Softball Visits WMU For Three Games Starting Tuesday

Ball State (17-19; 7-7 MAC) at Western Michigan (11-16; 5-3 MAC)
Game 37 at Western Michigan	Tuesday, April 11 at 3 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch
Game 38 at Western Michigan	Wednesday, April 12 at 1 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch
Game 39 at Western Michigan	Wednesday, April 12 at 3 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch
Tickets Info	FREE ADMISSION
Notes	Ball State \| Western Michigan
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens another busy week Tuesday at 3 p.m. with the first of three games at Western Michigan ... The Cardinals and Broncos will also play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday at Ebert Field in Kalamazoo, Michigan ... Ball State returns home over the weekend to host a three-game series versus Buffalo with the teams playing a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a Noon game Sunday at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.

» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week with a 17-19 (7-7 MAC) record after going 1-3 last week ... The Cardinals suffered a Tuesday loss at Notre Dame and dropped the first two games in a weekend series versus Toledo before closing the week with a 6-1 win over the Rockets in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader ... Senior Amaia Daniel leads the Ball State offense and ranks 77th nationally with her .397 batting average and is one of two Cardinals currently on a five-game hitting streak ... In the circle, sophomore Angelina Russo leads the Ball State pitching staff with her 2.85 ERA and .232 batting average against over 86.0 innings of work.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the week with a 1138-1135-4 (.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 WESTERN MICHIGAN:
- The Broncos enter the week with an 11-16 overall record, including a 5-3 MAC mark, after dropping two of three to Akron last weekend ... WMU opened the series with a 3-2 victory Friday before dropping both ends of a Saturday doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 4-2.
- Addison Hudson leads the Broncos offense with a .392 batting average, while Courtney Farrish has a .315 average with team-highs of 13 RBI, 10 doubles, and three home runs.
- Rissa Bajusz has thrown a team-high 87.0 innings in the circle and owns a 2.82 ERA, a 7-6 record, and a .221 average against ... She has also struck out 88 batters on the season.
- While Western Michigan holds a 66-65 edge in the all-time series, Ball State has won three straight and eight of the last 10 meetings ... WMU has a 27-24 edge in games played in Kalamazoo, including a 4-3 (8) victory in the last meeting at Ebert Field on May 9, 2021 ... Ball State had won four straight road games versus the Broncos prior to the loss.

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) ... Since then, she has added six more home runs and is tied for the team lead with seven on the year ... Of those six additional home runs, four came in back-to-back two home run games starting with a three-run blast and solo homer in the 15-9 victory over Kent State (March 17) and followed by a pair of solo shots in the 8-4 victory over Central Michigan (March 25).

» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn enters the WMU series as one of the most prolific batters in program history ranking 16th on Ball State's career charts with a .331 career average, including her .380 mark this season ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.529) and 16th in on base percentage (.408) ... In addition, her 118 career runs score are 10th in program history, while her 0.86 runs per game average this season is second in the MAC and 86th nationally.

» DRIVING THEM HOME: Senior shortstop Amaia Daniel enters the week with 23 RBI so far this season ... 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 13th in program history with 112 career RBI and needs two more to reach 12th.

» MORE ON DANIEL: Amaia Daniel, who has reached base safely in 32 of Ball State's 36 games this season, enters the week ranked ninth in program history with a .424 career on base percentage ... She is also 11th in career runs scored (116), tied for 11th in career doubles (38), and 16th in career home runs (17) ... On defense, she has helped turn 45 career double plays, which is the second-most in program history.

» SPEAKING OF DOUBLE PLAYS: Ball State's defense has registered 15 double plays over its first 36 games of the season and currently ranks second in the MAC and 35th nationally with a 0.42 double plays-per-game average ... Junior infielder Samantha-Jo Mata has had a hand in 12 double plays, while Amaia Daniel at shortstop has factored in 10.

» ON THE BASE PATHS: Ball State picked up right where it left off last season, stealing a total of 43 bases over the first 36 games of the season ... The Cardinals currently rank third in the MAC and 99th nationally with a 1.22 steals-per-game average ... Junior outfielder Remington Ross leads the way, going a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts ... With the mark, Ross remains first in program history with a .971 (34-for-35) stolen base percentage ... In addition, her 34 career stolen bases are tied for 15th in program history.

» NEAR PERFECTION: Sophomore pitcher Angelina Russo, who threw the first perfect game in program history versus Western Michigan last season, added to her lore in the 10-1 (5) victory over Lindenwood (Feb. 19), collecting just the 18th recorded no-hitter for the Cardinals 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 in the contest ... Russo enters the week with a team-low 2.85 ERA, including a 1.97 ERA in league play ... She has allowed just four earned runs in her last 26.0 innings of work.

» MCKAYLA GOING STRONG: Redshirt sophomore catcher/infielder McKayla Timmons has reached base safely in 26 of the 34 games she has played for the Cardinals this season ... In fact, she ranks third on the team with a .326 batting average and leads the squad with 30 RBI ... She has also smashed seven home runs this season, including a walk-off blast to cap the CMU series ... Timmons, who smashed four home runs in her debut season in 2022, enters the week ranked third among active Ball State players with 11 career home runs.

» WELCOME TO THE #BALLSTATESB BOMB SQUAD: Redshirt freshman utility player 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 infielder 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 the Ohio series.

» TRIPLE THREAT: Ball State enters the week ranked 58th nationally with a 0.25 triples-per-game average ... McKenna Mulholland and Haley Wynn lead the team with three triples apiece, while McKayla Timmons, Kaitlyn Mathews, and Remington Ross each have one ... Overall, the Cardinals rank fourth in the MAC with nine triples, trailing only Northern Illinois (15), Ohio (12), and Miami (10).

» DOUBLING UP: The Cardinals are even better when it comes to doubles, ranking second in the MAC and 41st nationally with a 1.44 doubles-per-game average ... Senior catcher/infielder Jazmyne Armendariz is tied for third in the MAC with nine doubles, while Amaia Daniel and Haley Wynn are tied for 13th with seven apiece ... BSU has 52 doubles on the year, with at least one double in 27 games, including a season-high six versus Sacred Heart (March 10).

Softball Visits WMU For Three Games Starting Tuesday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jazmyne Armendariz

Amaia Daniel

Kaitlyn Gibson

Samantha-Jo Mata

Kaitlyn Mathews

McKenna Mulholland

Remington Ross

Angelina Russo

McKayla Timmons

Haley Wynn