Softball Goes Non-Conference with Tuesday Game at Butler

Ball State (17-9; 11-0 MAC) at Butler (13-15; 5-7 Big East)
Game 1	Tuesday, April 12 at 4 p.m. Live Stats \| Live Video
Tickets	NO GENERAL PUBLIC ATTENDANCE
Game Notes	Ball State
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens a busy week Tuesday with its final scheduled non-conference game; a 4 p.m. first pitch at Butler ... The Cardinals will then travel to Akron for another MAC four-game series versus the Zips ... Game times are 3 p.m. Friday, a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and Noon Sunday.

» VENUE UPDATE: Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting department of health guidance, Butler's capacity at the Butler Softball Field has been reduced to 25 percent for all home games ... For more info, visit: https://bit.ly/3a4RHh7

» HOW TO FOLLOW: For those who cannot attend Tuesday's game at Butler in person, you can still watch the game live via YouTube ... In addition, live stats will be available courtesy of Butler Athletics ... Links can be found on the softball schedule page on BallStateSports.com.

» BUSY ROAD AHEAD: Tuesday's contest starts a busy stretch for the Cardinals who will be playing seven road games over the next seven days ... It's also the first true midweek contest for Ball State, as the March 9 game at Jacksonville State was played during the middle of the program's "spring break" trip.

» OFF TO A HOT START: While it was the last team to open MAC play, Ball State has started with a bang, sweeping series versus Bowling Green (March 26-28), at Central Michigan (April 2-4) and versus Kent State (April 9-10) ... In fact, the Cardinals are a perfect 11-0 in MAC play to date, for its best start in league play since the 2013 team went 12-0 ... Ball State is averaging 8.55 runs per game in MAC play and is batting .383, led by senior designated player Delanie Johnson's .516 average ... Johnson is also tied with junior outfielder Faith Hensley with a team-best 13 RBIs in MAC action, while sophomore Deborah Jones boasts a 5-0 record and a 1.70 ERA in the circle.

» SERIES VS. BUTLER: Ball State holds a 21-5 lead in the all-time series with Butler which dates back to a 9-4 Cardinals victory on April 14, 1986 ... The last time the two teams met was a 3-2 Ball State victory at home on April 23, 2019 ... The Bulldog's last win in the series was a 9-3 victory in the last meeting at the Butler Softball Field on April 18, 2018 ... The Cardinals are 10-2 all-time in games played at Butler, but have lost the last two road games in the all-time series ... BSU holds a 10-3 advantage at home and is 1-0 in neutral site meetings.

ABOUT THE BALL STATE CARDINALS
» The Cardinals enter the week with a 17-9 (11-0 MAC) record after last weekend's three-game sweep of Kent State ... In its toughest MAC sweep to date, the Cardinals used some timely hitting and outstanding pitching to pick up the wins ... Sophomore Deborah Jones earned two of the wins in the circle and did not surrender an earned run over her 14.0 innings ... She also logged BSU's first complete game shutout of the season in Friday's opener ... While the Cardinals hit six home runs on the weekend, its most in a league series so far this season, the biggest blast came in the last at bat of the weekend ... It was a three-run, walk-off home run by sophomore third baseman Haley Wynn ... The blast came with two outs and on a 3-2 pitch.

» Ball State enters Tuesday's game at Butler ranked second in the MAC and 22nd nationally with a .323 team batting average and is fourth in the league with a 4.03 team ERA ... Junior outfielder Faith Hensley leads the squad and is 56th nationally with a .431 batting average, while seven of BSU's regular starters are batting at least .309 ... Junior pitcher Tieghan Morio has the team's lowest ERA, at 3.52, and owns a 6-2 record.

ONE THING TO WATCH TUESDAY: While Ball State owns a 21-5 advantage in the all-time series, the Cardinals are looking to snap a two-game losing streak at the Butler Softball Field ... In the two losses, Ball State has been outscored 18-4 ... The teams has met three other times during the span, with two games in Muncie and one at the SIUE Tournament ... Ball State owns a 20-5 advantage in runs scored in those games.

