Ball State University Athletics
Softball Starts First Leg of Spring Break Trip Friday at EKU Colonel Classic
February 29, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (6-9) at EKU Colonel Classic / at East Tennessee State | |
| Games 16 vs. Canisius (2-5) | Friday, March 1 at 10 a.m. Live Stats |
| Games 17 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (4-10) | Friday, March 1 at 3 p.m. Live Stats |
| Games 18 vs. Canisius | Saturday, March 2 at 12:30 p.m. Live Stats |
| Games 19 at Eastern Kentucky (5:30 p.m.) | Saturday, March 2 at 5:30 p.m. Live Stats |
| Game 20 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne | Sunday, March 3 at 1:30Â p.m. Live Stats |
| Games 21 & 22 at East Tennessee State | Tuesday, March 5 at 3Â p.m. (DH) Live Stats |
| Tickets Info | EKU Colonel Classic Ticket Information  |  Free at ETSU |
| Notes | Ball State |  Canisius  |  Purdue Fort Wayne  |  Eastern Kentucky  |  East Tennessee State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens its annual spring break trip this weekend at the EKU Colonel Classic ... During the three-day event, BSU will play Canisius (10 a.m.) and Purdue Fort Wayne (3 p.m.) Friday, Canisius (12:30 p.m.) and Eastern Kentucky (5:30 p.m.) Saturday and Purdue Fort Wayne (1:30 p.m.) Sunday.
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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 EKU Colonel Classic with a 1154-1151-4 (.501) 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 currently own a 6-9 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .237 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons who ranks fifth in the MAC and 142nd nationally at .435 ... Timmons ranks first in the MAC in both home runs (8) and RBIs (18), with the totals ranking third and 18th nationally, respectively ... Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn is second on the team with a .316 average, while redshirt sophomore designated player Jessica Hoffman is second on the squad with 13 RBI ... Both also have three home runs ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.33 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts a 3-3 record and a 3.88 ERA over 43.1 innings of work ... Senior Alyssa Stramaglia leads the staff with a .255 batting average against over 11.0 innings, while sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best 20 strikeouts over her 28.0 innings, to go along with a 2-3 record and one save.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE EKU COLONEL CLASSIC FIELD:
- Ball State enters the EKU Colonel Classic with a 14-8 all-time record versus the teams it will face in the event ... The Cardinals hold a 3-0 lead in the all-time series versus Canisius and a 11-6 edge versus in-state rival Purdue Fort Wayne, while trailing Eastern Kentucky 2-0.
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» SCOUTING BALL STATE'S OPPONENTS IN THE EKU COLONEL CLASSIC:
-Â CANISIUS:Â Golden Griffins enter the weekend with a 2-5 record after splitting a Feb. 20 doubleheader at George Washington ... GW won the opener, 3-2, while Canisius won the nightcap, 4-2 ... Christie McGee-Ross leads the squad with a .409 average and has scored a team-high five runs ... Kate Wiggins leads the squad with a 2.19 ERA over 16.0 innings of work, while Megan Giese has team-best 22 strikeouts over 22.0 innings, with a 1-3 record and 2.55 ERA.
-Â PURDUE FORT WAYNE:Â The Mastodons enter the weekend with a 4-10 overall record after going 2-3 at last weekend's GATA Challenge hosted by Georgia Southern ... Bailey Manos leads the squad with a .383 average and is tied for second on the team with five runs scored ... Grace Hollopeter has a team-high 10 RBI, while McKenna Minton has scored a team-best eight runs ... Alanah Jones has a 2-4 record in the circle, to go along with a team-best 25 strikeouts, a 6.39 ERA and a .279 average against over 31.0 innings of work ... Bracie Brinkerhoff has pitched a team-high 37.1 innings and owns a 1-5 record and 5.30 ERA.Â
-Â EASTERN KENTUCKY:Â The Colonels enter its home tournament with a 10-4 record despite going 1-4 at last weekend's Utah Tech Tournament ... Kennedy Drafton leads the squad with a .469 average and 11 RBI ... She is also tied for the team lead with Jaelin Haynes at 13 runs scored ... In all, seven players on the squad boast a .292 average or higher ... In the circle, Maddie Rutan is the squad's ace with a 1.71 ERA and a 5-1 record, along with a save, over 41.0 innings of work ... She has struck out a team-high 35 batters and is holding opponent offenses to a .191 average.Â
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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, ranking second on the team with 18 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 199 which is tied for 10th in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 12 of first 15 games of the season, including three of home runs to up her career long ball total to 22 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 tying for 14th on Ball State's career charts with a .333 career average ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.536) and 16th in on base percentage (.410) ... In addition, her 146 career runs scored are fifth in program history and 28th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 28th among active DI players with 39 career doubles which is tied for 10th in program history.
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» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .435 batting average, a 1.022 slugging percentage and a .525 on base percentage through the first three weeks of the season, McKayla Timmons continued her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks fourth in program history in both slugging percentage (.686) and on base percentage (.456), while her .357 career batting average is fifth on BSU's all-time list ... Timmons, who has blasted a league-leading eight home runs so far this season, including her first collegiate grand slam at Georgia State (Feb. 24), is also one of the program's top home run hitters with her 24 career long balls tying for 10th in BSU's all-time list.
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» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters the EKU Colonel Classic as the greatest base thief in program history with a .961 (49-for-51) 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 is tied for eighth in program history with 49 career stolen bases, had been successful in her previous 36 stolen base attempts before being caught stealing for just the second time in her Ball State career at Georgia State (Feb. 24).
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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 11 career hits and is third on the team with a .289 average this season ... Of her 11 hits, seven have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 13 RBIs.
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» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.88 ERA over 43.1 innings of work this season ... She has earned the victory in three of BSU's six 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) and earned her first complete game shutout with the Cardinals in the 9-0 victory at Kennesaw State (Feb. 23) ... King has 12 career collegiate pitching victories, with six coming at Ball State and six coming in her two seasons at Tennessee State (2021-22).
