Ball State University
Marshall
Schedule Update: Softball Opens Marshall March Madness Thursday
March 06, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (10-11) at Marshall March Madness | |
| Games 22 at Marshall (11-9) | Thursday, March 7 at 5 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Games 23 vs. Indiana State (11-8) | Friday, March 8 at 11Â a.m. Live Stats |
| Games 24 at Marshall | Friday, March 8 at 4 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Games 25 vs. Notre Dame (8-8) | Saturday, March 9 at 1:30 p.m. Live Stats |
| Game 26 vs. Notre Dame | Sunday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. Live Stats |
| Tickets Info | Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State | Marshall | Indiana State | Notre Dame |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team closes its annual spring break trip this week at the Marshall March Madness invitational ... With wet weather in the forecast, the Cardinals will start the event Thursday with a 5 p.m. game versus host Marshall ... Friday's schedule remains the same, with BSU slated to play Indiana State (11 a.m.) and Marshall (4 p.m.) ... The Cardinals are now slated to play Notre Dame in single games Saturday (1:30 p.m.) and Sunday (10:30 a.m.).
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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 26 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 Marshall March Madness with a 1158-1153-4 (.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 10-11 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .243 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons who ranks ninth in the MAC at .393 ... Timmons ranks second in the MAC and nationally with 10 home runs, while ranking third in the league and 19th nationally with 24 RBIs ... Redshirt sophomore designated player Jessica Hoffman is second on the squad in average (.309), RBI (15) and home runs (4) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 3.59 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts a 5-5 record and a 3.20 ERA over 65.2 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this season and is second on the squad with 27 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best 31 strikeouts over her 45.2 innings, to go along with a 4-3 record, one save and a .267 average against.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE MARSHALL MARCH MADNESS FIELD:
- Ball State enters Marshall March Madness with a 44-45 all-time record versus the tournament field ... The Cardinals hold a 34-25 lead in the all-time series versus Indiana State, while trailing Marshall 8-5 and Notre Dame 12-5.
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» SCOUTING THE MARSHALL MARCH MADNESS FIELD:
- MARSHALL: The Thundering Herd enter Thursday's showdown versus the Cardinals with an 11-9 record after going 3-2 at last weekend's Thundering Herd Invitational ... Sydney Bickel leads the squad with a .417 average and has scored a team-high 19 runs ... In the circle, Bub Feringa leads the squad with a 2.77 ERA over 48.0 innings of work and owns a 3-2 record, while Kaleea Washington and Savannah Rice each have four wins.
- INDIANA STATE: The Sycamores enter Marshall March Madness with an 11-8 overall record after going 3-2 at last weekend's Governors Classic hosted by Austin Peay ... Kennedy Shade leads the squad with a .408 average, 20 RBI and a pair of home runs ... Danielle Henning has a team-high 15 runs scored, while Abi Chipps is right behind with 13 ... Lauren Sackett has a 5-4 record in the circle with one save and owns a 3.73 ERA over a team-high 35.2 innings of work ... Megan Asher has a team-low 1.66 ERA over 25.1 innings with a .198 average against.
- NOTRE DAME: The Fighting Irish enter Marshall March Madness with an 8-8 overall record after opening ACC play by dropping three games at No. 23/20 Virginia Tech last weekend ... Emily Tran leads the squad with a .486 average and has scored 10 runs ... Addison Amaral has driven in a team-best 18 RBI and had five home runs, while batting .300 ... Micaela Kastor has thrown a team-high 38.2 innings and owns a 4-2 record, a 4.16 ERA and one save ... Shannon Becker leads the squad with a 3.62 ERA and three saves over 19.1 innings.
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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 first on the team with 24 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 205 which is seventh in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 16 of first 21 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 ranking 16th on Ball State's career charts with a .331 career average ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.531) and 16th in on base percentage (.405) ... In addition, her 150 career runs scored are tied for third in program history and 28th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 28th among active DI players with 40 career doubles which is tied for eighth in program history.
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» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .393 batting average, a .934 slugging percentage and a .512 on base percentage through the first 21 games of the season, McKayla Timmons continued her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks fourth in program history in both slugging percentage (.685) and on base percentage (.457), while her .353 career batting average is seventh on BSU's all-time list ... Timmons, who has blasted a team-leading 10 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 26 career long balls tying for seventh in BSU's all-time list.
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» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters Marshall March Madness as the greatest base thief in program history with a .962 (51-for-53) 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 51 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 two 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 17 career hits and is second on the team with a .309 average this season ... Of her 17 hits, eight have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 15 RBIs.
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» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.20 ERA over 65.2 innings of work this season ... She has earned the victory in five of BSU's 10 wins, including all three of the team's complete game shutouts ... King has 14 career collegiate pitching victories, with eight coming at Ball State and six coming in her two seasons at Tennessee State (2021-22).
