Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Purdue Fort Wayne
Softball Closes Regular Season in Fort Wayne Saturday
May 03, 2019 | Softball
• THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team closes the 2019 regular season with a pair of Saturday non-conference games at Purdue Fort Wayne ... The Cardinals start the day with an 11 a.m. contest versus the Mastodons, before wrapping up the regular season with a 4 p.m. first pitch versus Oakland.
• THE SCHEDULE:
Game 51 - Saturday, May 4 at Purdue Fort Wayne - 11 a.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
Game 52 - Saturday, May 4 vs. Oakland (in Fort Wayne) -4 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateSB)
• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats and free live video will be available for both of Saturday's games at Purdue Fort Wayne 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 1042-1056-4 (.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 156-72 (.684) league record ... Kent State is second over the same span at 150-77 (.661), while Miami is third at 143-93 (.606) ... Ball State boasts a 428-425-1 (.502) all-time MAC record over 37 years.
• ALL-TIME VS. PURDUE FORT WAYNE: Ball State holds a 10-6 lead in the all-time series versus the Mastodons, including two straight wins ... The last time the teams played, the Cardinals swept a home doubleheader by scores of 8-2 and 19-4 (5) on March 18, 2015 ... Ball State holds a 6-2 edge in games played in Fort Wayne after the teams split an April 3, 2013 doubleheader, with the Mastodons winning the opener 3-1 and the Cardinals taking the nightcap 3-1.
• ALL-TIME VS. OAKLAND: The Cardinals and Golden Grizzlies have only met twice in softball with each time securing a victory ... Ball State won the first meeting by a score of 6-4 on March 20, 2005 at home ... Oakland won the latest meeting by a score of 1-0 on Feb. 24, 2017 as part of the Citrus Classic I.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• After finishing league play with a 9-8 MAC record, Ball State has assured itself one of eight spots in next week's Mid-American Conference Softball Championship which will be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio May 8-11 ... While the Cardinals play a pair of non-conference games this weekend, the remaining 10 MAC teams close the league portion of the regular season with several key series ... Depending on this weekend's results, BSU can finish as high as fourth in the league standings.
• With a pair of home runs last weekend at Central Michigan, junior designated player Janae Hogg raised her career total to 28 which moved her into fifth all-time in program history ... Hogg's 14 home runs last season were the seventh-best single season total in program history, while her nine so far this season are 16th ... With one more home run this year, Hogg will become just the fourth player in program history to record 10-or-more home runs in at least two different seasons ... BSU's all-time home run leader Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) reached double figures in each of her four seasons, while Amanda Montalto (2009-12) and Taylor Rager (2011-14) accomplished the task in each of the final two seasons of their careers.
• Sophomore outfielder Kendall Fields accomplished a big home run feat of her own this season, hitting for a reverse home run cycle over four consecutive games ... She started 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 at WMU ... In the second game, she drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-run homer in the third inning ... She completed the cycle by connecting for a solo shot in BSU's 4-2 win over Toledo (April 19).
• With her grand slam at WMU (April 12), 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.
• 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 Saturday's games in Fort Wayne with a league-high 32 wins this season, with the win total also tying for 46th nationally.
• Sophomore Stacy Payton has had a hot bat of late, reaching base safely in each of the last 12 games, while logging at least one hit in each of Ball State's last eight MAC games ... Payton's .441 batting average over the last 12 games leads the squad, as does her .824 slugging percentage and .558 on base percentage during the span ... Of her 15 hits during the run, she has a pair of doubles, a triple and three home runs.
• Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell continues to add to her legend, and up her Ball State and MAC single season saves record, with her 13th save of the season in Ball State's 7-4 win at Central Michigan last Friday ... Rothwell is now just three 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.
• 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 at Central Michigan, Rothwell enters the weekend with 27 career saves, which is 11 more than the previous MAC record ... Her 27 career saves are also the most among active NCAA Division I players, with the next closest player at 19, and are six shy of breaking the NCAA career record of 32 set by Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02) of Mississippi State.
• Ball State's pitching staff has proven to be one of the toughest in the nation this season, ranking second in the MAC and 70th nationally with a 2.87 team ERA ... Leading the charge is freshman starter Tieghan Morio who ranks 144th nationally with a 2.44 ERA ... Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell leads the nation with 13 saves and boasts a league-low 1.18 ERA, while redshirt sophomore Darcie Huber is third in the MAC with a 2.31 ERA, however both are just shy of the minimum innings pitched total to be ranked nationally.
• 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 weekend with 275 career strikeouts which ranks 10th in program history ... She needs seven more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) for ninth on the program's all-time list.
• A .333 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the weekend ranked fourth on Ball State's career list with a .449 on base percentage ... 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 41 of 50 games and owns a .446 on base percentage.
• One new role for Haley Dominique this season appears to be power hitter ... Dominique is currently second on the team 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 ... Dominique has also collected 13 doubles and a pair of triples this season to rank second on the squad with a .563 slugging percentage ... She had a .398 slugging percentage her freshman season and a .528 mark last season ... Her .508 career mark ranks 12th in program history.
• Speaking of slugging, Janae Hogg leads the squad this season with a .639 slugging percentage and currently ranks eighth in program history with a .558 career mark ... Of her 28 hits this season, 16 have went for multiple bases with seven being triples and nine being home runs.
• 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 to left field in the second inning of the first game of the April 6 doubleheader versus Bowling Green ... Only one team in the nation has more players with a least one home run this season, Virginia Tech at 15 ... The next closest MAC teams are BGSU, Buffalo and Miami at 10.
• After drawing 17 walks last week, Ball State enters the weekend ranked fourth among all NCAA Division I programs with 219 walks this season ... The only teams with more walks are Alabama (258), Georgia Tech (231) and Drake (225) ... The next closest MAC team is Bowling Green at 155 ... Individually, Haley Dominique and Janae Hogg lead the team and are tied for third in the MAC with 28 walks each ... Last season, the Cardinals finished the year ranked fifth in the country with 235 walks.
• Freshman outfielder Kim Manuel enters the week tied for third in the MAC with 16 stolen bases this season ... In fact, Manuel is a perfect 16-for-16 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 ... The previous three are 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 121-97 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.
