regular season series at Toledo last season ... BSU won the opening game in a hard-fought 1-0 battle on May 4 ... After the Rockets took the first game of the May 5 doubleheader by a score of 9-1 (6), Ball State recovered to take the MAC West title with a 2-1 (9) win in the nightcap ... The Cardinals also earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Toledo in its third elimination game of the 2019 MAC Tournament a week later, on May 11 ... Overall, Ball State holds a 27-19 lead in games played in Muncie, including wins in 12 of the last 14 meetings at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... The Cardinals have not lost a series to the Rockets at home since the 1996 season, when Toledo won three of four games from May 3-4.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• Sophomore designated player Kendall Fields was named both the MAC Softball Player of the Week and the MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week after blasting three home runs and collecting 10 RBIs in last weekend's series win at Western Michigan ... She recorded a home run in each of the three games, including her first career grand slam in the series opener ... She also recorded an RBI single to open the scoring in Saturday's first game, which also saw her tie the score and force extra innings with a three-run blast with two outs and a full count in the top of the seventh inning.
• With her grand slam Friday, Kendall Fields became the first Ball State player to hit a grand slam this season ... In fact, she is only the third player on the current roster to hit a grand slam with the Cardinals ... Junior outfielder Haley Dominique and junior infielder Janae Hogg each blasted grand slams last season, with Dominique's coming versus Robert Morris (March 2) and Hogg's coming at Belmont (March 16) ... Senior infielder Annie Robinson also owns one collegiate grand slam, coming versus Mt. St. Mary's (Feb. 27, 2015) when she was a freshman at Coastal Carolina.
• Kendall Fields' 10 RBIs last weekend quickly vaulted her near the top of the league rankings in MAC play, as she is currently tied for sixth with 13 RBIs ... In fact, she is one of only 18 players so far this season to collect at least 10 RBIs in #MACtion ... Prior to Fields, the last Ball State player to record 10 RBIs in a three-game span was then-senior Jessica Craft in 2015 ... She had two RBIs in games versus Jacksonville (Feb. 21) and Chattanooga (Feb. 22), then followed with six versus Northwestern State (Feb. 27).
• 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 Friday's game versus Toledo with a league-best 29-15 record this season, with the 29 wins also tying for 39th nationally.
• 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 ... After picking up two more saves last weekend at Western Michigan, Rothwell enters the Toledo series with 25 career saves, which is nine more than the previous MAC record ... Her 25 career saves are also the most among active NCAA Division I players, with the next closest player at 18, and are eight 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 70th nationally with a 2.83 team ERA ... Leading the charge is freshman starter Tieghan Morio who ranks first among the MAC's starters and 148th nationally with a 2.39 ERA ... Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell leads the nation with 11 saves, which ties her BSU and MAC single-season record set last season, and boasts a league-low 1.35 ERA ... Redshirt sophomore Darcie Huber is second in the MAC with a 2.25 ERA, however both are is just shy of the minimum innings pitched total to be ranked nationally.
• 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 second in the league and 33rd nationally with 262 strikeouts ... Sarah Venker leads the way with 85 strikeouts over 88.2 innings of work, while Aeshia Miles is right behind with 71 strikeouts over 78.0 innings pitched ... In addition, Alyssa Rothwell has struck out 39 batters over just 26.0 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 6.23 strikeouts per seven-innings, which is second in program history, 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 this weekend's series versus Toledo with 266 career strikeouts which ranks 10th in program history ... She needs 16 more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) for ninth on the program's all-time list.
• A .338 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the Toledo series ranked third on Ball State's career list with a .456 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 37 of Ball State's 44 games.
• One new role for Haley Dominique this season appears to be power hitter ... Dominique currently leads the team and is tied for ninth in the MAC with seven home runs, which raises her career total to 11 and places her in a tie for 19th on Ball State's career charts ... She has also doubled her career total with two triples this season, and is three shy of her previous season high with 11 doubles in 2019.
