Ball State University
Kent State
Softball Hosts Kent State For Three-Game Series Starting Friday
March 21, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (15-14; 2-1 MAC) hosts Kent State (14-8; 0-0 MAC) | |
| Games 30 vs. Kent State | Friday, March 22 at Noon Live Stats | Live Video - One-Camera Feed |
| Game 31 & 32 vs. Kent State | Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. (DH) Live Stats | Live Video - One-Camera Feed |
| Tickets Info | Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State |  Kent State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team continues its seven-game homestand this weekend when it hosts Kent State for a three-game Mid-American Conference series ... The Cardinals and Golden Flashes will play a Noon game Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday 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 continues its seven-game homestand on Friday and Saturday versus Kent State ... It is slated to 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 Friday's game versus Kent State with a 1163-1156-4 (.502) 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 15-14 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .248 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons who ranks 14th in the MAC at .357 ... Timmons ranks third both in the MAC and nationally with 15 home runs, while ranking second in the league and eighth nationally with 37 RBIs ... Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn is second on the squad in average (.307), home runs (6) and runs scored (23) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.01 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts an 8-5 record and a 3.34 ERA over 88.0 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this season and is tied for the team lead with 41 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best .273 average against over 69.1 innings, to go along with a 6-6 record, one save and 41 strikeouts ... Murphy picked up her first complete game shutout of the season in last Saturday's 5-0 victory over Ohio.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE GOLDEN FLASHES:
- While Kent State owns a 52-39 lead in the all-time series, the Cardinals maintain a 24-19 edge in games played in Muncie ... Last season, the teams played a March 17 doubleheader at Baldwin Wallace's BW Softball Field with Kent State winning the opener 4-1 and Ball State taking the nightcap 15-9.Â
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» SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLASHES: Kent State enters the weekend with a 14-8 overall record after sweeping a three-game series at Manhattan last weekend ... KSU was the only team not to open league play last weekend ... Savannah Wing currently leads the team with a .426 average and is tied for team-high honors with 21 RBI ... Emily Lippe has a team-high six home runs and is tied with Wing at 21 RBI ... Macy Irelan leads Kent State in the circle, owning a 2.18 ERA and a 5-4 record over 74.0 innings ... Irelan also has two saves and one complete game shutout to her name, along with 62 strikeouts and a .223 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, leading the team with 31 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 212 which is seventh in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 21 of first 29 games of the season, including six home runs to up her career long ball total to 25 which is tied for ninth 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 (.540) and 16th in on base percentage (.409) ... In addition, her 155 career runs scored are third in program history and 31st among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 33rd 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 .357 batting average, a .940 slugging percentage and a .477 on base percentage through the first 29 games of the season, McKayla Timmons continued her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks fourth in program history in slugging percentage (.705), fifth in on base percentage (.452) and ninth in batting average (.346) ... Timmons, who has blasted a team-leading 15 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 31 career long balls tying for fifth on BSU's all-time list.
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» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the weekend ranked eighth nationally with her 37 RBIs 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 Paytonversus Oakland on May 4, 2019.Â
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» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters the weekend as the greatest base thief in program history with a .964 (53-for-55) 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 53 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 four straight bases.
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» SPEAKING OF STOLEN BASES: Ball State enters the Kent State series ranked second in the league and 19th nationally with 53 stolen bases this season ... Three Cardinals, McKayla Timmons, Haley Wynn and senior outfielder Kaitlyn Mathews, are tied for the team lead with nine stolen bases, while Remington Ross has eight ... Overall, 10 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season ... Ball State's 53 stolen bases in 2024 are already the 20th-most in a season in program history.
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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 24 career hits and is third on the team with a .304 average this season ... Of her 24 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 3.34 ERA over 88.0 innings of work ... She has earned the victory in eight of BSU's 15 wins, including three of the team's four complete game shutouts ... King has 17 career collegiate pitching victories, with 11 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.