HENSLEY STILL GOING STRONG: Named the MAC Player of the Week on April 6, junior outfielder Faith Hensley is having a breakout season, ranking 56th among all NCAA Division I players with her .431 batting average, while ranking 40th in on base percentage at .537 ... In addition, she leads the team with 25 RBI, including a career-high seven in the 10-3 win over Alcorn State (March 6) ... The first four came when she blasted her first career grand slam in the first inning, while the final three came on a sixth-inning home run ... The seven RBIs tie as the second most in a game in program history, trailing only the eight RBIs current Ball State senior catcher Stacy Payton drove in when she smashed three home runs, including her first career grand slam, against Oakland on May 7, 2019.

THE 100 RBI CLUB: Only 14 players in program history have recorded 100 career RBI for the Cardinals, and three of them are on the 2021 team ... Senior catcher Stacy Payton became the latest player to reach the 100 RBI milestone with her single in the fifth inning versus Saint Lewis (Feb. 26) ... Payton is second on the team with 22 RBIs this season, raising her career total to 121 which is 10th on Ball State's career charts ... BSU's active career RBI leader is senior first baseman Janae Hogg, who ranks eighth all-time with 135 RBI ... Senior outfielder Haley Dominique is 11th on Ball State's career charts with her 113 career RBI ... The Cardinals have a fourth player on the cusp of 100 RBI in senior outfielder Kennedy Wynn who is currently 15th on BSU's all-time list at 95.

WALK THIS WAY: With her fourth of six walks in the series versus Bowling Green, senior first baseman Janae Hogg became the most walked player in program history, passing the 115 drawn by Taylor Rager (2011-14) ... Hogg enters Tuesday's game at Butler with 120 career walks which ranks sixth among all active NCAA Division I players ... Senior outfielder Haley Dominique is not far behind, ranking fourth all-time at Ball State and 20th among active Division I players with 106 career walks, including 11 so far this season ... It marks the first time in program history BSU has had two players with at least 100 walks on the same team.

ONE SAVE CLOSER: Senior Alyssa Rothwell moved one save closer to achieving an NCAA record, earning her 29th career save in the 9-6 win over Samford (March 13) ... Rothwell threw the final inning of the game, keeping the Bulldogs hitless and off the scoreboard ... At 29 saves, Rothwell is the NCAA's active career saves leader and has 10 more than any other player in Division I softball ... She set the Ball State and MAC single-season saves record with 14 in 2019, which led the nation and tied as the third-most saves in a single season in NCAA Division I history ... The NCAA career saves record is currently 32 set by Mississippi State's Kellie Willkerson (1999-2002).

ON THE BASE PATHS: Ball State enters the week ranked fourth in the MAC with 30 stolen bases ... Junior second baseman Amaia Daniel leads the squad with five, while junior outfielder Faith Hensley and freshman shortstop Kayla Lissy are right behind with four each ... In fact, 14 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season and the team is averaging 1.15 stolen bases per game ... Ball State has not averaged more than 1.00 stolen base per game since the 2015 season, when the Cardinals won the MAC Tournament and made their latest appearance in the NCAA Regionals ... That year Ball State stole 80 bases over 59 games for a 1.36 swipes-per-game average.

EARLY STARTS KEY: The Cardinals are a perfect 13-0 when leading after the fourth inning this season ... However, Ball State is 2-7 when trailing and 2-2 when tied after the fourth, with all four wins coming during the current 11-game winning streak ... Ball State has scored 99 of its 161 total runs in the first four innings, including 35 third-inning runs.

Softball Goes Non-Conference with Tuesday Game at Butler

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Players Mentioned

Amaia Daniel

Haley Dominique

Faith Hensley

Janae Hogg

Delanie Johnson

Deborah Jones

Kayla Lissy

Tieghan Morio

Stacy Payton

Alyssa Rothwell

Haley Wynn

Kennedy Wynn