Ball State University
Kent State (Game 1)
Softball Opens MAC Play Friday Versus Kent State
March 16, 2023 | Softball
| Ball State (10-11; 0-0 MAC) vs. Kent State (5-14; 0-0 MAC) | |
| Game 22 vs. Kent State | Friday, March 17Â at 1 p.m. Live Stats |
| Game 23 vs. Kent State | Friday, March 17Â at 3Â p.m. Live Stats |
| Site / Tickets Info | BW Softball Field in Berea, Ohio / Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State |  Kent State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to action Friday, when it travels to the BW Softball Field on the campus of Baldwin Wallace University to open Mid-American Conference play versus Kent State ... The Cardinals and Flashes are currently slated to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday, with the remainder of the series canceled due to cold weather moving into the area.Â
» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the weekend with a 10-11 record after going 2-4 last week to close spring break ... After splitting a Wednesday doubleheader at East Tennessee State (L, 2-3 / W, 9-3), the Cardinals lost three of four games at the Liberty Flames Classic ... After falling to host Liberty (0-13 (5)) Thursday, BSU split a Friday doubleheader versus Sacred Heart (W, 10-1 / L, 3-11 (5)) before falling to No. 23 Maryland (L, 2-10 (5)) in its tournament finale ... Ball State currently boast two of the nations' top 100 hitters with senior Haley Wynn ranking 38th among all NCAA Division I batters with a .444 average, while redshirt sophomore McKayla Timmons is 99th with her .406 mark ... In the circle, sophomore Angelina Russo leads the Ball State pitching staff with her 3.57 ERA and .213 batting average against.
» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters MAC play with a 1131-1127-4 (.501) overall record dating back to the 1975 season ... The Cardinals have tallied 30-or-more wins in 16 seasons, most recently a 37-18 mark under current head coach Lacy Schurr in 2021 ... Of the 16 seasons with 30-or-more wins, 11 have come in the past 15 seasons.
» ABOUT KENT STATE:Â
- The Golden Flashes enter Friday's doubleheader with a 5-14 overall record after suffering a 4-0 setback at Michigan on March 9 ... Kent State was scheduled to play in the Michigan Round Robin the following weekend, but the event was canceled.
- Bri Despines leads the Kent State offense with a .314 batting average, while Emily Lippe is batting .298 with team highs of 17 RBI and six home runs ... As a team, the Golden Flashes are batting just .225.
- Anilese Kelly leads the KSU pitching staff with a 4.65 ERA and a .276 average against ... Over 52.2 innings of work, she has struck out 39 batters while allowing 29 walks.
- Despite Ball State winning the last six games in the series, Kent State holds a 51-38 edge all-time ... With this weekend's games being moved to Baldwin Wallace University, the teams have not played on Kent State's home field since the 2012 season.
BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:
» GONE WITH THE WYNN: Senior infielder Haley Wynn opened the year with a bang, smashing a solo home run to center field for Ball State's first hit of the 2023 season in the team's 5-3 victory over Samford (Feb. 17) last Friday ... She went on to add a single in the fifth inning and led off the seventh inning with a triple to fall a double shy of the cycle.Â
» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn has only picked up speed after her season-opening performance, as she currently leads the squad and is 38th nationally with a .444 batting average ... She has reached base safely in 20 of Ball State's 21 games, including a career-best 12 game hitting streak ... Wynn also leads the squad with 19 runs scored, with her 0.90 runs-per-game average ranking 88th nationally.
» DRIVING THEM HOME: Amaia Daniel enters the weekend with a team-leading 17 RBI ... With her final of four RBIs in Ball State's 14-4 (6) victory over Bellarmine (Feb. 25), Daniel became just the 16th player in program history to reach 100 career RBI ... The moment came on a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning to make the score 12-4 ... She is currently 14th in program history with 106 career RBI and needs one more to reach 13th.
» MORE ON DANIEL: Amaia Daniel, who has reached base safely in 18 of Ball State's 21 games this season, enters Friday's doubleheader versus Kent State ranked eighth in program history with a .418 career on base percentage ... She is also tied for 13th in career runs scored (106), 15th in career doubles (35), and 16th in career home runs (16) ... On defense, she has helped turn 41 career double plays, which is the second-most in program history.
» SPEAKING OF DOUBLE PLAYS: Ball State's defense has registered eight double plays over its first 21 games of the season and currently ranks second in the MAC and 61st nationally with a 0.38 double plays-per-game average ... First baseman Samantha-Jo Mata has had a hand in seven double plays, while Amaia Daniel at shortstop has factored in six and Haley Wynn at second base has combined in three.
» ON THE BASE PATHS: Ball State picked up right where it left off last season, stealing a total of 26 bases over the first 21 games of the season ... The Cardinals currently rank 94th nationally, and second in the MAC, with a 1.24 steals-per-game average ... Junior Remington Ross leads the way, going a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts ... With the mark, Ross remains first in program history with a .967 (29-for-30) stolen base percentage ... In addition, her 29 career stolen bases are tied for 19th in program history.
» NEAR PERFECTION: Sophomore pitcher Angelina Russo, who threw the first perfect game in program history last season, added to her lore in the 10-1 (5) victory over Lindenwood (Feb. 19), collecting just the 18th recorded no-hitter in program history dating back to the 1980 season ... The 2022 MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year and a MAC All-Freshman Team selection, Russo retired 15 of the 17 batters she faced against the Lions with a walk and an error being the lone blemishes ... She also struck out three batters on her way to her second win of the weekend.
» WELCOME BACK MCKAYLA: After missing the last 18 games of the 2022 season due to injury, minus a pair of pinch running appearances in the Akron series, redshirt sophomore McKayla Timmons has reached base safely in 14 of the 19 games she has played for the Cardinals this season ... In fact, she ranks second on the team and 99th nationally with a .406 batting average, while having smashed a pair of two-run home runs ... Timmons, who blasted four home runs in her debut season in 2022, enters the weekend ranked fourth among active Ball State players with six career home runs.
» WELCOME TO THE #BALLSTATESB BOMB SQUAD: Redshirt freshman McKenna Mulholland made sure her first collegiate hit was a memorable one, as she blasted a solo home run in her first collegiate at bat to open the bottom of the second inning in the 10-1 (5) win over Lindenwood (Feb. 19) ... Sophomore Kaitlyn Gibson added her first collegiate round tripper in the 14-8 setback at No. 16 Georgia (March 3) ... Overall, nine active Cardinals have at least one career home run heading into Friday's doubleheader versus Kent State.
» TRIPLE THREAT: Ball State enters the week ranked 50th nationally with a 0.29 triples-per-game average ... McKenna Mulholland leads the way with three triples, followed by Haley Wynn with two and McKayla Timmons with one ... Ball State is currently one of only three teams in the MAC to have multiple players with more than one triple.
» FIRST BALL STATE WINS: Freshman Bridie Murphy and redshirt junior transfer Alyssa Stramaglia each earned their first Ball State pitching wins at the Velvet Milkman Invitational ... Murphy's came in the 10-2 (5) victory over Bellarmine (Feb. 24), as she limited the Knights to four hits and two runs over 5.0 innings ... She also struck out a career-high seven batters ... Stramaglia earned her first BSU victory in the 14-4 (6) win over Bellarmine the following day, limiting the Knights to four hits and four runs over 6.0 innings with four strikeouts ... In two seasons pitching at Triton College, Stramaglia boasted a 44-7 record.
