Softball Opens Spring Break at Bulldog Classic

Friday, March 3

Athens, GA

10:30 a.m.

Ball State University

Samford

March 02, 2023 | Softball

Ball State (5-5; 0-0 MAC) at Bulldog Classic hosted by No. 16 Georgia
Game 11 vs. Samford (5-10)	Friday, March 3 at 10:30 a.m. Live Stats
Game 12 at No. 16 Georgia (13-4)	Friday, March 4 at 3:30 p.m. Live Stats \| SEC Network+
Game 13 vs. Stetson (12-5)	Saturday, March 4 at 1 p.m. Live Stats
Game 14 at Georgia	Saturday, March 4 at 6 p.m. ET Live Stats \| SEC Network+
Game 15 vs. Stetson	Sunday, March 5 at 10:30 a.m. Live Stats
Tickets Info	Free Admission & Parking - Clear Bag Policy
Notes	Ball State \| Samford \| No. 16 Georgia \| Stetson
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEKEND IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens its annual spring break trip with a stop in Athens, Georgia, for the Bulldog Classic ... The Cardinals are scheduled to open the event Friday with games versus Samford (10:30 a.m.) and the host No. 16 Georgia (3:30 p.m.) ... Ball State will play Stetson (1 p.m.) and Georgia (6 p.m.) Saturday, before closing against Stetson on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week with a 5-5 record after going 3-2 at last weekend's Velvet Milkman Invitational hosted by Murray State ... Over the course of the tournament, Ball State swept two games versus Bellarmine, topped Loyola, and lost a pair of contests to the host Racers ... The Cardinals tallied a .359 batting average as a team over the five games, led by a .571 average from senior infielder Haley Wynn ... In the circle, Bridie Murphy had a team-best 1.75 ERA over 8.0 innings of work, striking out a team-leading 11 batters ... Ball State also fielded .976 as a team with just three errors.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the Bulldog Classic with a 1126-1121-4 (.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 THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS:
- Samford is a familiar foe, as Ball State opened the 2023 campaign with a doubleheader against the Bulldogs on Feb. 17 as part of the Blazer Bash ... The Cardinals won the opener by a score of 5-3, while dropping the nightcap 8-7 ... Last time out, Samford suffered a 1-0 setback at Kennesaw State on Tuesday to fall to 5-10 on the year ... The Bulldogs also went 3-2 at its own Samford Bulldog Classic last weekend, ending with back-to-back wins over IUPUI (3-1) and Southern Indiana (5-2).

- Georgia enters the weekend with a 13-4 record and ranked 16th in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll ... The Bulldogs enter Friday on a six-game winning streak, most recently earning an 8-0 (6) win at Georgia Tech on Tuesday ... Georgia also pulled off a five-game sweep at its own Georgia Classic last week.

- Stetson holds a 12-5 record on the year, including a 4-3 victory at South Carolina on Tuesday ... Last weekend, the Hatters opened the Stetson Invitational with a 2-1 setback to Cornell, before rebounding to close the event with three straight wins ... Stetson also owns a ranked win this season, topping then-No. 23 UCF by a score of 4-3 on Feb. 22.

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.

» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn has only picked up speed after her season-opening performance, as she currently leads the squad and is seventh nationally with a .548 batting average ... She has reached base safely in all 10 games for the Cardinals, including via a hit in nine of the 10 games ... She also leads the squad with 12 runs scored, with her 1.20 runs-per-game average ranking 23rd nationally.

» DRIVING THEM HOME: Amaia Daniel enters the week tied for first on the team with 11 RBI ... With her final of four RBIs in last Saturday's 14-4 (6) victory over Bellarmine, 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.

» MORE ON DANIEL: Amaia Daniel, who has reached base safely in eight of Ball State's 10 games this season, enters the Bulldog Classic ranked ninth in program history with a .416 career on base percentage ... She is also tied for 13th in career runs scored (99), tied for 15th in career doubles (33), and 18th in career home runs (14) ... On defense, she has helped turn 38 career double plays, which is the third-most in program history.

» SPEAKING OF DOUBLE PLAYS: Ball State's defense has registered four double plays over the first two weekend and currently rank second in the MAC and 60th nationally with a 0.40 double plays-per-game average ... First baseman Samantha-Jo Mata has had a hand in all four double plays, while Amaia Daniel at shortstop and Haley Wynn at second base have combined in three.

» ON THE BASE PATHS: Ball State picked up right where it left off last season, stealing a total of 14 bases over the first 10 games of the season ... The Cardinals currently rank 77th nationally, and second in the MAC, with a 1.40 steals-per-game average ... Junior Remington Ross leads the way, going a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts ... With the mark, Ross climbed to first in program history with a .963 (26-for-27) stolen base percentage ... In addition, her 26 career stolen bases are tied for 20th 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 Sunday's 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 reached base safely in all 10 games for the Cardinals this season ... In fact, she ranks second on the team and 44th nationally with a .481 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 last Sunday's 10-1 (5) win over Lindenwood ... This past weekend at the Velvet Milkman Invitational, Mulholland showed off her speed with a pair of triples ... In fact, Mulholland is tied for the league lead and ranks 17th nationally with her two triples.

» HITTING THE MARK: Redshirt freshman Katie Van Der Mark made the most of her three starts to close the Velvet Milkman Invitational, finishing the event ranked second on the team with a .556 batting average ... She registered her first collegiate hit in the 14-4 (6) win over Bellarmine (Feb. 25) with a third-inning single ... She also finished the weekend tied for second on the team with five runs scored, while boasting a .600 on base percentage.

» FIRST BALL STATE WINS: Freshman Bridie Murphy and redshirt junior transfer Alyssa Stramaglia each earned their first Ball State pitching wins last weekend ... Murphy's came in Friday's 10-2 (5) victory over Bellarmine, limiting 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 Saturday's 14-4 (6) win over the Knights, limiting them 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.