Softball Heads To Akron For MAC Softball Championship

Wednesday, May 8

Akron, OH (Firestone Stadium)

2:30 p.m.

Ball State University

Western Michigan

Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics

Softball Heads To Akron For MAC Softball Championship

May 07, 2024 | Softball

No. 6 Seed Ball State (25-27) at MAC Championship
Game 53 vs. No. 3 Seed Western Michigan (27-20)	Wednesday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Single Day: Adult $20 / Student $10 / Child $5 All Tournament: Adult $63 / Student $33 / Child $18 PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE
Notes	Ball State \| Championship Central
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The sixth-seeded Ball State softball team opens play in the 2024 MAC Softball Championship Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. when it battles No. 3 seed Western Michigan at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... With a win, the Cardinals would advance to Thursday's 2:30 p.m. contest versus No. 2 Ohio ... With a loss, the Cardinals would battle the loser of the No. 4 Toledo vs. No. 5 Central Michigan in the first elimination match up at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Led by first-year head coach Helen Peña, the Cardinals own a 25-27 overall record ... Ball State maintains a .271 team batting average, led by redshirt junior utility player McKayla Timmons at .394 ... Timmons ranks third both in the MAC and nationally with 23 home runs, while ranking fourth in the league and 25th among all NCAA Division I players with 53 RBIs ... Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn is second on the squad with a .320 average while also ranking second in runs scored (37) and third in both home runs (7) and RBI (25) ... In the circle, the Cardinals own a 4.08 ERA led by senior Francys King who boasts a 13-12 record, a 3.46 ERA and 75 strikeouts over 145.2 innings of work ... King played a crucial role in helping BSU secure a berth in the MAC Championship, earning the pitching victory in a pair of must-win games at Central Michigan last weekend, including throwing just the second recorded perfect game in program history in Saturday's 8-0 (5) victory ... Sophomore Bridie Murphy, who earned the save in Sunday's win at CMU, has a .276 average against over 124.2 innings, to go along with a 9-10 record, two saves and 70 strikeouts.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the MAC Championship with a 1173-1169-4 (.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.

» VERSUS THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: Ball State enters the 2024 MAC Softball Championship with a 27-29 all-time record in league tournament play ... The Cardinals won the event in 1998, 2010, and 2015 with perfect 4-0 marks ... Ball State was also the runner-up in the 2001 tournament with a 3-2 record ... A complete MAC Softball Championship history can be found on page 3.
- VERSUS NO. 1 MIAMI: While Ball State holds a slim 59-57 edge in the all-time series, Miami has won 11 of the last 12 meetings in the all-time series, including an 8-4 win in last season's MAC Championship ... The RedHawks currently own a 4-2 edge in MAC tournament play.
- VERSUS NO. 2 OHIO: Ball State holds a 55-44-1 edge in the all-time series versus Ohio, including wins in the first two games of this season's three-game series ... Ohio does hold a 2-1 advantage in MAC Championship play, picking up a 3-2 (8) victory in the most recent tournament meeting May 8, 2019.
- VERSUS NO. 3 WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos hold a slim 68-66 lead in the all-time series, including winning two of three games last season ... Wednesday's game will be the first meeting this season, as the April 2 doubleheader in Muncie was rained out ... The teams are currently tied at 2-2 in tournament play, with BSU picking up an 11-3 (6) win in the latest tournament meeting May 9, 2015.
- VERSUS NO. 4 TOLEDO: Ball State holds a 65-55-1 lead in the all-time series despite Toledo winning all three meetings so far this season ... The Cardinals do own a 2-0 edge in tournament play, including a 2-0 win in the latest tournament meeting May 11, 2018.
- VERSUS NO. 5 CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas hold an 80-43 lead in the all-time series after Ball State took two of three in Mount Pleasant last weekend ... CMU also holds a 5-4 edge in tournament play, most recently knocking the Cardinals out of the 2023 event with a 4-1 win on May 12, 2023.

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.

» THEN THERE WERE TWO: Senior Francys King collected just the second recorded perfect game in program history last Saturday at Central Michigan when she retired all 15 batters she faced in the 8-0 (5) victory ... It took King just 55 pitches to dispatch of the Chippewas as she struck out three batters, induced a pair of ground outs and forced 10 fly outs over her 5.0 innings of work ... King joins Angelina Russo as the only pitchers in program history to register perfect games, with Russo's coming in a 5-0 win over Western Michigan on April 20, 2022 ... It also marks the 20th no-hitter in program history.

» THE WYNN FACTOR: Graduate third baseman Haley Wynn has taken advantage of her extra year of eligibility, ranking second on the team with 58 hits so far this season ... That raises her career total to 239 which is tied for fourth in program history ... Wynn has registered at least one hit in 36 of BSU's first 52 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 15th on Ball State's career charts with a .331 career average ... She is also 13th all-time in slugging percentage (.533) and 16th in on base percentage (.405) ... In addition, her 169 career runs scored are second in program history and 37th among all active NCAA Division I players ... She also ranks 24th among active DI players with 47 career doubles which is tied for sixth in program history, while her 10 career triples are 45th among active DI players and tied for 11th at BSU.

» TIMMONS CLIMBING THE CHARTS TOO: After leading the Ball State offense with a .394 batting average, a .897 slugging percentage and a .510 on base percentage through the first 52 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 (.470), second in slugging percentage (.731) and fifth in batting average (.363) ... Timmons has blasted a team-leading 23 home runs so far this season, including her first collegiate grand slam at Georgia State (Feb. 24) ... Overall, her 39 career long balls are third on BSU's all-time list.

» RBI LEADER: McKayla Timmons enters the MAC Championship ranked 25th nationally with her 53 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.

» 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.

» ON THE BASES: Ball State enters the MAC Championship ranked second in the league and 25th nationally with 87 stolen bases this season ... Haley Wynn and McKayla Timmons lead the squad with 15 apiece, while senior outfielder Kaitlyn Mathews has 13 and senior outfielder Remington Ross has 11 ... Overall, 11 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base this season ... Ball State's 87 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 37 career hits and is fourth on the team with a .278 average this season ... Of her 37 hits, 19 have driven in at least one RBI and she currently ranks second on the squad with 33 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.

» TRIPLING UP: The Ball State defense owns one of the nation's eight 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.