Softball Twinbill Canceled Tuesday

Area rains wreaked havoc on the Ball State softball field Monday and Tuesday, forcing cancelation of the Mid-American Conference doubleheader scheduled against Western Michigan. Per MAC rules, the twinbill will not be rescheduled. The Cardinals' resume play on Saturday and Sunday at Buffalo.

Ball State (15-20; 2-7 MAC) hosts Western Michigan (15-14; 4-4 MAC)
Games 36 hosts Western Michigan	Tuesday, April 2 at Noon (DH) Live Stats \| ESPN+ Game 1 \| ESPN+ Game 2
Tickets Info	Free Admission
Notes	Ball State \| Western Michigan
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Western Michigan for a midweek #MACtion doubleheader ... First pitch is currently scheduled for Noon at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, weather permitting ... Check BallStateSports.com or follow the team on X at @BallStateSB for any potential schedule updates.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters Tuesday's doubleheader versus Western Michigan with a 1163-1162-4 (.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.

» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Led by first-year head coach Helen Peña, the Cardinals own a 15-20 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .243 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons at .347 ... Timmons ranks third both in the MAC and nationally with 15 home runs, while ranking fourth in the league with 37 RBIs ... Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn is second on the squad in average (.300), home runs (6) and runs scored (25) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.06 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts an 8-8 record and a 3.63 ERA over 102.1 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this season and leads the team lead with 48 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best .274 average against over 83.0 innings, to go along with a 6-7 record, one save and 44 strikeouts ... Murphy picked up her first complete game shutout of the season in the 5-0 victory over Ohio (March 16).

» CARDINALS VERSUS THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan holds a slim 68-66 edge in the all-time series versus Ball State after winning two of three games in Kalamazoo last season ... WMU won the first two games, before the Cardinals battled back to take the series finale 11-2 ... Ball State does hold a 36-32 edge in games played in Muncie, including sweeping a three-game home series in 2022 by scores of 4-3, 5-0, and 5-0.

» SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan enters Tuesday's doubleheader with a 15-14 (4-4 MAC) record after opening its 2024 home slate with a three-game series sweep of Akron ... Riley Dittmar leads the squad with a .390 average and has team-highs of 10 doubles, 19 runs scored and 22 RBI ... Payton Kelly and Addison Hudson are right behind with .321 averages ... Rissa Bajusz leads the Broncos in the circle with an 8-7 record and 1.92 ERA over 91.0 innings of work ... She has limited opposing batters to a .195 average, owns four complete game shutouts and ranks 11th nationally with 126 strikeouts.

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.

» THE WYNN FACTOR: Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn has taken advantage of her extra year of eligibility, leading the team with 36 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 217 which is seventh in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 24 of first 35 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.

» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn is one of the most prolific batters in program history ranking 19th on Ball State's career charts with a .329 career average ... She is also 12th all-time in slugging percentage (.538) and 16th in on base percentage (.406) ... In addition, her 157 career runs scored are third in program history and 34th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 25th among active DI players with 43 career doubles which is eighth in program history.

» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .347 batting average, a .842 slugging percentage and a .470 on base percentage through the first 35 games of the season, McKayla Timmons continued her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks fourth in program history in slugging percentage (.687), fifth in on base percentage (.450) and ninth in batting average (.343) ... 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.

» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the WMU doubleheader ranked 28th 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 Payton versus Oakland on May 4, 2019.

» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters Tuesday's doubleheader as the greatest base thief in program history with a .965 (55-for-57) career stolen 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 55 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 stolen six straight bases since.

» SPEAKING OF STOLEN BASES: Ball State enters the week ranked second in the league and 26th nationally with 59 stolen bases this season ... Haley Wynnand Remington Ross are tied for the team lead with 10 apiece, while McKayla Timmons and senior outfielder Kaitlyn Mathews are right behind with nine ... Overall, 10 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season ... Ball State's 59 stolen bases in 2024 are already the 17th-most in a season in program history ... The program record is 151 set by the 2008 squad.

» 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 27 career hits and is third on the team with a .284 average this season ... Of her 27 hits, 12 have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 23 RBIs.

» WE'RE LOVING LOVETT: Sophomore Ashlee Lovett leads the Ball State offense with a .304 batting average in MAC play, registering seven hits in 23 at bats ... She has three doubles, has tallied three RBI and scored a pair of runs ... She is also tied for the team lead with three stolen bases in league play, while owning the second-best on base percentage at .414.

» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.63 ERA over 102.1 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).

» 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.

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Players Mentioned

Jazmyne Armendariz

Jessica Hoffman

Francys King

Ashlee Lovett

Kaitlyn Mathews

Bridie Murphy

Maia Pietrzak

Remington Ross

McKayla Timmons

Haley Wynn

Ball State University Athletics