Ball State University
Ohio
Tournament Time: Softball's Run For MAC Title Starts Wednesday
May 07, 2019 | Softball
• THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team travels to Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, for the 2019 Mid-American Conference Softball Championship (May 8-11) ... After finishing the regular season with a 9-8 league record, the Cardinals earned the No. 6 seed in the eight-team tournament and will battle No. 3 seed Ohio in Wednesday's prime time game scheduled for 6 p.m. ... The winner advances to play the winner of No. 2 Kent State vs. No. 7 Toledo on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., while the loser of each game battles it out in Thursday's 6 p.m. elimination game.
• THE SCHEDULE:
Game 53 - Wednesday, May 8 vs. No. 6 Ohio - 6 p.m.
Tournament Central |  Live Video  |  Live Stats  |  Social Media (@BallStateSB)
• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats and live video will be available for every game of the 2019 MAC Softball Championship on the official championship website at the link above ... In addition, fans can follow @BallStateSB on twitter for updates throughout the season.
• ALL-TIME: Ball State softball enters the 2019 MAC Softball Championship with a 1044-1056-4 (.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).
• BALL STATE IN THE MAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Ball State enters the 2019 MAC Softball Championship with a 27-25 all-time record in league tournament play ... The Cardinals won the event in 1998, 2010 and 2015 with perfect 4-0 marks ... Ball State was also the runner-up in the 2001 tournament with a 3-2 record ... A complete MAC Softball Championship history can be found on page 26.
• ONE YEAR AGO: Last season, the Cardinals went 3-2 in the MAC Softball Championship ... As the No. 2 seed, the Cardinals suffered a 3-1 setback to No. 7 Northern Illinois in the tournament opener ... Ball State rebounded to advance to the championship match of the elimination bracket with wins over No. 6 Central Michigan (5-1), No. 4 Kent State (4-2) and No. 3 Toledo (2-0) ... Unfortunately, the Cardinals met up with the Huskies again Saturday morning and fell 4-3 in a hard-fought lower bracket championship match up.
• ALL-TIME ALL-TOURNAMENT: Thanks to last season's run in the MAC Softball Championship, three Cardinals earned all-tournament honors: Maddy Labrador, Aeshia Miles and Carolyn Wilmes ... Overall, Ball State has had 20 different players garner all-tournament accolades in program history ... In addition, three Cardinals have earned Most Valuable Player honors at the MAC Softball Championship: Hanne Stuedemann (2015), Elizabeth Milian (2010) and Heather Hinkle (1998).
• ALL-TIME VS. OHIO: The Cardinals hold a 47-36-1 lead in the all-time series versus the Bobcats after taking two of three games in the most recent regular season series, played April 8-9, 2017 in Athens, Ohio ... Ball State swept both ends of the April 8 doubleheader, both by scores of 3-2, with the second game going into extra innings ... Ohio closed the series with a 3-2 victory the next day ... Overall, Ball State has won 17 of the last 21 games in the all-time series.
• AGAINST OHIO IN THE TOURNAMENT: Ball State and Ohio have only met twice in the MAC Softball Championship with each team recording a victory ... The first meeting saw the Cardinals eliminate the Bobcats from the 2013 tournament with a 7-6 victory (May 11) ... In the second meeting, Ohio used a perfect game to eliminate Ball State from the 2015 event with a 3-0 win (May 8).Â
• SCOUTING OHIO PART 1: The Bobcats earned the No. 3 seed in the 2019 MAC Softball Championship by finishing the regular season with a three-game sweep at Buffalo last weekend to move to 12-8 in league play ... The only team with more home runs this season than Ball State (56), Ohio has tallied 66 home runs over 50 games this season ... Senior Morgan Geno leads the squad with 19 home runs, 59 RBI and a .810 slugging percentage ... Sophomore Katie Yun is not far behind with 14 long balls, while senior Alex Day has 10 ... Overall, the Bobcats lead the league with a .297 batting average this season, with Yun pacing the squad at .407.
• SCOUTING OHIO PART 2: One thing going in the Cardinals favor in the home run category; the Bobcats' pitching staff have given up the fourth-most home runs in the league at 43 this season ... Ball State's pitcher are on the other end of the spectrum, surrendering a league-low 21 home runs ... Overall, Ohio's pitching staff ranks third in the league with a 3.39 ERA, led by sophomore Madi McCrady who owns a 20-11 record and a 3.31 ERA over a league-high 196.2 innings of work ... McCrady has given up 20 of the team's 43 home runs against.
BALL STATE TEAM/PLAYER NOTES
• Sophomore third baseman Stacy Payton etched her name in the Ball State record books twice in last Saturday's 10-0 (5) win over Oakland, becoming the first player in program history hit three home runs in a game and record eight RBI in the game ... The previous record for home runs in a game was two, held by numerous players and most recently done by sophomore outfielder Kendall Fields in last Saturday's 4-3 opening-game victory at Purdue Fort Wayne ... The previous record for RBIs in a game was seven set by then-senior second baseman Maddy Labrador in a 12-0 (5) win at Bowling Green on March 24, 2018.
• Stacy Payton started the game versus the Golden Grizzlies with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning ... She followed with her first career grand slam in the second inning, while capping the day with another two-run blast in the fourth inning ... The first two home runs were to the deepest part of the park in center field, while the third was to right-center field.
• Overall, Stacy Payton has had Ball State's hottest bat of late, reaching base safely in each of the last 14 games ... Payton's .475 batting average over the last 14 games leads the squad, as does her .571 on base percentage ... She has 19 hits over the span, six more than anyone else on the team, with two doubles, a triple and six home runs for a 1.025 slugging percentage.
• With a pair of home runs in the Central Michigan series, junior designated player Janae Hogg raised her career total to 28 to move 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 tied for 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.
• 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).Â
• 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 the MAC Softball Championship with a league-high 34 wins this season, with the win total also tying for 48th nationally.
• Junior closer Alyssa Rothwell continues to add to her legend, and up her Ball State and MAC single season saves record, with her 14th save of the season in Ball State's 4-3 win at Purdue Fort Wayne last Saturday ... Rothwell is now just two 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 Saturday at Purdue Fort Wayne, Rothwell enters the MAC Softball Championship with 28 career saves, which is 12 more than the previous MAC record ... Her 28 career saves are also the most among active NCAA Division I players, with the next closest player at 19, and are five shy of breaking the NCAA career record of 32 set by Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02) of Mississippi State.
• 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 MAC Softball Championship with 279 career strikeouts which ranks 10th in program history ... She needs three more strikeouts to pass Audra Sanders (2010-13) for ninth on the program's all-time list.
• A .331 career batter, Haley Dominique enters the MAC Softball Championship ranked fourth on Ball State's career list with a .450 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 43 of 52 games and leads Ball State's everyday starters with a .448 on base percentage.
• 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 nine walks last weekend, Ball State enters the MAC Softball Championship ranked fourth among all NCAA Division I programs with 228 walks this season ... The only teams with more walks are Alabama (272), Georgia Tech (248) and Drake (238) ... The next closest MAC team is Buffalo at 157 ... Individually, Haley Dominique leads the team and is tied for second in the MAC with 20 walks ... Last season, the Cardinals finished the year ranked fifth in the country with 235 walks.
• Freshman outfielder Kim Manuel enters the MAC Softball Championship 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 123-97 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.
