Softball Set To Battle Western Michigan Wednesday in Kalamazoo

Ball State (26-11; 11-5 MAC) at Western Michigan (11-28; 5-9 MAC)
Game 38 at Western Michigan	Wednesday, April 16 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats \| Broncos All-Access
Game 39 at Western Michigan	Wednesday, April 16 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats \| Broncos All-Access
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to action Wednesday when it visits Western Michigan for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Ebert Field ... The twinbill will be the lone action for the Cardinals this week, as it has its league bye this weekend.

» UPCOMING HOME PROMOTIONS: Ball State's next home series will be a big one, as it hosts Buffalo for a three games April 25-26 ... Friday's single game versus the Bulls will be BSU's Strikeout Cancer Day with FREE NFCA Strikeout Cancer bracelets available and the Cardinals auctioning off two custom Louisville Slugger pink bats ... Saturday's doubleheader will serve as Senior Day, with the Cardinals honoring the 10 players and managers who are graduating or have spent four years with the program.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the week with a 1203-1182-4 (.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 BRONCOS: While the Broncos own a slim 68-67 advantage in the all-time series, Ball State has won the last two meetings including a 6-0 victory on May 8, 2024, at Firestone Stadium to open its run to the title game of the MAC Softball Championship ... With rain forcing the cancelation of last season's doubleheader in Muncie, the teams last regular season series was a three-game set in Kalamazoo in 2023 ... The Broncos won the first game played April 11 by a score of 10-2 (6), while the teams split an April 12 twinbill with WMU winning the first game 4-1 and the Cardinals taking the nightcap 11-2.

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 (.512), second in slugging percentage (.785), second in home runs (54), third in batting average (.384), third in RBI (172) and tied for fifth in runs scored (149) ... She also owns the program record for being hit by a pitch at 41.

» EARNING THE ACCOLADES: So far, McKayla Timmons has earned the accolades, ranking first in the MAC and 35th nationally with a .449 batting average ... Timmons has blasted a team-leading 13 home runs so far this season and ranks fifth nationally in walks per game at 1.00 ... In addition to her solid batting average, Timmons ranks third nationally in on base percentage (.633), 10th in slugging percentage (.959), 27th in runs scored (47) and 41st in RBIs (47).

» 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, and has picked off a pair of runners at first base.

» ON THE BASES: Ball State has proven to be one of the nation's craftiest teams on the base paths, ranking first in the MAC and 20th among all NCAA Division I programs with a 2.08 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals have successfully stolen 77 of the 87 bases it has attempted to steal, led by a MAC-best 18 stolen bases from McKayla Timmons … Overall, 14 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 14 ... Conversely, Ball State has limited opposing squads to just 12 stolen bases in 19 attempts this season ... Only seven teams in the country have limited teams to less stolen bases, with the next best MAC school being Miami at 22 after the Cardinals stole four bases on the RedHawks last weekend.

» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State has been putting on an offensive clinic so far this season, ranking 14th nationally by averaging 7.65 runs per game ... The Cardinals have earned eight run-rule victories this season and have scored 10-or-more runs in 12 games ... Overall, Ball State is out-scoring opponents 283 to 158 this season and owns an 22-4 record when scoring at least five runs ... In fact, Ball State's 283 runs scored are already the 10th-most in a season in program history, with the record being the 368 runs scored by the 2012 squad.

» TAKING THE HIT: Ball State's offense is bolstered by its ability to get on base, and one area the Cardinals excel in is staying tough in the box and getting hit by pitches ... The Cardinals currently lead the nation in being hit 68 total times, which is already a BSU single season record topping the previous mark of 55 set in 2015 ... McKenna Mulholland has been hit a league-high 13 times which is 12th nationally, while McKayla Timmons has been hit 12 times which ranks second in the MAC and 18th nationally.

» THE WHITNEY EFFECT: Junior Ella Whitney, who played her first two seasons of collegiate softball at FIU, ranks second in the MAC and 18th nationally with her 16 pitching victories … Over 124.2 innings of work, the two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week honoree has compiled a 2.53 ERA which ranks 117th in the country ... Whitney has also limited opposing batters to a .222 average against which ranks second in the league, while owning the second-best WHIP in the MAC at 1.16.

» MORE ON WHITNEY: A two-way player for the Cardinals, Ella Whitney is also a big offensive threat, boasting a .319 average and ranking second on the team in both home runs (8) and RBIs (40) … She recorded Ball State's first triple of the season and is tied for the team lead with nine doubles.

» SHUTTING 'EM OUT: Ball State's pitchers have combined for five shutouts so far this season, including two complete game shutouts each for Ella Whitneyand freshman Breanna Severino ... In fact, the Cardinals' pitching staff is on a 14-inning shutout streak after Severino and Whitney threw back-to-back complete game shutouts in last Saturday's doubleheader sweep of league-leading Miami ... The last time the RedHawks were shutout in back-to-back games was March 5, 2023, when it lost both ends of a doubleheader at then-No. 14 Stanford by scores of 10-0 (5) and 8-0 (5).

» LONG BALL NUMBERS: The Cardinals currently rank second in the MAC with 45 home runs, trailing only Miami's 58 ... Timmons leads the way and is second among all league players and 44th nationally with her 13 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 41st nationally by allowing just 17 home runs ... Bowling Green is second in the league with 22 home runs allowed.

» SOME OF THE NATION'S TOUGHEST: Senior outfielder Kara Gunter and sophomore shortstop Maia Pietrzak enter the week as two of the nation's toughest batters to strike out ... Gunter is third in the MAC and 57th nationally at one strikeout per every 23.4 at bats, while Pietrzak is fourth in the MAC and 77th nationally at one strikeout per every 20.7 at bats.

» D-FENSE: Ball State enters the week ranked second in the MAC and 52nd nationally with a .969 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 33 errors in its first 37 games, including 18 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 Set To Battle Western Michigan Wednesday in Kalamazoo

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Players Mentioned

Kara Gunter

McKenna Mulholland

Maia Pietrzak

Breanna Severino

McKayla Timmons

Ella Whitney