Softball Hosts Buffalo Starting Saturday

Ball State (18-21; 8-9 MAC) hosts Buffalo (10-25; 4-7 MAC)
Game 40 hosts Buffalo	Saturday, April 15 at 1 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch
Game 41 hosts Buffalo	Saturday, April 15 at 3 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch
Game 42 hosts Buffalo	Sunday, April 16 at Noon Live Stats \| Watch
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Notes	Ball State \| Buffalo
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex for a three-game series versus Buffalo this weekend ... The Cardinals and Bulls will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at Noon.

» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the weekend with an 18-21 (8-9 MAC) record after going 1-2 in a midweek series at Western Michigan ... The Cardinals suffered a 10-2 (6) setback on Tuesday, before splitting a Wednesday doubleheader ... WMU won the first game 4-1, while BSU took the nightcap 11-2 ... Senior Amaia Daniel leads the Ball State offense and ranks 51st nationally with her .408 batting average and is currently on an eight-game hitting streak ... In the circle, sophomore Angelina Russo leads the Ball State pitching staff with her 3.01 ERA and .234 batting average against over 92.2 innings of work.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend with a 1139-1137-4 (.500) 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 BUFFALO:
- The Bulls enter the weekend with a 10-25 overall record, including a 4-7 mark in MAC play ... Buffalo was swept by Akron in its most recent midweek series, dropping Tuesday's game by a 4-1 score, before losing both ends of Wednesday's doubleheader by scores of 9-4 and 5-1.
- Abbey Nagel leads the Bulls with a .273 batting average, 14 runs scored and 10 doubles ... Alexis Lucyshyn has a team-high four home runs and is batting .267, while Sara Kelly has a team-best 14 RBI on a .189 average.
- Lucyshyn is also Buffalo's top pitcher, owning a 2.77 ERA over 108.2 innings of work ... She has compiled a 6-11 record, struck out 121 batters, and his holding opposing batters to a .228 average.
- Ball State holds a 26-8 advantage in the all-time series versus Buffalo including a 4-0 victory in the latest meeting April 24, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. ... Unfortunately, the Bulls won the first two games of the series one day earlier by scores of 11-8 and 9-4 ... Saturday's doubleheader will mark the first games played in Muncie since 2016 ... The Cardinals hold a 10-3 edge in games played in Muncie, including a 5-3 win in the last meeting on BSU's home field on April 9, 2016.

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 seven more home runs and is tied for the team lead with eight on the year ... Of those seven 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 Buffalo 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 .376 mark this season ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.531) and 16th in on base percentage (.410) ... In addition, her 121 career runs score are 10th in program history, while her 0.87 runs per game average this season is second in the MAC and 85th nationally.

» DRIVING THEM HOME: Senior shortstop Amaia Daniel enters the week with 25 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 tied for 12th in program history with 114 career RBI and needs 15 more to reach 11th.

» MORE ON DANIEL: Amaia Daniel, who has reached base safely in 35 of Ball State's 39 games this season, enters the weekend ranked eighth in program history with a .429 career on base percentage ... She is also 11th in career runs scored (120), tied for 11th in career doubles (38), and 16th in career home runs (18) ... 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 18 double plays over its first 39 games of the season and currently ranks second in the MAC and 22nd nationally with a 0.46 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 50 bases over the first 39 games of the season ... The Cardinals currently rank fourth in the MAC and 83rd nationally with a 1.31 steals-per-game average ... Junior outfielder Remington Ross leads the way, going a perfect 15-for-15 in stolen base attempts ... With the mark, Ross remains first in program history with a .974 (37-for-38) stolen base percentage ... In addition, her 37 career stolen bases are tied for 14th 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 weekend with a team-low 3.01 ERA, including a 2.40 ERA in league play ... She has allowed just eight earned runs in her last 30.2 innings of work.

» MCKAYLA GOING STRONG: Redshirt sophomore catcher/infielder McKayla Timmons has reached base safely in 29 of the 37 games she has played for the Cardinals this season ... In fact, she ranks third on the team with a .330 batting average and leads the squad with 33 RBI ... She has also smashed eight 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 weekend ranked third among active Ball State players with 12 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.

» DOUBLING UP: The Cardinals rank second in the MAC and 27th nationally with a 1.51 doubles-per-game average ... Senior catcher/infielder Jazmyne Armendariz is tied for first in the MAC with 11 doubles, while McKenna Mulholland is tied for 12th with eight ... BSU has 59 doubles on the year, with at least one double in 30 games, including a season-high six versus Sacred Heart (March 10).

» THE MURPHY FACTOR: Freshman pitcher Bridie Murphy has had a solid start to her MAC career, leading the Cardinals with four wins in league play ... She pitched the final six innings to earn the win versus Kent State (March 17), while also picking up relief wins in both ends of the March 26 doubleheader versus Central Michigan, throwing 1.0 in the opener and 2.0 in the nightcap ... In her last outing, Murphy pitched the first 4.2 innings to secure the win at Western Michigan (April 12) ... Overall, she has pitched 21.1 innings in MAC play, registering a 3.94 ERA and allowing a .293 average against ... She has also struck out 10 league batters.

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Players Mentioned

Jazmyne Armendariz

Amaia Daniel

Kaitlyn Gibson

Samantha-Jo Mata

McKenna Mulholland

Bridie Murphy

Remington Ross

Angelina Russo

McKayla Timmons

Haley Wynn