Ball State University
Butler
Softball Hosts Butler Tuesday, Travels to CMU This Weekend
April 22, 2019 | Softball
• THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team closes both the home portion of the regular season and it's 2019 Mid-American Conference slate this week ... First up, a 4 p.m. home contest versus Butler on Tuesday ... Afterwards, the Cardinals travel to Central Michigan for a three-game series with a single game Friday (3 p.m.) and a doubleheader Saturday (1 p.m.).
• THE SCHEDULE:
Game 47 - Tuesday, April 23 hosts Butler - 4 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 48Â - Friday, April 26Â at Central Michigan - 3 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 49Â - Saturday, April 27Â at Central Michigan (GM 1)Â - 1Â p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 50 - Saturday, April 27Â at Central Michigan (GM 2)Â - 3Â p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
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• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can watch this week's action with live video and live stats for all four games at the links above ... Video for Tuesday's home game versus Butler is free, while fans will need to purchase a subscription to watch this weekend's games at CMU ... In addition, fans can follow @BallStateSB on twitter for updates throughout the season.
• ALL-TIME: Ball State softball enters the weekend with a 1040-1054-4 (.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 155-70 (.689) league record ... Kent State is second over the same span at 150-77 (.661), while Ohio is third at 140-91 (.606) ... In addition, Ball State boasts a 427-423-1 (.502) all-time MAC record over 37 years.
• ALL-TIME VS. BUTLER: While the Cardinals hold a 20-5 lead in the all-time series with the Bulldogs, Butler took the most recent meeting by a score of 9-3 on its home field April 18, 2018 ... Ball State scored a 10-2 (6) victory in the last game played at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, March 22, 2017 and also topped the Bulldogs 7-1 one week earlier (March 18) at the SIUE Tournament ... Overall, the Cardinals hold a 9-3 advantage in games played in Muncie.
• ALL-TIME VS. CENTRAL MICHIGAN: While the Chippewas hold a commanding 74-33 advantage in the all-time series, Ball State has won the last three meetings in the series ... After CMU picked up a 2-1 victory in the series opener last season, played April 20, Ball State rebounded to sweep an April 21 doubleheader by identical 2-1 scores ... BSU also went on to claim a 5-1 win over the Chippewas on May 10 in its first of three elimination game victories at the 2018 MAC Tournament ... CMU holds a 41-16 lead in games played in Mt. Pleasant, including sweeping the 2017 regular season series ... The last time Ball State won at Central Michigan, it swept a March 28, 2015 doubleheader by scores of 14-7 and 9-5.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• After earning MAC Softball Player of the Week and MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week honors following the Western Michigan series, sophomore outfielder Kendall Fields hit her fourth home run in as many games to complete her home run cycle, connecting for a solo shot in BSU's 4-2 win over Toledo last Friday ... She started the run with her first career grand slam in the series opener at WMU (April 12) ... She followed with a two-out, fill count, three-run blast to tie the score and force extra innings in the seventh inning of the first game of the April 13 doubleheader ... In the second game of the DH, she drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-run homer in the third inning.
• With her grand slam at WMU, 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 at WMU quickly vaulted her near the top of the league rankings in MAC play, and after adding two more last weekend versus Toledo, she is currently fourth with 16 RBIs ... In fact, she is one of only 24 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 4-2 win over Toledo (April 19), Ball State became the first MAC team to reach 30 wins this season ... The Cardinals enter Tuesday's game versus Butler with a league-best 30-16 record this season, with the 30 wins also tying for 43rd nationally.
• Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell added to her legend in last Friday's 4-2 win over Toledo, recording her 12th save of the season, breaking her own Ball State and MAC single season record of 11 set last season ... Rothwell is four saves shy of breaking the NCAA single season record of 15 set by Mallory Aldred of Canisius in 2008 and tied by Taylor Bauman of FGCU last season ... In addition, Rothwell is only the second player in NCAA Division I history to secure double-digit saves in more than one season, joining NCAA career saves record holder Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02) of Mississippi State ... Of Wilkerson's 32 career saves, 14 came in 2002 and 10 came in 2001.
• With her 17th career save in Ball State's 3-0 victory over Monmouth (Feb. 15), Alyssa Rothwell etched her name in the record books as the greatest closer in Mid-American Conference history ... After picking up another save last Friday versus Toledo, Rothwell enters the week with 26 career saves, which is 10 more than the previous MAC record ... Her 26 career saves are also the most among active NCAA Division I players, with the next closest player at 18, and are seven shy of breaking the NCAA career record.
• Ball State's pitching staff has proven to be one of the toughest in the nation so far this season, ranking second in the MAC and 68th nationally with a 2.86 team ERA ... Leading the charge is freshman starter Tieghan Morio who ranks 137th nationally with a 2.39 ERA ... Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell leads the nation with 12 saves and boasts a league-low 1.30 ERA ... Redshirt sophomore Darcie Huber is third 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.
• 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 271 career strikeouts which ranks 10th in program history ... She needs 11 more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) for ninth on the program's all-time list.
• A .336 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the week ranked third on Ball State's career list with a .455 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 ... This season, Dominique has reached base safely in 39 of 46 games.
• One new role for Haley Dominique this season appears to be power hitter ... Dominique is currently tied for the team lead and is tied for ninth in the MAC with seven home runs ... Her seven home runs raise her career total to 11 and place 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.Â
• After drawing nine walks last week, Ball State enters Tuesday's game versus Butler ranked fifth among all NCAA Division I programs with 202 walks this season ... The only teams with more walks are Alabama (241), Georgia Tech (212), Drake (206) and Florida State (203) ... Individually, Haley Dominique leads the squad and is third in the MAC with 28 walks, while sophomore infielder Stacy Payton and Janae Hogg are tied for fifth in the league at 24 ... 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 teams in the MAC are Bowling Green and Miami at 10 players.
• Freshman outfielder Kim Manuel enters the week 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 ... 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).
• 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 119-95 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.
