Ball State University
Toledo
Softball Welcomes Toledo For Senior Weekend
April 29, 2021 | Softball
| Ball State (25-14; 19-4 MAC) hosts Toledo (20-17; 10-11 MAC) | |
| Game 1 | Friday, April 30 at 3 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast |
| Game 2 | Saturday, May 1 at 1 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast |
| Game 3 | Saturday, May 1 - 30 minutes following Game 2 Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast |
| Game 4 | Sunday, May 2 at Noon Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast |
| Tickets | NO GENERAL PUBLIC ATTENDANCE |
| Game Notes | Ball State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team celebrates senior weekend with a four-game home series versus Toledo ... The teams will play a 3 p.m. single game Friday, a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a noon single game Sunday ... Following Sunday's game, the Cardinals will celebrate the program's nine seniors set to end their careers following the conclusion of the 2021 season.
» 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: All four of this weekend's games versus Toledo are scheduled to be streamed live on ESPN3 ... Live stats will be provided courtesy of Ball State Athletics ... Fans can also get regular updates by following the team on Twitter - @BallStateSB ... Links can be found on the softball schedule page on BallStateSports.com.
» MORE ABOUT THE SENIOR CELEBRATION: Following Sunday's finale versus Toledo, the Cardinals will recognize the following seniors for their contributions over their Ball State careers: Hailey Demnianiuk, Haley Dominique, Kendall Fields, Janae Hogg, Katie Janiga, Delanie Johnson, Gabby Magnifico, Alyssa Rothwell and Kennedy Wynn.
» THE RACE FOR FIRST: While Ball State's chances at winning the 2021 Mid-American Conference regular season title took a hit with Tuesday's loses to Miami, the Cardinals still have an opportunity to win the crown and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament which goes with it ... With 16 games left in the regular season for both teams, Ball State is 19-4 in league play and trails Miami (23-1 MAC) by 3.5 games in the standings ... The next closest team is Kent State at 12-11.
» SERIES VS. TOLEDO: The Cardinals hold a 59-46-1 advantage in the all-time series versus the Rockets which dates back to an 8-1 win by the Cardinals at home on April 15, 1983 ... The last time the two teams played, they split an April 19, 2019 doubleheader with Ball State winning the opening game (4-2) and Toledo taking the nightcap (5-2) ... The Cardinals also hold a 28-20 lead in games played in Muncie.
ABOUT THE BALL STATE CARDINALS
» The Cardinals enter this weekend's series versus Toledo with a 25-14 (19-4 MAC) record after dropping both ends of Tuesday's doubleheader versus Miami ... There were a pair of bright spots in the losses however, starting with senior catcher Delanie Johnson behind the plate ... Johnson helped keep Miami's runners in check during the second game, throwing out a pair trying to steal ... At the plate, junior Faith Hensley led the way with a .750 (3-for-4) average, including a two-run home run in the nightcap ... Sophomore third baseman Haley Wynn also had three hits over the two games and scored a pair of runs.
» Ball State enters the Toledo series ranked second in the MAC and 29th nationally with a .309 team batting average and is third in the league with a 4.18 team ERA ... Junior outfielder Faith Hensley leads the squad and is 92nd nationally with a .406 average, while eight of BSU's regular starters are batting at least .303 ... Sophomore pitcher Deborah Jones has the team's lowest ERA, at 3.82, and owns a 10-5 record ... She also ranks 21st nationally with three saves.Â
ONE THING TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND: Much like Tuesday's doubleheader versus Miami, home runs could play a big part in this weekend's series ... Ball State enters the weekend with 36 home runs, the exact same amount Toledo's pitchers have given up the season ... Both the Cardinals 36 home runs and Toledo's 36 home runs allowed are the third-most in the league ... In addition, Toledo ranks fourth in the MAC with 27 home runs and features the league's individual leader in Dayna Denner who has went yard 13 times this year.
HENSLEY STILL GOING STRONG: Named the MAC Player of the Week on April 6, junior outfielder Faith Hensley is having a breakout season, ranking 92nd among all NCAA Division I players with her .406 batting average, while ranking 63rd in on base percentage at .508 ... In addition, she leads the team with 32 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 at Miami (April 20) ... She is the fourth player on Ball State's active roster to reach the mark and is currently 13th in program history with 104 RBIs, including 19 this season ... Senior first baseman Janae Hogg is Ball State's active career leader, tying for sixth in BSU annals with 142 RBIs, including 27 this season ... Senior catcher Stacy Payton is 10th all time at 127, while senior outfielder Haley Dominique is 11th at 122 ... Payton has 28 RBI in 2021, while Dominique is at 22.
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 Toledo series with 126 career walks, including 17 this season, 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 21st among active Division I players with 109 career walks, including 14 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 in last Friday's series opener versus Ohio (April 23), throwing the final inning of BSU's 4-2 come-from-behind victory to secure her 30th career save ... It was her second save of the season, after also picking up one in BSU's 9-6 win over Samford (March 13) ... At 30 saves, Rothwell is the NCAA's active career saves leader and has 10 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: Freshman shortstop Kayla Lissy was a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts last week, climbing to fifth in the MAC with 13 stolen bases this year ... In fact, Lissy is a perfect 13-for-13 on the year and could become just the fifth player in program history to finish a season with a perfect stolen base percentage (min. 10 attempts) ... The best mark in Ball State single-season annals are identical 16-for-16 efforts by Rachel Houck (2017) and Kim Manuel (2019).
MORE FROM THE BASE PATHS: Ball State ranks third in the MAC with 49 stolen bases this season, with 15 different Cardinals having at least one stolen base ... Overall, the team is averaging 1.26 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 19 times this season ... The Cardinals have done it once in each inning, 1-7, including six 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 scored seven runs in the third versus Bowling Green in the second game of the March 27 doubleheader, a 9-1 (5) win, and in the third of last Sunday's 11-7 win over Ohio (April 25).