• After drawing 15 walks last week, Ball State enters the Toledo series ranked fourth among all NCAA Division I programs with 193 walks this season ... The only teams with more walks are No. 5/7 Alabama (227), Drake (198) and Georgia Tech (194) ... Individually, Haley Dominique leads the squad and is tied for second in the MAC with 27 walks, while sophomore infielder Stacy Payton has 22 walks to rank sixth in the league ... Last season, the Cardinals finished the year ranked fifth in the country with 235 walks.
• Senior catcher Madison Lee became the 14th different Ball State player to hit a home run this season when she took an 0-1 pitch deep over the fence in left field in the second inning in the first game of the April 6 doubleheader versus Bowling Green ... With the blast, the Cardinals tied Virginia Tech for the most players with at least one home run in NCAA Division I softball this season ... The next closest team in the MAC is Bowling Green at 10 players.
• Freshman outfielder Kim Manuel enters the Toledo series tied for second in the MAC with 15 stolen bases this season ... In fact, Manuel is a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts so far in 2019 and is the only MAC player with more than 12 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).
• Freshman second baseman Amaia Daniel has been one of the hottest hitters on the team as of late, posting the team's longest hitting streak of the season at nine games starting March 9 vs. Presbyterian through the second game of the March 23 doubleheader against Akron ... She also reached base safely in a team-best 17 straight games staring once again versus Presbyterian and ending with a pair of hits in last Saturday's first game at Bowling Green ... Her biggest hit in the run, an eighth-inning RBI triple down the right field line to give Ball State a 2-1 (8) walk-off victory over Bowling Green (April 6).
•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 118-94 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.
• THE SCHEDULE:
Game 45 - Friday, April 19 hosts Toledo (DH - GM 1) - 1 p.m.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 46 - Friday, April 19 hosts Toledo (DH - GM 2) - 3:30 p.m.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 47 - Saturday, April 20 hosts Toledo - 3 p.m.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can follow this weekend's action with live stats for all three games at the links above ... In addition, the series will be carried live on ESPN3 with Joel Godett calling the play-by-play action ... Maddy Labrador, a two-year letterwinner for the Ball State softball program (2017-18), will serve as the analyst Friday ... Kelsi Jones Rynard, who finished her collegiate career at Louisville (2014-15) after playing her first two seasons at Missouri (2012-13), will take over analyst duties on Saturday ... In addition, fans can follow @BallStateSB on twitter for updates throughout the season.
• ALL-TIME: Ball State softball enters the weekend with a 1039-1053-4 (.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 154-69 (.691) league record ... Kent State is second over the same span at 148-77 (.658), while Ohio is third at 140-91 (.606) ... In addition, Ball State boasts a 426-422-1 (.502) all-time MAC record over 37 years.
• ALL-TIME VS. TOLEDO: The Cardinals hold a 59-46-1 lead in the all-time series versus the Rockets after winning three of four games between the two clubs last season ... Ball State clinched its seventh MAC West Division title by winning the regular season series at Toledo last season ... BSU won the opening game in a hard-fought 1-0 battle on May 4 ... After the Rockets took the first game of the May 5 doubleheader by a score of 9-1 (6), Ball State recovered to take the MAC West title with a 2-1 (9) win in the nightcap ... The Cardinals also earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Toledo in its third elimination game of the 2019 MAC Tournament a week later, on May 11 ... Overall, Ball State holds a 27-19 lead in games played in Muncie, including wins in 12 of the last 14 meetings at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... The Cardinals have not lost a series to the Rockets at home since the 1996 season, when Toledo won three of four games from May 3-4.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• Sophomore designated player Kendall Fields was named both the MAC Softball Player of the Week and the MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week after blasting three home runs and collecting 10 RBIs in last weekend's series win at Western Michigan ... She recorded a home run in each of the three games, including her first career grand slam in the series opener ... She also recorded an RBI single to open the scoring in Saturday's first game, which also saw her tie the score and force extra innings with a three-run blast with two outs and a full count in the top of the seventh inning.
• With her grand slam Friday, Kendall Fields became the first Ball State player to hit a grand slam this season ... In fact, she is only the third player on the current roster to hit a grand slam with the Cardinals ... Junior outfielder Haley Dominique and junior infielder Janae Hogg each blasted grand slams last season, with Dominique's coming versus Robert Morris (March 2) and Hogg's coming at Belmont (March 16) ... Senior infielder Annie Robinson also owns one collegiate grand slam, coming versus Mt. St. Mary's (Feb. 27, 2015) when she was a freshman at Coastal Carolina.
