Ball State University
Northern Illinois (Game 1)
Softball Opens Pivotal Week Tuesday at Northern Illinois
April 29, 2024 | Softball
| Ball State (22-25; 9-11 MAC) at Northern Illinois (17-30; 8-15 MAC) | |
| Games 48 & 49 at Northern Illinois | Tuesday, April 30 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT (DH) Live Stats |  Live Video - GM 1  |  Live Video - GM 2 |
| Tickets Info | Free Admission |
| Notes | Ball State |  NIU |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: It is a pivotal week for the Ball State softball program as it hunts a berth in the 2024 MAC Softball Championship at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... It starts Tuesday with a 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT doubleheader at Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals will then close the regular season with a three-game series at Central Michigan with a Saturday double dip (1 p.m.) and a Sunday single game (Noon).
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» WHERE THEY STAND: With five games remaining in the regular season for most league programs, Ball State enters the week just outside a berth into the conference tournament, ranking seventh in the league at 9-11 ... Akron is currently the sixth seed, a half-game ahead of the Cardinals at 10-11 ... Miami leads the league at 21-1, followed by Ohio (14-8), Western Michigan (14-8), Toledo (12-8) and Central Michigan (11-9) ... Northern Illinois is currently ninth at 8-15.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters Tuesday's doubleheader with a 1170-1167-4 (.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 22-25 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .265 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons at .388 ... Timmons ranks third both in the MAC and nationally with 21 home runs, while ranking fourth in the league and 31st among all NCAA Division I players with 50 RBIs ... Sophomore Ashlee Lovett is second on the squad with a .306 average, while graduate third baseman Haley Wynnis third at .300 ... Wynn is also second in runs scored (34) and third in both home runs (7) and RBI (22) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 3.99 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts an 11-11 record and a 3.54 ERA over 132.2 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this season and 68 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a .269 average against over 113.2 innings, to go along with an 8-9 record, one save and 67 strikeouts.
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» CARDINALS VERSUS THE HUSKIES: While Northern Illinois holds a 52-39 edge in the all-time series, Ball State maintains a 19-18 advantage in DeKalb, including wins in four of the last five games played at Mary M. Bell Field ... All four of those wins came via run rule, before NIU rallied to win the latest game on its home field by a score of 13-9 in the second game of an April 6, 2022, twinbill ... Last season, the Cardinals took two of three games in Muncie.
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» SCOUTING NIU: The Huskies enter Tuesday's doubleheader with a 17-30 overall record, including an 8-15 mark in MAC play ... Last weekend, NIU took two of three games at Bowling Green, capping the series with a 14-4 (6) win in the rubber game ... Ellis Erikson leads the NIU offense with a .395 batting average, including team-highs of eight home and 18 doubles ... Caitlyn Shumaker leads the team with 28 RBI and is tied with Erickson for the team lead with 31 runs scored, while also being credited with six doubles, three triples and six home runs ... Danielle Steward leads the NIU pitching staff with a 2.27 ERA over 114 innings of work, including 109 strikeouts ... She has a 9-8 record and a pair of complete game shutouts ... Lili Cassell is second on the squad with a 4.17 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 43.2 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 advantage of her extra year of eligibility, ranking second on the team with 48 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 229 which is sixth in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 32 of BSU's first 46 games of the season, including seven home runs to up her career long ball total to 26 which is tied for eighth in program history.
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» MORE ON WYNN: Haley Wynn is one of the most prolific batters in program history ranking 20th on Ball State's career charts with a .327 career average ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.531) and 17th in on base percentage (.403) ... In addition, her 166 career runs scored are third in program history and 37th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 29th among active DI players with 45 career doubles which is seventh in program history, while her 10 career triples are 43rd among active DI players and tied for 11th at BSU.
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» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .388 batting average, a .892 slugging percentage and a .503 on base percentage through the first 47 games of the season, McKayla Timmons continues her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks third in program history in slugging percentage (.722), second in on base percentage (.465) and fifth in batting average (.359) ... Timmons has blasted a team-leading 21 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 37 career long balls ranking fifth on BSU's all-time list.
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» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the week ranked 31st nationally with her 50 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.
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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 29 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 week 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 NIU doubleheader ranked second in the league and 24th nationally with 84 stolen bases this season ... Haley Wynn and McKayla Timmons lead the squad with 14 apiece, while senior outfielder Kaitlyn Mathews has 12 and Remington Ross has 11 ... Overall, 11 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season ... Ball State's 84 stolen bases in 2024 are the eighth-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 34 career hits and is fourth on the team with a .281 average this season ... Of her 34 hits, 16 have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 30 RBIs.
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» SPEAKING OF SLAMS: Kaitlyn Mathews blasted her first career grand slam in the 13-9 (8) victory at Buffalo (April 6), taking a two-out, 3-2 pitch over the fence in center field ... It was Mathews' first home run of the season and Ball State's fourth grand slam on the campaign ... She would add two more home runs in the Akron series and another at Purdue to raise her career total to eight.
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» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.54 ERA over 132.2 innings of work ... She has earned the victory in 11 of BSU's 22 wins, including three of the team's five complete game shutouts ... King has 20 career collegiate pitching victories, with 14 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 seven 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 Wynnat 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.
