Busy Stretch Ahead For Softball, Starting With Ohio

Sunday, April 10

Muncie, Ind.

1 p.m.

Ball State University

Ohio

Busy Stretch Ahead For Softball, Starting With Ohio

April 08, 2022 | Softball

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Ball State (12-19; 5-3 MAC) hosts Ohio (13-17; 7-4 MAC)
Game 32 hosts Ohio	Sunday, April 10 at 1 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN3
Game 33 hosts Ohio	Sunday, April 10 at 3:30 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN3
Game 34 hosts Ohio	Monday, April 11 at 1 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN3
Game 35 at IUPUI	Tuesday, April 12 at 2 p.m. Live Stats
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MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State softball team will play seven games over a six-day span starting Sunday, when it opens a key Mid-American Conference home series versus Ohio at the softball field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.

The teams were originally scheduled to being their three-game series Saturday, but cold temperatures and snow in the forecast pushed the series back a day. After Monday's finale versus the Bobcats (13-17; 7-4 MAC), the Cardinals (12-19; 5-3 MAC) travel to IUPUI for a single game Tuesday and then visit Toledo for a three-game series Friday and Saturday.

Ball State enters Sunday's contest versus Ohio after claiming wins in five of its last six games. The Cardinals swept their home-opening series versus Kent State last weekend, before taking two of three games in a midweek series at Northern Illinois.

Over the last six games, the Ball State offense has been putting up some impressive numbers, averaging 9.33 runs per game and producing a .373 team batting average. Redshirt freshman first baseman / catcher McKayla Timmons leads the squad's everyday starters with a .533 average during the run, while senior left fielder Faith Hensley is not far behind at .529.

Hensley does lead the team with nine hits, including four home runs, and 13 runs scored over the past six game. She also has a 1.235 slugging percentage, a .692 on base percentage, and eight RBIs over the time frame.

Off the bench, sophomore Samantha-Jo Mata has also provided a big boost with six hits in seven at bats, including a pair of pinch-hit home runs. Mata also started the series finale at NIU and provided Ball State's first grand slam of the season.

In the circle, the Cardinals own a 3.60 team ERA over the last six games with freshman Angelina Russo boasting a team-high 16.0 innings of work, a 2-1 record and a 3.06 ERA. Tuesday also saw the return of Deborah Jones to the lineup, and she did not disappoint with a complete game, three-hit victory over the Huskies.

SEASON SO FAR:

The Cardinals enter Sunday's doubleheader versus Ohio with a 12-19 (5-3 MAC) record, including an unblemished 3-0 mark at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
Despite facing some of the nation's top pitching staffs, the Cardinals enter the Ohio series ranked second in the MAC and 101st nationally with a .282 team batting average … Leading the way is senior left fielder Faith Hensley who is second in the MAC and 35th nationally with her .427 average.
Ball State's power has still been there this season too, with the squad ranking 38th nationally with a 1.13 home runs per game average … BSU's sluggers have belted 35 home runs so far this season, with nine different players going yard.
Ball State's ability to double teams up has been a bright spot for the defense so far this season, as the Cardinals tie for fourth nationally with 19 double plays so far this season … In addition, BSU's 0.61 double plays per game average is third among the 293 ranked NCAA Division I softball programs.
The Cardinals have also been making moves on the base paths, ranking fourth among Mid-American Conference programs with 35 stolen bases … Leading the way is sophomore transfer Remington Ross, who is a 13-for-14 so far this season, with her 13 stolen bases ranking third among all league players.

SCOUTING OHIO
The Bobcats enter Sunday's doubleheader with a 13-17 overall record, including a 7-4 mark in MAC play … Ohio has won its last five games, starting with a doubleheader sweep of league-leading Miami last Saturday (April 2) … OU won the opener 13-12 in 11 innings, and took the nightcap by a score of 12-7 … The Bobcats also swept its three-game series versus Akron by scores of 2-1, 6-3, and 2-0.

