Ball State University
Toledo
Home At Last; Softball Welcomes Toledo Friday & Saturday
March 20, 2025 | Softball
| Ball State (16-7; 2-1 MAC) hosts Toledo (6-16; 1-2 MAC) | |
| Game 24 hosts Toledo | Friday, March 21 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Game 25 hosts Toledo | Friday, March 21 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Game 26 hosts Toledo | Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | FREE ADMISSION |
| Notes | Ball State |  Toledo |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEKEND IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: After playing its first 23 games on the road, the Ball State softball team will finally get a taste of home this weekend, when it welcomes Toledo for a three-game series at the Ball State Softball Stadium ... The teams are currently scheduled to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday and a 1 p.m. single game Saturday.
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» HOME PROMOTIONS: This weekend has been dubbed Kids Weekend at the Ball State Softball Stadium and will feature a postgame autograph session following game two of Friday's twinbill and anthem buddies joining the Cardinals on the field prior to the start of Saturday's contest.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend with a 1193-1178-4 (.503) 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 17 years.
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» QUOTING COACH PEÑA: "Our goal this season is to have fun competing. If we can compete every single pitch, and have fun doing it, I believe we are going to have a really good season. It's truly about getting better every weekend and not putting so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect."
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» AGAINST THE ROCKETS: Ball State holds a 65-53-1 advantage in the all-time series versus Toledo, including a 9-7 win in its second of three "Elimination Day" victories on May 10 on its way to the title game of the 2024 MAC Softball Championship ... The tournament victory avenged three regular season losses to the Rockets in Toledo that season ... The Cardinals hold a 30-22 edge in games played in Muncie, including a 6-1 victory in the latest showdown at the Ball State Softball Stadium on April 8, 2024.Â
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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 sixth in the league last season with a 12-13 MAC record, are looking for a third 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 7-10 ... BSU also picked up one of the 11 votes to win the MAC Tournament title.
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» WATCH OUT FOR TIMMONS: McKayla Timmons was named a player to watch this season, ranking 36th on the Softball America Top 100 Preseason list and as the No. 8 ranked utility/designated player in the country by D1Softball.com ... Most recently, Softball America named her the nation's seventh-best catcher in its March position rankings while D1Softball.com named her the nation's fifth-best catcher in its player power rankings ... Timmons enters the weekend ranked first on Ball State's career list in on base percentage (.503), second in slugging percentage (.791), second in home runs (51), third in batting average (.385), third in RBI (157) and 10th in runs scored (133) ... She also owns the program record for being hit by a pitch at 39.
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» EARNING THE ACCOLADES: So far, McKayla Timmons has earned the accolades, entering the weekend ranked first in the MAC and eighth nationally with a .500 batting average ... Timmons, who is currently on a 15-game hitting streak and a 49-game streak of reaching base safely, has blasted 10 home runs so far this season including at least one home run in seven of the last 10 games ... In addition to her solid batting average, she ranks second in the nation in slugging percentage (1.117), third in on base percentage (.655) and 43rd in RBI (32).
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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 finished the 2024 season ranked as one of the nation's best catchers by Softball America ... She was fifth on SA's final catchers list and 47th among the nation's top 100 players ... The effort was aided by Timmons throwing out 11 of the 37 runners attempting to steal a base on her last season ... She has already caught seven runners trying to steal this season, while surrendering just 10 stolen bases.
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» ON THE BASES: Ball State has also proven to be one of the nations' craftiest teams on the base paths, ranking first in the MAC and 36th nationally with a 1.83 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals have successfully stolen 42 of the 45 bases it has attempted to steal this season, led by a MAC-leading 12 stolen bases from McKayla Timmons… Overall, 11 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base, with redshirt junior second baseman McKenna Mulhollandranking second on the squad with nine ... Conversely, Ball State has limited opposing squads to just 11 stolen bases in 18 attempts this season.
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» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State has been putting on an offensive clinic so far this season, ranking 24th nationally by averaging 7.00 runs per game ... The Cardinals have earned seven run-rule victories so far this season and have scored 10-or-more runs in six games ... Overall, Ball State is out-scoring opponents 161 to 79 this season and owns a 13-3 record when scoring at least five runs.
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» THE WHITNEY EFFECT: Ella Whitney, who played her first two seasons of collegiate softball at FIU, leads the MAC and ranks 24th nationally with her 10 pitching victories … Over 74.2 innings of work, the two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week honoree has compiled a 1.59 ERA which ranks 44th in the country ... Whitney has also limited opposing batters to a MAC-best .205 average against and ranks 93rd nationally by allowing just 5.44 hits per seven innings.
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» MORE ON WHITNEY: A two-way player for the Cardinals, Ella Whitney is also a big offensive threat, boasting a .342 average and ranking second on the team in both home runs (4) and RBIs (24) … She recorded Ball State's first triple of the season and leads the squad with five doubles ... Whitney also enters the weekend ranked second on the squad with a six-game hitting streak and an 11-game streak of reaching base safely.
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» ANOTHER FRESH START: Redshirt sophomore pitcher Brinkley Kita, who began her collegiate career in 2023 at Lipscomb, earned her first win for the Cardinals in the 3-2 (8) victory over Cal Poly by throwing the final 2.2 innings ... Kita also picked up a complete game victory in Ball State's 15-4 (5) win over Lehigh (Feb. 22) ... She currently ranks second on the squad in opponent's batting average (.269) and third in ERA (5.33).
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» SHUTTING 'EM OUT: Freshman Breanna Severino picked up her first collegiate complete game shutout in Tuesday's 7-0 victory at Butler ... She limited the Bulldogs to just seven hits over her 7.0 innings of work in the game ... She also struck out one batter and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth to improve to 3-4 on the year ... She currently ranks second on the BSU pitching staff with a 3.87 ERA.
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» LONG BALL NUMBERS: The Cardinals currently rank second in the MAC with 26 home runs, trailing only Miami's 42 ... Timmons leads the way and is currently second among all league players and 22nd nationally with her 10 home runs ... On the opposite spectrum, Ball State's pitching staff ranks first in the MAC and tied for fifth nationally, allowing just five home runs ... Toledo's pitchers are second in the league with 12 home runs allowed, while Ohio is third at 18.
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» SOME OF THE NATION'S TOUGHEST: Senior outfielder Kara Gunter enters the weekend as one of the nation's toughest batters to strike out, with just one strikeout in 66 official at bats … The total has her ranked first in the MAC and 10th among all NCAA Division I players … Not far behind is sophomore shortstop Maia Pietrzak, who is sixth in the MAC 63rd nationally at one strikeout per every 25 at bats.
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» D-FENSE: Ball State enters the weekend tied for first in the MAC and 15th nationally with a .977 fielding percentage this season ... The Cardinals have committed just 15 errors in its first 23 games, including 12 games without an error ... The current program record for best fielding percentage in a season is .974 for the 2010 squad which committed just 40 errors.
