Ball State University
Georgia Tech (Game 1)
Softball Heads to State of Georgia for I-75 Tournament
February 22, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (3-7) at I-75 Tournament | |
| Games 11 & 12 at Kennesaw State (2-8) | Friday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. / 5:30 p.m. GM 1: Live Stats / ESPN+  |  GM 2: Live Stats / ESPN+ |
| Game 13 at Georgia State (2-10) | Saturday, Feb. 24 at Noon Live Stats |
| Games 14 & 15 at Georgia Tech (4-7) | Sunday, Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. / 11:30 a.m. GM 1: Live Stats / ACCNX |  GM 2: Live Stats / ACCNX |
| Tickets Info | Free at Kennesaw State & Georgia State | $3 or $5 at Georgia Tech |
| Notes | Ball State |  Kennesaw State  |  Georgia State  |  Georgia Tech |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: It is another weekend on the road for the Ball State softball team which travels to the state of Georgia for the I-75 Tournament ... The Cardinals open the event Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Kennesaw State ... BSU will follow with a noon game Saturday at Georgia State and an 11 a.m. twinbill Sunday at Georgia Tech.
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» ROAD WARRIORS: Like all northern teams, Ball State will be road warriors for the first part of the season as the team is slated to play its first 27 games away from Muncie ... The program record for consecutive road games to start a season is 33 games set in 2018 ... BSU opened both the 2016 and 2019 campaigns with 32 straight road games.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the I-75 Tournament with a 1151-1149-4 (.500) overall record dating back to 1975 ... The Cardinals have tallied 30-or-more wins in 16 seasons, most recently a 37-18 mark in 2021 ... Of the 16 seasons with 30-or-more wins, 11 have come in the past 16 years.
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» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Led by first-year head coach Helen Peña, the Cardinals enter the weekend with a 3-7 overall record ... Ball State enters the week with a .226 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons at .379 ... Timmons also leads the squad with three home runs and nine runs scored ... Redshirt sophomore Jessica Hoffman is right behind with a .333 average and leads the squad with nine RBI ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 5.36 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts a 2-2 record and a 4.38 ERA over 30.1 innings of work ... Senior Alyssa Stramaglia leads the staff with a .260 batting average against over 11.0 innings, while sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best 14 strikeouts over her 15.2 innings, to go along with a 1-2 record and a save.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE I-75 TOURNAMENT FIELD:
- Ball State enters the I-75 Tournament with a 3-8 all-time record versus the teams it will face in the event ... The Cardinals hold a 2-1 lead in the all-time series versus Kennesaw State, while trailing Georgia State 5-1 and Georgia Tech 2-0.
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» SCOUTING BALL STATE'S OPPONENTS IN THE I-75 TOURNAMENT:
-Â KENNESAW STATE:Â The Owls enter Friday's doubleheader versus the Cardinals with a 2-8 overall record after going 0-5 at least weekend's Kennesaw State Tournament ... Kassidy Amerson-Fox lead the squad with 11 hits, including a double, a triple and a pair of home runs, while boasting a .379 average and seven RBI ... Kenley Hilleary has earned both wins in the circle, going 2-2 with a 5.51 ERA over 20.1 innings of work ... She also has a team-high 20 strikeouts.
-Â GEORGIA STATE:Â The Panthers enter the weekend with a 2-10 overall record after suffering a 9-6 setback to Georgia Tech on Wednesday ... Jaycee Goodwin leads the squad with a .370 batting average with 10 hits, including a pair of doubles ... Chloe Middlebrooks has a team-high eight runs scored and is tied for team-high honors with four RBI ... Despite an 0-5 record, Sydney Boulware has a team-low 5.01 ERA and has struck out 32 batters over 36.1 innings of work.
-Â GEORGIA TECH:Â The Yellow Jackets enter the weekend with a 4-7 overall record after earning a 9-6 win over Georgia State on Wednesday ... Despite the slow start, GT features one of the nation's top offenses, ranking in the top 40 nationally with a .336 team batting average ... Eight players are currently batting above .300, led by Gracyn Tucker at .533 ... In the circle, Georgia Tech's pitchers have a combined 7.07 ERA with Kinsey Norton owning a team-low 4.00 mark with a 1-1 record over six appearances and 14.0 innings of work.
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BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:
» MAC PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: Ball State was picked to finish fourth among 11 teams in the Mid-American Conference's annual preseason poll ... The Cardinals, who finished fourth in the league last season with a 17-12 MAC record, are looking for a second consecutive  MAC Softball Championship berth, with the league's top six teams advancing to Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, for the three-day event which runs May 8-11.
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» THE WYNN FACTOR: Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn has taken early advantage of her extra year of eligibility, tying for the team lead with 11 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 192 which is tied for 10th in program history ... Wynn registered at least one hit in each of Ball State's first seven games of the season, including a pair of home runs to up her career long ball total to 21 which is tied for 12th in program history.
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» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn is one of the most prolific batters in program history ranking 15th on Ball State's career charts with a .332 career average ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.530) and 16th in on base percentage (.408) ... In addition, her 140 career runs scored are sixth in program history and 28th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 24th among active DI players with 38 career doubles which is tied for 12th in program history.
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» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .379 batting average, a .759 slugging percentage and a .513 on base percentage through the first two weeks of the season, McKayla Timmons continued her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks fifth in program history in both slugging percentage (.635) and on base percentage (.450), while her .346 career batting average is ninth on BSU's all-time list ... Timmons, who blasted a pair of home runs opening weekend, and added one more last weekend, is also one of the program's top home run hitters with her 19 career long balls tying for 15th in BSU's all-time list.
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» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters the I-75 Tournament as the greatest base thief in program history with a .979 (48-for-49) career stole base percentage at Ball State ... Last season, she went a perfect 23-for-23 in stolen base attempts and ranked second in the MAC and 54th nationally with a 0.47 steals-per-game average ... Ross, who ranks 10th in program history with 48 career stolen bases, has been successful in her last 35 stolen base attempts including her first three this season.
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» A SLAMMING FIRST HIT: Redshirt sophomore Jessica Hoffman had just two career at bats when she stepped up to the plate with bases loaded in the 10-8 win over Fordham (Feb. 11) ... She proceeded to blast her first career hit over the fence in right center field for her first career home run and Ball State's first grand slam since April 6, 2022 ... A regular in the lineup since, Hoffman has seven career hits and is second on the team with a .333 average this season ... Of her seven hits, five have driven in at least one RBI.
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» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 4.38 ERA over 30.1 innings of work this season ... She has earned the victory in two of BSU's three wins, starting with throwing the final 6.2 innings in the 10-8 win over Fordham (Feb. 11) ... She also picked up the victory in BSU's 6-5 win over Jacksonville State (Feb. 16), throwing the opening 5.2 innings ... King has 11 career collegiate pitching victories, with five coming at Ball State and six coming in her two seasons at Tennessee State (2021-22).