• Kendall Fields' 10 RBIs last weekend quickly vaulted her near the top of the league rankings in MAC play, as she is currently tied for sixth with 13 RBIs ... In fact, she is one of only 18 players so far this season to collect at least 10 RBIs in #MACtion ... Prior to Fields, the last Ball State player to record 10 RBIs in a three-game span was then-senior Jessica Craft in 2015 ... She had two RBIs in games versus Jacksonville (Feb. 21) and Chattanooga (Feb. 22), then followed with six versus Northwestern State (Feb. 27).
• 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 Friday's game versus Toledo with a league-best 29-15 record this season, with the 29 wins also tying for 39th nationally.
• 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 ... After picking up two more saves last weekend at Western Michigan, Rothwell enters the Toledo series with 25 career saves, which is nine more than the previous MAC record ... Her 25 career saves are also the most among active NCAA Division I players, with the next closest player at 18, and are eight 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 70th nationally with a 2.83 team ERA ... Leading the charge is freshman starter Tieghan Morio who ranks first among the MAC's starters and 148th nationally with a 2.39 ERA ... Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell leads the nation with 11 saves, which ties her BSU and MAC single-season record set last season, and boasts a league-low 1.35 ERA ... Redshirt sophomore Darcie Huber is second in the MAC with a 2.25 ERA, however both are is just shy of the minimum innings pitched total to be ranked nationally.
• 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 second in the league and 33rd nationally with 262 strikeouts ... Sarah Venker leads the way with 85 strikeouts over 88.2 innings of work, while Aeshia Miles is right behind with 71 strikeouts over 78.0 innings pitched ... In addition, Alyssa Rothwell has struck out 39 batters over just 26.0 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 6.23 strikeouts per seven-innings, which is second in program history, 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 this weekend's series versus Toledo with 266 career strikeouts which ranks 10th in program history ... She needs 16 more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) for ninth on the program's all-time list.
• A .338 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the Toledo series ranked third on Ball State's career list with a .456 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 37 of Ball State's 44 games.
• One new role for Haley Dominique this season appears to be power hitter ... Dominique currently leads the team and is tied for ninth in the MAC with seven home runs, which raises her career total to 11 and places her in a tie for 19th on Ball State's career charts ... She has also doubled her career total with two triples this season, and is three shy of her previous season high with 11 doubles in 2019.
• After drawing 15 walks last week, Ball State enters the Toledo series ranked fourth among all NCAA Division I programs with 193 walks this season ... The only teams with more walks are No. 5/7 Alabama (227), Drake (198) and Georgia Tech (194) ... Individually, Haley Dominique leads the squad and is tied for second in the MAC with 27 walks, while sophomore infielder Stacy Payton has 22 walks to rank sixth in the league ... Last season, the Cardinals finished the year ranked fifth in the country with 235 walks.
• Senior catcher Madison Lee became the 14th different Ball State player to hit a home run this season when she took an 0-1 pitch deep over the fence in left field in the second inning in the first game of the April 6 doubleheader versus Bowling Green ... With the blast, the Cardinals tied Virginia Tech for the most players with at least one home run in NCAA Division I softball this season ... The next closest team in the MAC is Bowling Green at 10 players.
• Freshman outfielder Kim Manuel enters the Toledo series tied for second in the MAC with 15 stolen bases this season ... In fact, Manuel is a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts so far in 2019 and is the only MAC player with more than 12 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).
• Freshman second baseman Amaia Daniel has been one of the hottest hitters on the team as of late, posting the team's longest hitting streak of the season at nine games starting March 9 vs. Presbyterian through the second game of the March 23 doubleheader against Akron ... She also reached base safely in a team-best 17 straight games staring once again versus Presbyterian and ending with a pair of hits in last Saturday's first game at Bowling Green ... Her biggest hit in the run, an eighth-inning RBI triple down the right field line to give Ball State a 2-1 (8) walk-off victory over Bowling Green (April 6).
•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 118-94 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.
Players Mentioned
INF
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