Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Central Michigan
Welcome Home; Softball Opens Home Slate Saturday vs. CMU
March 23, 2023 | Softball
| Ball State (11-12; 1-1 MAC) vs. Central Michigan (10-13; 0-0 MAC) | |
| Game 24 hosts Central Michigan | Saturday, March 25 at 1 p.m. Live Stats |  Watch |
| Game 25 hosts Central Michigan | Saturday, March 25 at 3 p.m. Live Stats |  Watch |
| Game 26 hosts Central Michigan | Sunday, March 26 at Noon Live Stats |  Watch |
| Tickets Info | Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State |  Central Michigan |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens the home portion of its 2023 schedule Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader versus Central Michigan ... The Cardinals and Chippewas will also play a single game Sunday at Noon.
» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the weekend with an 11-12 record after splitting last Friday's doubleheader at Kent State ... The Golden Flashes took the opener by a score of 4-3, while the Cardinals rallied back to take the nightcap 15-9 ... Ball State currently boast two of the nations' top 61 hitters with senior Haley Wynn ranking 33rd among all NCAA Division I batters with a .443 average, while senior Amaia Daniel is 61st with her .421 mark ... In the circle, sophomore Angelina Russo leads the Ball State pitching staff with her 3.68 ERA and .226 batting average against.
» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters this weekend's series versus Central Michigan with a 1132-1128-4 (.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 CENTRAL MICHIGAN:Â
- The Chippewas enter Saturday's doubleheader with a 10-13 overall record after suffering a 3-0 loss to Michigan State on Tuesday ... It was CMU's first game since an 8-5 victory over St. Thomas to end play in the University of Minnesota Tournament on March 12.
- Abbey Tolmie leads the Central Michigan offense with a .438 batting average, while Kelsey Alexander is batting .343 with team highs of 14 RBI and six home runs ... As a team, the Chippewas are batting just .286.
- Madelyn Wallace leads the CMU pitching staff with a 3.00 ERA over 33.0 innings of work ... Grace Lehto has thrown a team-high 56.2 innings and owns a 4.45 ERAÂ ... Lehto also leads the team with 71 strikeouts, while holding opposing batters to a .221 average.
- Last season, the Chippewas took both ends of a March 25 doubleheader in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, earning a pair of walk-off wins by scores of 4-3 and 9-8 (9) ... Ball State won all four games in the 2021 series, also played at Margo Jonker Stadium ... CMU last visited Ball State in 2018, winning the first of a three-game series by a score of 2-1 on April 20 ... The Cardinals responded by sweeping an April 21 twinbill by identical scores of 2-1.
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 currently leads the team with three home runs this season, with the other two coming in last Friday's win over Kent State ... The first was a three-run shot in the fifth inning which drove in what proved to be the game-winning run, while the second was a solo shot to lead off BSU's four-run seventh inning.
» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn has only picked up speed after her season-opening performance, as she currently leads the squad and is 33rd nationally with a .443 batting average ... She has reached base safely in 22 of Ball State's 23 games, including a career-best 12 game hitting streak ... Wynn also leads the squad with 23 runs scored, with her 1.00 runs-per-game average ranking 36th nationally.
» DRIVING THEM HOME: Amaia Daniel enters the weekend tied for the team lead with 18 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 sixth inning to make the score 12-4 ... She is currently tied for 13th in program history with 107 career RBI and needs seven more to reach 12th.
» MORE ON DANIEL: Amaia Daniel, who has reached base safely in 20 of Ball State's 23 games this season, enters Saturday's doubleheader ranked eighth in program history with a .422 career on base percentage ... She is also tied for 11th in career runs scored (110), tied for 12th in career doubles (37), and 16th in career home runs (16) ... On defense, she has helped turn 42 career double plays, which is the second-most in program history.
» SPEAKING OF DOUBLE PLAYS: Ball State's defense has registered 10 double plays over its first 23 games of the season and currently ranks second in the MAC and 28th nationally with a 0.43 double plays-per-game average ... First baseman Samantha-Jo Mata has had a hand in eight double plays, while Amaia Daniel at shortstop has factored in seven.
» ON THE BASE PATHS: Ball State picked up right where it left off last season, stealing a total of 30 bases over the first 23 games of the season ... The Cardinals currently rank second in the MAC and 90th nationally with a 1.30 steals-per-game average ... Junior Remington Ross leads the way, going a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts ... With the mark, Ross remains first in program history with a .968 (30-for-31) stolen base percentage ... In addition, her 30 career stolen bases are tied for 18th 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 16 of the 21 games she has played for the Cardinals this season ... In fact, she ranks third on the team with a .364 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 18 RBI ... She has also smashed a pair of two-run home runs ... Timmons, who blasted four home runs in her debut season in 2022, enters the weekend tied for 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 Saturday's doubleheader versus Central Michigan.
» TRIPLE THREAT: Ball State enters the week ranked 55th nationally with a 0.26 triples-per-game average ... McKenna Mulholland leads the way with three triples, followed by Haley Wynn with two and McKayla Timmons with one.
» FIRST MAC WIN: After a solid relief effort in last Friday's win over Kent State, freshman Bridie Murphy was named the MAC Pitcher of the Week ... Murphy picked up her first career MAC pitching victory by throwing 6.0 innings of solid relief work against the Golden Flashes ... She limited KSU to four hits and four unearned runs, while striking out four of the 24 batters she faced ... She also held Kent State to a .190 batting average during her time in the circle ... Murphy currently owns a 3-0 record on the year and is second on the squad with a 4.47 ERA over 31.1 innings of work ... She has also struck out 25 batters.