Allie Englant and Annalia Paoli are tied for the team lead with .371 batting averages, with each tallying 33 hits in 89 at bats … Paoli also leads the squad in runs scored (21), slugging percentage (.607), and on base percentage (.451) … She is also one of three players tied for the team lead with four home runs … Caroline Spacek has a team-best 23 RBI, while seven Bobcats have driven in at least 10 runs.

Ohio has a two-prong attack in the circle, led by Mackensie Kohl and her 122.1 innings of work … Over that span, Kohl has a 4.41 ERA, a 9-10 record, and 87 strikeouts … Kylie Coffelt is OU's other pitcher, with a 5.58 ERA, a 4-7 record, and 34 strikeouts over 74.0 innings.

As a team, Ohio owns a .273 batting average, a 4.85 ERA and a .957 fielding percentage.

SCOUTING IUPUI
The Jaguars enter a weekend series versus Purdue Fort Wayne with a 7-24 overall record, including a 5-4 mark in the Horizon League … IUPUI has won five of its last seven games including the final two of a series at Youngstown State last weekend by scores of 7-2 and 1-0.

Kendal Calvert currently leads the Jags with a .313 batting average and has a team-high 18 runs scored … Maicey Bedrick leads the squad with 16 RBI and three home runs, while Rachael Gregory has a team-high .408 on base percentage … Madison Bryant has started 17 of IUPUI's 31 games, with a 2.98 ERA, a 4-13 record, and 89 strikeouts over 84.2 innings of work.

As a team, IUPUI holds a .220 batting average, a 5.15 ERA, and .937 fielding percentage.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS OHIO:

Ball State holds a 50-38-1 edge in the all-time series versus Ohio, including wins in three of the four games played at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex last season.
All four games in the series were relatively close, starting with Ball State taking both games of an April 23 doubleheader by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 … Ohio answered with a 3-1 victory on April 24, while the Cardinals capped the series with an 11-7 victory on April 25.
Overall, Ball State holds a 30-16 advantage in games played in Muncie, including eight of the last nine meetings.
Prior to last season, the teams had not battled in the regular season since 2017 … They did meet in the 2019 MAC Tournament, with Ohio earning a 3-2 (8) victory on May 8.
In last season's series, Kayla Lissy led the Ball State offense with a .667 batting average with eight hits in 12 at bats … She also tied with Faith Hensley for the team lead with four runs scored … Hensley hit .364 for the series with a team-high four RBI.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS IUPUI:

Ball State holds a 13-1 lead in the all-time series versus IUPUI, with the teams last meeting in 2015.
The Cardinals have won the last 12 games in the series, including a 5-4 (8) victory on Feb. 7, 2015, at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn.

BALL STATE NOTES:

