Ball State University
Ohio
Softball Welcomes Ohio for Four Games This Weekend
April 22, 2021 | Softball
| Ball State (22-11; 16-1 MAC) hosts Ohio (16-15; 12-10 MAC) | |
| Game 1 | Friday, April 23 at 2 p.m. Live Stats | Live Video |
| Game 2 | Friday, April 23 - 30 minutes following Game ` Live Stats | Live Video |
| Game 3 | Saturday, April 24 at 1 p.m. Live Stats | Live Video | SL Digital Audio |
| Game 4 | Sunday, April 25 at Noon Live Stats | Live Video |
| Tickets | NO GENERAL PUBLIC ATTENDANCE |
| Game Notes | Ball State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: After splitting a Tuesday doubleheader at Miami, the Ball State softball team returns to the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex to open a 12-game homestand with a four-game series versus Ohio ... Due to anticipated wet weather this weekend, the teams will play a 2 p.m. doubleheader Friday and are hoping to play single games Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (Noon).
» VENUE UPDATE: Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting department of health guidance, there will be no general public attendance at Ball State softball home games this season.
» HOW TO FOLLOW: For this weekend's home series versus Ohio, a free one-camera live video feed and live stats will be available courtesy of Ball State Athletics ... Fans can also get regular game updates by following the team on Twitter - @BallStateSB ... Links can be found on the softball schedule page on BallStateSports.com.
» WHAT A START: It was a great start to MAC play for the Ball State softball program which won 16 straight league games before dropping Tuesday's nightcap to Miami ... The Cardinals swept weekend series versus Bowling Green (March 26-28), at Central Michigan (April 2-4), versus Kent State (April 9-10) and at Akron (April 16-20), before splitting at Miami (April 22) ... The 16-0 start was the longest MAC winning streak in a single season in program history ... Ball State's longest MAC regular season winning streak is 19 games which includes the last seven regular season games of 2012 and the first 12 of 2013.
» IN 2021 MAC PLAY: Ball State is averaging 7.59 runs per game in MAC play and batting .349, led by junior second baseman Amaia Daniel's .417 average ... Senior first baseman Janae Hogg has a team-best 17 RBI in league play, while sophomore third baseman Haley Wynn is second at 15 ... Sophomore Deborah Jones boasts a 7-1 record and a 2.06 ERA in the circle.
» SERIES VS. OHIO: Ball State holds a 47-37-1 edge in the all-time series versus Ohio which has not seen a regular season game since 2017 ... The last meeting between the two teams was a 3-2 (8) Ohio victory in the 2019 MAC Tournament ... In regular season action, the teams last meet April 8-9, 2017 with Ball State sweeping an April 8th doubleheader by scores of 3-2 and 3-2 (8) ... Ohio took the finale the next day by a score of 3-2 ... The last time the teams played in Muncie, Ball State swept a three-game set April 1-2, 2016 by scores of 2-1, 3-2 and 8-6.
ABOUT THE BALL STATE CARDINALS
» The Cardinals enter the Ohio series with a 22-11 (16-1 MAC) record after splitting a Tuesday doubleheader at Miami ... Ball State rallied for a thrilling 4-2 come-from-behind victory in the opening game, powered by a four-run fifth inning ... Senior center fielder Kennedy Wynn provided the fireworks with a three-run blast to help snap Miami's 20-game winning streak ... In the nightcap, the Cardinals took a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, only to see the RedHawks flip the script with six runs to halt BSU's 16-game MAC winning streak ... With the split, Miami holds a slim edge in the race for the MAC regular season championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament courtesy of a 17-1 (.944) league record ... Ball State is 16-1 (.941) after losing a game to weather in the Kent State series.
» Ball State enters Friday's contest ranked second in the MAC and 26th nationally with a .312 team batting average and is fourth in the league with a 3.83 team ERA ... Junior outfielder Faith Hensley leads the squad and is 116th nationally with a .395 average, while seven of BSU's regular starters are batting at least .309 ... Sophomore pitcher Deborah Jones has the team's lowest ERA, at 3.43, and owns a 9-3 record ... She also ranks 17th nationally with three saves.Â
ONE THING TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND: Ohio leads the Mid-American Conference and ranks 15th nationally with 2.10 stolen bases per game this season ... The Bobcats has swiped 65 total bases this season and have only been caught stealing nine times ... Allie Englant leads the squad with 22 swipes which is 21st nationally ... Conversely, Ball State has allowed a league low 17 stolen bases this season, with just five coming in league play ... Senior catcher Stacy Payton has thrown out four runners trying to steal, while senior catcher Delanie Johnson has caught three and redshirt sophomore catcher Jazmyne Armendariz has stopped one.
HENSLEY STILL GOING STRONG: Named the MAC Player of the Week on April 6, junior outfielder Faith Hensley is having a breakout season, ranking 116th among all NCAA Division I players with her .395 batting average, while ranking 69th in on base percentage at .500 ... In addition, she leads the team with 26 RBIs, including a career-high seven in the 10-3 win over Alcorn State (March 6) in which she hit two home runs ... 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 against Oakland on May 7, 2019.
THE 100 RBI CLUB: Senior center fielder Kennedy Wynn became the 15th player in program history to reach 100 career RBIs with her three-run homer which provided the game-winning run in Tuesday's opener at Miami (April 22) ... She is the fourth player on Ball State's active roster to reach the mark and is currently 14th in program history with 102 RBIs, including 17 this season ... Senior first baseman Janae Hogg is Ball State's active career leader, ranking seventh in BSU annals with 141 RBIs, including tying for team-high honors with 26 this season ... Senior catcher Stacy Payton is 10th all time at 124, while senior outfielder Haley Dominique is 11th at 118 ... Payton has 25 RBI in 2021, while Dominique is at 18.
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 the Ohio series with 125 career walks, including 16 this season, which ranks fifth among all active NCAA Division I players ... Senior outfielder Haley Dominique is not far behind, ranking fourth all-time at Ball State and 22nd among active Division I players with 107 career walks, including 12 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 nine more than any other player in NCAA 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 third in the MAC with 41 stolen bases ... Junior outfielder Faith Hensley and freshman shortstop Kayla Lissy lead the way with seven each after both stole a base Tuesday at Miami ... In fact, 15 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season and the team is averaging 1.24 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.
THE BIG INNING: Ball State has scored four-or-more runs in an inning 18 times this season ... The Cardinals have done it once in each inning, 1-7, including five times in the third ... Ball State's biggest inning was an eight-run first in the series finale at Central Michigan (April 4) on the way to a 16-5 (5) victory ... The Cardinals also scored seven runs in the third versus Bowling Green in the second game of the March 27 doubleheader, a 9-1 (5) win.Â
