Ball State University
Bowling Green (Game 1)
Softball Hosts Bowling Green For Senior Weekend
April 11, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (17-21; 4-8 MAC) hosts Bowling Green (5-22; 2-9 MAC) | |
| Games 39 & 40 hosts Bowling Green | Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. (DH) Live Stats | Ball State All-Access (Single Camera Feed) |
| Games 41 hosts Bowling Green | Sunday, April 14 at Noon Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State |  Bowling Green |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: It is senior weekend for the Ball State softball team, which hosts Bowling Green for a three-game series at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex ... Due to the wet weather currently making its way through Muncie, the teams will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a Noon single game Sunday.
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» SENIOR CELEBRATION: Following the conclusion of Saturday's doubleheader, the Cardinals will honor its 10-member 2024 senior class which includes: Jazmyne Armendariz, Hannah Dukeman, Emma Eubank, Francys King, Samantha-Jo Mata, Kaitlyn Mathews, Emma Richards, Remington Ross, Alyssa Stramaglia and Haley Wynn.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend with a 1165-1163-4 (.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.
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» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Led by first-year head coach Helen Peña, the Cardinals own a 17-21 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .258 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons at .368 ... Timmons ranks third in the MAC and fifth nationally with 16 home runs, while ranking third in the league and 34th among NCAA Division I players with 40 RBIs ... Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn is second on the squad in average (.308), home runs (6) and runs scored (28) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.03 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts a 10-8 record and a 3.40 ERA over 111.1 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this and leads the team lead with 50 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a team-best .274 average against over 90.0 innings, to go along with a 6-8 record, one save and 47 strikeouts.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE FALCONS: While Ball State has won the last three meetings, and nine of the last 11, BGSU holds a 54-51 edge in the all-time series ... Last season, the Cardinals swept a three-game set at Bowling Green, out-scoring the Falcons 24-5 ... BSU scored eight runs in each game, ending the series with an 8-1 victory April 23, 2023 ... BGSU holds a 26-23 edge in Muncie, taking two of three meetings in 2022.
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» SCOUTING BGSU: Bowling Green enters the weekend with an 5-22 (2-9 MAC) record after closing a three-game series versus Akron with a 7-6 win last Sunday ... Aaralyn Nogay leads the squad with a .292 average, while Peyton Dolejs has team-highs of 20 hits and 12 RBI to go along with a .253 average ... Taylor Turner leads the Falcons pitching staff with 18 appearances and 53.2 innings of work, boasting a 2-6 record, a 5.35 ERA and a team-high 23 strikeouts ... Emma Denison has a team-low 5.25 ERA over 32.0 innings, while Mackenzie Krafcik and Scarlet Anderson have thrown 31.0 and 29.2 innings, respectively.
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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, ranking second on the team with 41 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 222 which is seventh in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 26 of first 38 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 18th on Ball State's career charts with a .330 career average ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.535) and 16th in on base percentage (.406) ... In addition, her 160 career runs scored are third in program history and 35th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 30th among active DI players with 43 career doubles which is eighth in program history, while her 10 career triples are 37th among active DI players and tied for 11th in the BSU record book.
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» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .368 batting average, a .842 slugging percentage and a .479 on base percentage through the first 38 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 (.693) and on base percentage (.454), while ranking seventh in batting average (.351) ... Timmons, who has blasted a team-leading 16 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 32 career long balls ranking fifth on BSU's all-time list.
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» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the BGSU series ranked 34th nationally with her 40 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.
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» SHINING BEHIND THE PLATE TOO: In addition to pacing the offense, McKayla Timmons has proven to be one of the nation's top threats behind the plate and was recently named one of the nation's best catchers by Softball America, ranking sixth on the April position list ... The effort is aided by Timmons throwing out eight of the 25 runners attempting to steal a base on her so far this season.
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» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters the Bowling Green series as the greatest base thief in program history with a .966 (56-for-58) 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 56 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 seven straight bases since.
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» SPEAKING OF STOLEN BASES: Ball State enters the weekend ranked second in the league and 23rd nationally with 69 stolen bases this season ... Haley Wynn leads the squad with 13, while Remington Ross and McKayla Timmons are tied for second with 11 apiece ... Overall, 10 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season ... Ball State's 69 stolen bases in 2024 are already the 15th-most in a season in program history ... The program record is 151 set by the 2008 squad.
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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 31 career hits and is third on the team with a .295 average this season ... Of her 31 hits, 13 have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 23 RBIs.
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» SPEAKING OF SLAMS: Senior Kaitlyn Mathews blasted her first career grand slam in last Saturday's 13-9 (8) victory at Buffalo, taking a two-out, 3-2 pitch over the fence in center field ... It was Mathews' fifth career home run and Ball State's fourth grand slam of the season.
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» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.40 ERA over 111.1 innings of work ... She has earned the victory in 10 of BSU's 17 wins, including three of the team's four complete game shutouts ... King has 19 career collegiate pitching victories, with 13 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 six 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.
