Softball Battles at Indiana Wednesday

Ball State (28-11; 13-5 MAC) at Indiana (29-13; 8-8 Big Ten)
Game 40 at Indiana	Wednesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. ET Live Stats \| B1G+
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Notes	Ball State \| Indiana
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens another busy week Wednesday when it travels to Indiana for a 6 p.m. showdown with the Hoosiers at Andy Mohr Field ... The Cardinals then return home for a three-game weekend series versus Buffalo ... The teams are currently scheduled to play a 3 p.m. contest Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

» 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 1205-1182-4 (.505) 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 HOOSIERS: While Indiana holds a 40-32 edge in the all-time series, Ball State has won six of the last nine meetings ... The two teams last battled April 20, 2016, with the Hoosiers earning a 7-1 victory on its home field to improve to 25-15 in games played in Bloomington ... BSU's last win in the series was a 19-9 (5) victory in Muncie on April 21, 2015, while the Cardinals split an April 16, 2014, twinbill in Bloomington dropping the first game 3-2, before winning the nightcap 6-3.

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 (.516), second in slugging percentage (.790), second in home runs (54), third in batting average (.387), third in RBI (173) and fourth in runs scored (152) ... She also owns the program record for being hit by a pitch at 41, while her 104 career walks are sixth.

» EARNING THE ACCOLADES: So far, McKayla Timmons has earned the accolades, ranking first in the MAC and 16th nationally with a .462 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 second nationally in on base percentage (.641), seventh in slugging percentage (.971), 34th in runs scored (49) and 51st in RBIs (48).

» 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 eight 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 19th among all NCAA Division I programs with a 2.05 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals have successfully stolen 81 of the 91 bases it has attempted to steal, led by 19 stolen bases from McKayla Timmons which ranks second in the league … 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 15 and sophomore Maia Pietrzak ranking third on the squad in 10th in the MAC at 13 ... Conversely, Ball State has limited opposing squads to just 12 stolen bases in 20 attempts this season ... Only seven teams in the country have limited teams to less stolen bases, with the next best MAC school being Central Michigan at 23.

» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State has been putting on an offensive clinic so far this season, ranking 12th nationally by averaging 7.72 runs per game ... The Cardinals have earned eight run-rule victories this season and have scored 10-or-more runs in 13 games ... Overall, Ball State is out-scoring opponents 301 to 165 this season and owns an 23-4 record when scoring at least five runs ... In fact, Ball State's 301 runs scored are already the seventh-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 69 total times, which is already a BSU single season record topping the previous mark of 55 set in 2015 ... McKenna Mulholland has been hit 14 times which is tied for first in the MAC and 13th nationally, while McKayla Timmons has been hit 12 times which ranks third in the MAC and 24th nationally.

» THE WHITNEY EFFECT: Junior Ella Whitney, who played her first two seasons of collegiate softball at FIU, ranks second in the MAC and 20th nationally with her 17 pitching victories … Over 131.2 innings of work, the two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week honoree has compiled a 2.55 ERA which ranks 120th 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 .311 average and ranking second on the team in both home runs (9) and RBIs (44) … She recorded Ball State's first triple of the season and is tied for second on the squad 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 put together a 14-inning shutout streak after Severino and Whitney threw back-to-back complete game shutouts in the April 12 doubleheader sweep of then-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 47 home runs, trailing only Miami's 60 ... Timmons leads the way and is third among all league players and 63rd 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 36th nationally by allowing just 18 home runs ... Bowling Green is second in the league with 25 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 ... Pietrzak is third in the MAC and 64th nationally at one strikeout per every 21.9 at bats, while Gunter is fifth in the MAC and 105th nationally at one strikeout per every 18.0 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 36 errors in its first 39 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.

Players Mentioned

Kara Gunter

McKenna Mulholland

Maia Pietrzak

Breanna Severino

McKayla Timmons

Ella Whitney

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