Ball State University Athletics
Softball Set To Welcome Ohio in MAC & Home Openers Saturday
March 14, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (13-13; 0-0 MAC) hosts Ohio (12-12; 0-0 MAC) | |
| Games 27 & 28 vs. Ohio | Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. (DH) Live Stats | Live Video - One-Camera Feed |
| Game 29 vs. Ohio | Sunday, March 17 at Noon Live Stats | Live Video - One-Camera Feed |
| Tickets Info | Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State | Ohio |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens both the home and Mid-American Conference portion of its 2024 schedule this weekend when it hosts Ohio for a three-game series ... The Cardinals and Bobcats will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a Noon single game Sunday at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
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» HOME SWEET HOME: After playing its first 26 games of the season on the road, Ball State opens what is scheduled to be a seven-game homestand on Saturday ... It would be BSU's longest homestand since the COVID adjusted 2021 season which saw Ball State play 12 straight at home from April 23 to May 4 ... Looking at the road numbers, the program record for consecutive road games to start a season is 33 games set in 2018.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters Saturday's doubleheader versus Ohio with a 1161-1155-4 (.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 own a 13-13 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .249 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons who ranks 12th in the MAC at .364 ... Timmons ranks second in the MAC and third nationally with 13 home runs, while ranking second in the league and 11th nationally with 33 RBIs ... Redshirt sophomore designated player Jessica Hoffman is second on the squad in average (.333), RBI (21) and home runs (5) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.01 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts a 7-5 record and a 3.22 ERA over 80.1 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this season and is third on the squad with 37 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best .279 average against over 57.0 innings, to go along with a 5-5 record, one save and 34 strikeouts.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE BOBCATS:
- Ball State owns a 51-43-1 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio, including a 31-18 mark in games played in Muncie ... However, the Bobcats have won five of the past six meetings, including all three games last season in Athens.
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» SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: Ohio enters the weekend with a 12-12 overall record after suffering a 9-2 setback at Marshall on Tuesday ... Prior to that, the Bobcats went 1-3 last weekend at the Beach Chicken Brawl hosted by Coastal Carolina ... Tori O'Brien currently leads the team with a .365 average, while Yasmine Logan has team-highs of 17 runs scores, 15 RBI and four home runs ... Skipp Miller leads Ohio in the circle, owning a 2.75 ERA and a 6-7 record over 79.0 innings ... Miller also has two saves and two complete game shutouts to her name, along with 44 strikeouts and a .222 average against.
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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 advantage of her extra year of eligibility, tying for first on the team with 28 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 209 which is seventh in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 19 of first 26 games of the season, including five home runs to up her career long ball total to 24 which is tied for 11th in program history.
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» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn is one of the most prolific batters in program history ranking 16th on Ball State's career charts with a .331 career average ... She is also 12th all-time in slugging percentage (.538) and 16th in on base percentage (.409) ... In addition, her 154 career runs scored are fourth in program history and 29th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 29th among active DI players with 41 career doubles which is eighth in program history.
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» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .364 batting average, a .922 slugging percentage and a .470 on base percentage through the first 26 games of the season, McKayla Timmons continued her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks fourth in program history in slugging percentage (.695), fifth in on base percentage (.449) and eighth in batting average (.347) ... Timmons, who has blasted a team-leading 13 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 29 career long balls ranking sixth in BSU's all-time list.
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» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the weekend ranked ninth nationally with her 33 RBI this season ... The effort included seven RBIs in the 9-5 (9) win over Georgia State (Feb. 24) and six in the 13-9 victory at Marshall (March 7) ... The program record for RBIs in a single game is eight by Stacy Payton versus Oakland on May 4, 2019.
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» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters MAC play as the greatest base thief in program history with a .963 (52-for-54) 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 seventh in program history with 52 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) ... She has since stolen three straight bases.
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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 23 career hits and is second on the team with a .333 average this season ... Of her 23 hits, 11 have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 21 RBIs.
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» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.22 ERA over 80.1 innings of work this season ... She has earned the victory in seven of BSU's 13 wins, including all three of the team's complete game shutouts ... King has 16 career collegiate pitching victories, with 10 coming at Ball State and six coming in her two seasons at Tennessee State (2021-22).
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» TRIPLING UP: The Ball State defense owns one of the nation's three triple plays this season, turning what was a squeeze bunt attempt into a triple killing in the fifth inning of the 5-4 win over Jacksonville State on Feb. 17 ... The bunt was fielded by Haley Wynn at third base, who threw to McKayla Timmons to get the out at first ... The play then went to catcher Jazmyne Armendariz to get the runner out trying to advance home, who in turn threw to shortstop Maia Pietrzak to get the final out ... It was just the second recorded triple play in program history, with the first coming in 1985.