Senior outfielder Faith Hensley has picked up right where she left off last season, leading the Ball State offense with a .427 batting average this season … She has reached base safely in 29 of BSU's 31 games, including via a hit in 24 contests … She also leads the team with 27 RBIs, including five in the Feb. 19 come-from-behind win over Western Carolina, and runs scored with 31.
A 2021 NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team selection last season, Faith Hensley enters the Ohio series ranked second in program history (minimum 150 at bats) with a .393 career batting average … She is also currently third in career slugging percentage (.704), based on the strength of her 19 career doubles, 21 career home runs and two career triples.
Sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy registered BSU's first triple of the season in the 3-2 (8) victory over Towson (Feb. 18), and added her second in the series opener against Kent State (April 1) … Last season, Lissy tied for the NCAA Division I lead with nine triples and added an inside-the-park home run for good measure.
Kayla Lissy is also off to a strong start on the base paths, ranking second on the squad with six stolen bases … As a freshman, Lissy ranked fifth in the MAC with 18 stolen bases … Her 24 career stolen bases are already just two shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history, while her .852 (24-for-28) stolen base percentage is tied for sixth on BSU's career charts.
Ball State's sluggers have blasted 35 total home runs so far this season, with nine different players getting into the action … Faith Hensley leads the way with 13, which is second in the MAC and 12th nationally … Three other Cardinals have four home runs each, while two have three … Overall, 10 different players on the active roster have at least one career home run for the Cardinals.
Redshirt freshman first baseman / catcher McKayla Timmons is second on the squad with a .333 batting average, including a team-leading .533 mark over the last six games … Timmons is tied for the team lead with six doubles, tied for second on the squad with four home runs, and is third on the team with 21 RBIs.
Junior third baseman Haley Wynn enters the Ohio series ranked third on the squad with a .316 batting average … She has reached base safely in 26 of BSU's 31 games this season, including a team-high 15 straight contests earlier in the year … Wynn has had at least one hit in 22 games, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort versus Albany (Feb. 19) for her first career four-hit game … She is also tied for the team lead with six doubles this season.
Sophomore outfielder Remington Ross enters the Ohio series ranked third in the league with 13 stolen bases … She started the season a perfect 13-for-13, before being narrowly thrown out in her last attempt … She's also shown off her speed at the plate with six bunt singles so far this year.
Overall, Ball State has stolen 35 total bases this season in 50 attempts … Last season, the Cardinals registered 62 stolen bases which was the 13th-highest single-season total in program history.
Junior pitcher Deborah Jones enters the weekend with 178 career strikeouts to rank 18th in program history … She needs 22 more strikeouts to become just the 15th pitcher in program history to reach 200 career Ks … Jones has 44 strikeouts over 41.0 innings of work this season.
Deborah Jones earned her 20th career victory versus Northern Kentucky on March 5, allowing just one run and four hits, while striking out a career-high 12 batters in the 2-1 victory … It was her first win of the 2022 season, to go along with her seven wins as a freshman in 2020 and 12 last season.
After missing nearly a month due to injury, Jones picked up her second win of the season last Tuesday at Northern Illinois in BSU's 13-0 (5) victory … She allowed just four baserunners in the game (three hits and one walk) on her way to registering her fifth career shutout victory.
Freshman pitcher Angelina Russo has been BSU's go-to pitcher so far this season, entering the Ohio series with a team-high 78.2 innings of work … She has started 14 of BSU's 31 games, while making 21 appearances … Russo also owns a 6-7 record and a 5.07 ERA against some tough competition … In fact, she earned the win at No. 18 Missouri (March 20), holding the Tigers to just seven hits and three runs (two earned) over 5.1 innings of work in the 4-3 victory.
Angelina Russo, who threw a complete game one-hitter to earn the second-game win against Kent State on April 1, also earned the complete game victory at Grand Canyon (March 12), while turning in solid pitching performances at No. 23 Arizona State (March 13), vs. Stanford (March 19), and vs. No. 14 Northwestern (March 20).
Freshman pitcher Emma Eubank has been virtually flawless in her last six appearances, owning a 2.21 ERA and a .197 opponents' batting average over 19.1 innings of work … She picked up the save in BSU's win over No. 18 Missouri (March 20) after holding the Tigers hitless over 1.2 innings of work … She also threw 3.0 innings of hitless softball earlier in the day versus the No. 14 Northwestern (March 20) … She also earned the pitching wins in the first and final games of the Kent State series.
Ball State's offense is really starting to find its groove, scoring a season-high 13 runs in last Tuesday's 13-0 (5) victory at Northern Illinois … BSU's previous season-best was 11 runs one game earlier in the 11-3 (5) victory over Kent State (April 2) … The Cardinals added an 11-0 (5) win over NIU in the opening game of Wednesday's doubleheader, giving them three consecutive games in double figures … It was the first time since the 2019 season Ball State has scored double-digit runs in three consecutive games … That year they started the streak with an 11-3 (6) win versus Fordham (March 17) and followed with back-to-back wins over Akron by scores 14-6 (6) (March 22) and 13-1 (5) (March 23)
While the Cardinals did not get the win in the series finale at Northern Illinois, they scored eight runs in the second inning of the contest which is the most runs BSU has scored in a single inning this season … It was also the most runs Ball State has scored in a single inning since producing 10 in the fifth inning of the opening game of the May 12, 2021 doubleheader at NIU.