Softball Closes Regular Season at Central Michigan

Ball State (23-26; 10-12 MAC) at Central Michigan (15-29; 12-10 MAC)
Games 50 & 51 at Central Michigan	Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m. ET (DH) Live Stats \| Live Video
Games 52 at Central Michigan	Sunday, May 5 at Noon ET Live Stats \| Live Video
Tickets Info	Free Admission
Notes	Ball State \| CMU
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball program will battle to secure its second consecutive Mid-American Conference Championship berth this weekend went it travels to Central Michigan for a pivotal league series ... The Cardinals and Chippewas are scheduled to play a Saturday doubleheader (1 p.m.) and a single game Sunday (Noon) at Margo Jonker Stadium.

» WHERE THEY STAND: Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Ball State currently holds the sixth and final spot for the six-team MAC Championship which will be played next week (May 8-11) at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... Miami (23-1), Ohio (16-8) and Western Michigan (16-8) have already locked up tournament bids ... Toledo (12-10) and Central Michigan (12-10) are one win away from securing their spots ... Ball State (10-12), Akron (10-13) and Kent State (10-14) are the only other teams in contention, with the Zips and Golden Flashes playing a three-game series in Kent, Ohio ... The Cardinals can secure a berth with either a three-game sweep at CMU or with two wins and neither Akron or Kent State sweeping their three-game set ... Ball State will be eliminated from tournament contention with two or three losses at CMU ... Above scenarios assume all three-game series will be completed.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend with a 1171-1168-4 (.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.

» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Led by first-year head coach Helen Peña, the Cardinals own a 23-26 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .267 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons at .386 ... Timmons ranks third both in the MAC and nationally with 22 home runs, while ranking fourth in the league and 28th among all NCAA Division I players with 51 RBIs ... Sophomore Ashlee Lovett is second on the squad with a .306 average, while graduate third baseman Haley Wynn is third at .302 ... Wynn is also second in runs scored (35) and third in both home runs (7) and RBI (23) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.17 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts an 11-12 record and a 3.62 ERA over 135.1 innings of work ... King has also tallied three complete game shutouts this season and 70 strikeouts ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy has a .275 average against over 117.0 innings, to go along with a 9-9 record, one save and 69 strikeouts.

» CARDINALS VERSUS THE CHIPPEWAS: While Central Michigan holds a 78-41 edge in the all-time series, Ball State has won 11 of the last 16 meetings including sweeping a three-game series in Muncie last season ... BSU is 21-45 all-time in Mount Pleasant, with CMU sweeping a March 25, 2022 doubleheader at Margo Jonker Stadium by scores of 4-3 and 9-8 (9) ... BSU did sweep a four-game series at CMU during the 2021 season, out-scoring the Chippewas 48-22.

» SCOUTING CMU: The Chippewas enter the weekend with a 15-29 (12-10 MAC) record after splitting a Tuesday doubleheader at Kent State by scores of 6-7 and 11-2 (6) ... Skylar Coberley leads the CMU offense with a .311 batting average and is second on the squad in RBI (23) and runs scored (26) ... Carly Sleeman leads the team with 28 RBI and has 17 doubles ... Grace Lehto is CMU's ace, throwing 125.1 innings with an 8-16 record, a 3.46 ERA and 100 strikeouts ... Mackenzie Langan is second on the squad in innings (55.1) and owns a 3-1 record and 2.91 ERA to go along with 39 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, ranking second on the team with 51 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 232 which is sixth in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 33 of BSU's first 49 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.

» 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 (.529) and 17th in on base percentage (.402) ... In addition, her 167 career runs scored tie for second in program history and 36th 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 44th among active DI players and tied for 11th at BSU.

» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .386 batting average, a .890 slugging percentage and a .505 on base percentage through the first 49 games of the season, McKayla Timmons continues her climb up BSU's career charts ... She currently ranks second in program history in on base percentage (.467), third in slugging percentage (.723) and fifth in batting average (.359) ... Timmons has blasted a team-leading 22 home runs so far this season, including her first collegiate grand slam at Georgia State (Feb. 24) ... Overall, her 38 career long balls tie for third on BSU's all-time list.

» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the weekend ranked 28th nationally with her 51 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.

» 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 fifth on the MAC position list ... It is one spot higher than her April ranking of sixth ... The effort is aided by Timmons throwing out eight of the 33 runners attempting to steal a base on her so far this season.

» BALL STATE'S BEST THIEF: Senior outfielder Remington Ross enters the weekend 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.

» SPEAKING OF STOLEN BASES: Ball State enters the CMU series 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 13 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.

» 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 .270 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.

» 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.

» KING OF THE PEN: Senior Francys King leads the Ball State pitching staff with a 3.62 ERA over 135.1 innings of work ... She has earned the victory in 11 of BSU's 23 wins, including three of the team's five complete game shutouts ... She also leads the squad with 70 strikeouts while issuing just 39 walks ... Overall, 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).

» 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 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