Softball Hosts Northern Illinois in Tuesday #MACtion

Ball State (21-8; 6-2 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (8-20; 3-6 MAC)
Game 30 hosts Northern Illinois	Tuesday, April 1 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
Game 31 hosts Northern Illinois	Tuesday, April 1 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
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Notes	Ball State \| Northern Illinois
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: Another busy week for the Ball State softball team starts Tuesday, when it welcomes Northern Illinois to the Ball State Softball Stadium for a 1 p.m. doubleheader ... The Cardinals will then travel to Kent, Ohio, for a three-game weekend series versus Kent State ... The teams are currently scheduled to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a Noon single game Sunday.

» TUESDAY'S PROMOTIONS: Tuesday's twinbill versus Northern Illinois will serve as Faculty / Staff Appreciation Day with members of the team honoring members of the Ball State community who have made an impact in the collegiate lives.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the week with a 1198-1179-4 (.504) 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.

» 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."

» AGAINST THE HUSKIES: While Northern Illinois holds a 53-40 edge in the all-time series, Ball State has won eight of the last 11 meetings ... Last season, the teams split an April 30 doubleheader in DeKalb, with NIU winning the opener 9-2 and BSU taking the nightcap by a score of 11-7 ... While the Huskies also hold a 20-14 edge in games played in Muncie, the Cardinals won two of the three meetings at the Ball State Softball Stadium in 2023 ... Ball State win the first game of a March 28 doubleheader by a score of 2-1, while NIU took the recap 14-10 ... BSU went on to win the series with a 5-1 victory March 29.

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.

» 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 both its March and April position rankings while D1Softball.com named her the nation's fifth-best catcher in its player power rankings ... Timmons enters the week ranked first on Ball State's career list in on base percentage (.514), second in slugging percentage (.796), second in home runs (53), third in batting average (.384), third in RBI (161) and seventh in runs scored (141) ... She also owns the program record for being hit by a pitch at 40.

» EARNING THE ACCOLADES: So far, McKayla Timmons has earned the accolades, ranking first in the MAC and 13th nationally with a .479 batting average ... Timmons, who is currently on a 55-game streak of reaching base safely, has blasted 12 home runs so far this season including at least one home run in nine of the last 16 games ... In addition to her solid batting average, she leads all NCAA Division I players in on base percentage (.675), ranks fourth in the nation in slugging percentage (1.099) and is 35th in runs scored (38) and 68th in RBIs (36).

» FREE PASSES: McKayla Timmons received a big boost to her on base percentage in the weekend series versus Toledo, reaching base in all 14 of her plate appearances over the three games ... She started the series with a two-run home run Friday and was walked in each of her next eight plate appearances ... The Rockets gave her one more opportunity to swing in the series finale and she blasted the ball to the wall in right center for a first inning single ... She then drew four more walks, bringing her weekend total to 12 ... The 12 walks versus Toledo, along with three more last week at Indiana State and Bowling Green, helped her climb to first in the nation with a 1.10 walks-per-game average ... She is also tied for seventh in the nation at 32 total walks.

» 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.

» ON THE BASES: Ball State has proven to be one of the nations' craftiest teams on the base paths, ranking first in the MAC and 28th nationally with a 1.93 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals have successfully stolen 56 of the 63 bases it has attempted to steal, led by a MAC-best 14 stolen bases from McKayla Timmons … Overall, 13 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base, with redshirt junior second baseman McKenna Mulholland ranking second on the squad and third in the MAC with 11 ... Conversely, Ball State has limited opposing squads to just 12 stolen bases in 19 attempts this season ... Only 11 teams in the country have limited teams to less stolen bases, with the next best MAC school being Miami at 16.

» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State has been putting on an offensive clinic so far this season, ranking 13th nationally by averaging 7.79 runs per game ... The Cardinals have earned seven run-rule victories so far this season and have scored 10-or-more runs in nine games ... Overall, Ball State is out-scoring opponents 226 to 124 this season and owns an 18-4 record when scoring at least five runs ... In fact, Ball State's 226 runs scored are already the 15th-most in a season in program history, with the record being the 368 runs scored by the 2012 squad.

» THE WHITNEY EFFECT: Ella Whitney, who played her first two seasons of collegiate softball at FIU, its tied for the MAC lead and ranks 29th nationally with her 12 pitching victories … Over 91.1 innings of work, the two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week honoree has compiled a 2.22 ERA which ranks 95th in the country ... Whitney has also limited opposing batters to a .228 average against which ranks fourth in the league.

» MORE ON WHITNEY: A two-way player for the Cardinals, Ella Whitney is also a big offensive threat, boasting a .337 average and ranking second on the team in both home runs (5) and RBIs (32) … She recorded Ball State's first triple of the season and leads the squad with six doubles ... Whitney also enters the week ranked second on the squad with a 16-game streak of reaching base safely.

» SHUTTING 'EM OUT: Freshman Breanna Severino picked up her first collegiate complete game shutout in BSU's 7-0 victory at Butler (March 18) ... 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.

» LONG BALL NUMBERS: The Cardinals currently rank second in the MAC with 36 home runs, trailing only Miami's 49 ... Timmons leads the way and is second among all league players and 29th nationally with her 12 home runs ... Overall, 10 different Ball State players have blasted at least one home run this season ... On the opposite spectrum, Ball State's pitching staff ranks first in the MAC and tied for 26th nationally by allowing just 12 home runs ... Toledo and Ohio are tied for second in the league with 19 home runs allowed.

» SOME OF THE NATION'S TOUGHEST: Senior outfielder Kara Gunter and sophomore shortstop Maia Pietrzak and enter the weekend as two of the nation's toughest batters to strike out ... Gunter is fourth in the MAC and 37th nationally at one strikeout per every 29.3 at bats, while Pietrzak is sixth in the MAC and 05th nationally at one strikeout per every 19.4 at bats.

» D-FENSE: Ball State enters the week ranked third in the MAC and 70th nationally with a .968 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 27 errors in its first 29 games, including 13 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.

Softball Hosts Northern Illinois in Tuesday #MACtion

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Players Mentioned

Kara Gunter

McKenna Mulholland

Maia Pietrzak

Breanna Severino

McKayla Timmons

Ella Whitney