Ball State University
Miami
Softball Squares Off With MAC-Leading Miami Starting Tuesday
April 24, 2023 | Softball
| Ball State (24-21; 14-9Â MAC) hosts Miami (27-16; 14-6 MAC) | |
| Game 46 hosts Miami | Tuesday, April 25 at 3 p.m. Live Stats |  Watch |
| Game 47 hosts Miami | Wednesday, April 26 at 1 p.m. Live Stats |  Watch (ESPN+) |
| Game 48 hosts Miami | Wednesday, April 26 at 3 p.m. Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+) |
| Tickets Info | FREE ADMISSION |
| Notes | Ball State |  Miami |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: Ball State opens the final week of its regular season Tuesday at 3 p.m. when it welcomes Miami for the first of three games in a pivotal midweek series ... The Cardinals and RedHawks will also play a Wednesday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. which will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... From there, Ball State travels to Akron for another key league series with a Saturday doubleheader (1 p.m.) and a Sunday single game (Noon).
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» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters Tuesday's contest versus Miami with a 24-21 (14-9 MAC) record and on a season-best seven game winning streak after sweeping Bowling Green over the weekend ... The Cardinals won both ends of an April 22 doubleheader by scores of 8-0 (5) and 8-4, before topping the Falcons 8-1 Sunday ... Senior Amaia Daniel leads the Ball State offense and ranks 35th nationally with her .419 batting average and is currently on an 11-game hitting streak ... In the circle, sophomore Angelina Russo leads the Ball State pitching staff with her 2.77 ERA and .217 batting average against over 106.0 innings of work.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the week with a 1145-1137-4 (.502) 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.
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» ABOUT MIAMI:
- The RedHawks enter the series with a 27-16 overall record and are tied atop the league standings with a 14-6 MAC ledger ... Miami, which is 9-8 in road games this season, swept Akron last weekend by scores of 3-0 and 9-3 on Saturday and 11-0 (5) Sunday.
- Miami boasts the league's best offense with a .310 average ... Karli Spaid leads the squad with a .358 mark, along with team highs of 41 runs scored, 49 hits, 16 home runs, and 43 RBI ... Holly Blaska is not far behind with a .342 average, while seven regulars are batting at least .302.
- Brianna Pratt is Miami's top arm in the circle, owning a 20-10 record and a 3.26 ERA over 178.0 innings of work ... Pratt has struck out a league-high 155 batters this season, including 95 in MAC play.
- While Ball State holds a 58-52 edge in the all-time series, Miami has won six straight, including all three meetings in Oxford last season ... The Cardinals hold a 30-24 lead in games played in Muncie, despite dropping both ends of an April 27, 2021, doubleheader by scores of 16-1 (5) and 11-5 ... Ball State's last win in the series was a 4-2 victory April 20, 2021, in Oxford.
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BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:
» WHERE WE STAND: Ball State enters the week ranked fourth in the MAC standings with its .609 (14-9) league winning percentage ... The top four teams earn a berth in the 2023 MAC Tournament which will be hosted by the No. 1 overall seed ... Miami, Ohio, and Central Michigan are currently tied for the top spot at .700 (14-6), while Akron at .565 (13-10) and Northern Illinois at .526 (10-9) are right behind Ball State.
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» CHASING 200: Senior shortstop Amaia Daniel enters the Miami series with 197 career hits and is three shy of becoming just the ninth player in program history to reach 200 career hits ... Over 206 career games, Daniel has tallied 137 singles, 39 doubles, three triples, and 18 home runs ... She is also looking to become the eighth-fastest player in program history to reach 200 career hits, with the fastest being Jennifer Gilbert (2011-14) who did it in 153 games.
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» MORE ON DANIEL: Amaia Daniel, who has reached base safely in 38 of the 42 games she has played this season, enters the week on an 11-game hitting streak which ties her career long ... That has helped her climb to 15th in program history with a .333 career batting average ... Just the 16th Cardinal to record 100 career RBI, currently ranking 12th on BSU's career charts at 117, Daniel is eighth all-time with a .430 on base percentage ... She is also tied for ninth in career doubles (39), 11th in runs scored (122), and 16th in home runs (18) ... On defense, she has helped turn 46 career double plays, which is the second-most in program history.
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» SPEAKING OF DOUBLE PLAYS: Ball State's defense has registered 20 double plays over its first 45 games of the season and currently ranks second in the MAC and 26th nationally with a 0.44 double plays-per-game average ... Junior infielder Samantha-Jo Mata has had a hand in 13 double plays, while Amaia Daniel at shortstop has factored in 11.
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» 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 second on the team 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).
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» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn enters the Miami series as one of the most prolific batters in program history ranking 11th on Ball State's career charts with a .338 career average, including her .394 mark this season ... She is also 13th all-time in both slugging percentage (.532) and on base percentage (.414) ... In addition, her 128 career runs scored are ninth in program history, while her 0.91 runs per game average this season is second in the MAC and 58th nationally.
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» ON THE BASE PATHS: Ball State has done a tremendous job on the base paths this season, stealing 70 bases which ties as the 13th-best single season mark in program history ... In fact, the Cardinals currently rank second in the MAC and 50th nationally with a 1.58 steals-per-game average ... Junior outfielder Remington Ross leads the way, going a perfect 21-for-21 in stolen base attempts ... With the mark, Ross remains first in program history with a .977 (43-for-44) stolen base percentage ... In addition, her 43 career stolen bases are tied for 10th in program history.
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» 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.
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» ANOTHER NO-NO: Ball State registered the 19th recorded no-hitter in the April 16 win over Buffalo as sophomore Angelina Russo and freshman Bridie Murphy combined to hold the Bulls hitless in the 11-3 (6) victory ... Russo threw the first 4.0 innings, allowing no hits and striking out five batters ... Murphy followed by retiring six of the seven batters she faced, including a pair of strikeouts ... Murphy's lone base runner came on a two-run error ... The effort marked just the fourth combined no-hitter in program history … The last combined no-hitter was thrown May 5, 2019, when Aeshia Miles (3.0) and Darcie Huber (2.0) combined for a 10-0 (5) win versus Oakland.
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» THE MURPHY FACTOR: Bridie Murphy has been nearly flawless in her last four pitching appearances, owning a 0.00 ERA and a .059 average against over 10.1 innings of work ... She has stuck out 12 batters over the span, while allowing just two hits and two walks ... In addition, she has tallied one win and one save over the four outings.
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» DOUBLING UP: The Cardinals rank second in the MAC and 23rd nationally with a 1.53 doubles-per-game average ... Senior catcher/infielder Jazmyne Armendariz is tied for second in the MAC with 12 doubles, while redshirt sophomore utility player McKenna Mulholland is tied for fourth with 11 ... BSU has 69 doubles on the year, which ties as the 11th-most in a season in program history, with at least one double in 35 games, including a season-high six versus Sacred Heart (March 10).
