Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Southern Indiana
Softball Heads to Memphis for 901 Classic
February 12, 2026 | Softball
| Ball State (2-3) at 901Â Classic (hosted by Memphis) | |
| Games 6Â vs. Southern Indiana (0-4) | Friday, February 13 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT Live Stats |
| Games 7 at Memphis (2-3) | Friday, February 13 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Games 8Â vs. Kansas City (2-3) | Saturday, February 14 at 10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. CT Live Stats |
| Games 9 vs. Evansville (2-3) | Sunday, February 15 at Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT Live Stats |
| Tickets Info | Ticket Information |
| Notes | Ball State |  Tournament Central |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to the road Friday, when it opens play in the 901 Classic with games versus Southern Indiana (2p ET / 1p CT) and host Memphis (6p ET / 5p CT) ... The three-day event will also see the Cardinals battle Kansas City Saturday (10a ET / 9a CT) and Evansville Sunday (Noon ET / 11a CT).
» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the 901 Classic hosted by Memphis with a 1212-1192-4 (.504) overall record dating back to 1975 ... The Cardinals finished the 2025 campaign with a 33-18 record to reach the 30-win mark for the 17th time in program history and the 12th time in the past 18 seasons.
» A LOOK BACK AT OPENING WEEKEND: The Cardinals went 2-3 last weekend at the FGCU Kickoff Classic, with the two wins coming versus Long Island by scores of 10-0 (5) and 12-2 (5) ... Ball State opened the season with a 5-3 setback to Charlotte, while suffering an 8-7 setback to FGCU Saturday evening and a 4-0 loss to Southern Illinois Sunday morning.
 » A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: The Ball State bats came out hot opening weekend, with the team currently ranking third in the MAC and 51st nationally with a .354 team batting average ... Leading the way was redshirt junior catcher Skylinn Pogue who reached base safely in all five games and led the squad with a .467 average ... Senior Lindsey DeRoeck was right behind with a .438 average and registering hits in each of the last four games ... DeRoeck also led all MAC players with 10 RBIs opening weekend, while six of her seven hits went for multiple bases ... Overall, all five Ball State players who started all five games produced at least a .353 batting average, while collecting 22 of the team's 29 RBIs ... In the circle, three different Cardinals earned at least one start with freshman Grace Gray making the biggest impact with a 2.33 ERA, 12 strikeouts and a complete game shutout in Ball State's 10-0 (5) win over Long Island (Feb. 7) ... Combined, Ball State's pitching staff ranked second in the MAC and 63rd nationally with a 2.90 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .275 average ... In the field, Ball State's defense ranked second in the MAC and 60th nationally with a .976 fielding percentage, committing just three errors ... In addition, the defense turned a pair of double plays and surrendered just three stolen bases.
» VERSUS THE 901 CLASSIC FIELD: Ball State owns a 15-12 record versus teams in the 901 Classic Field ... Ball State will be meeting Southern Indiana for the first time in softball ... Memphis won the only previous meeting between the two teams by a score of 5-1 on Feb. 9, 2018 ... Ball State holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series with Kansas City, earning an 8-3 victory in the last meeting March 23, 2014 ... The Cardinals are 12-10 all-tie versus Evansville, including a pair of wins last season at the Bellarmine Invitational, the last was a 14-6 (6) victory March 9, 2025.
BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:
» ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST: After a breakout year in her first season with the Ball State softball program in 2025, senior Ella Whitney has earned recognition as one of the top pitcher/utility players in the country ... She entered the 2026 season ranked as the No. 9 Pitcher/Utility Player in D1Softball's Preseason Player Position Rankings ... In addition, she was the 49th-ranked player in the D1Softball Preseason Mid-Major D100 Player Rankings ... Including her two seasons at FIU, Whitney owns 25 pitching wins, two saves and 120 strikeouts ... She is also a .301 career batter, with 108 hits, including 21 doubles and 16 home runs ... Her 100th career hit was RBI single in the bottom of the third inning to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run in a 3-0 shutout over Central Michigan in the 2025 regular season finale.
» CLIMBING THE BALL STATE CHARTS: Junior Maia Pietrzak enters the 901 Classic ranked ninth in program history with a .349 (80-for-229) career batting average ... She is Ball State's active career leader with 76 career runs scored, with her 60 runs in 2025 ranking as the third-best total in a season in program history ... Pietrzak also currently ranks sixth in program history with a .451 on base percentage and 16th with a .524 slugging percentage.
» ON THE BASES: Ball State was one of the nation's craftiest teams on the base paths last season, ranking first in the MAC and 30th among all NCAA Division I programs with a 1.71 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals opened the 2026 season with three stolen bases opening weekend with one each by Maia Pietrzak, freshman center fielder Paige Kelley and freshman pitcher/pinch runner Grace Gray ... Pietrzak is currently Ball State's active career stolen base leader, at 19, while senior outfielder Ashlee Lovett is second at 18.
» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State put on an offensive clinic last season, ranking first in the MAC and 22nd nationally by averaging 6.59 runs per game ... The Cardinals opened the 2026 season on a similar pace, averaging 6.40 runs per game which is currently seventh in the league and 86th nationally ... Both of Ball State's wins at the FGCU Kickoff Classic came via the run rule, with the Cardinals scoring a combined 22 runs in the two games.
» TAKING THE HIT: A pride point for the offense under the leadership of third-year associate head coach Matt Burns, Ball State batters were hit by four pitches opening weekend to rank 65th nationally ... Last season, the Cardinals lead the nation by being hit 91 times, which was a BSU single season record topping the previous mark of 55 set in 2015 ... The next closest team was St. John's, which was hit 69 times over 57 games, six more than the 51 the Cardinals played ... Under Burns' offensive guidance Ball State batters have been hit by 147 pitches over the past two seasons.
»A STRONG START: Grace Gray made quite the impact in her first collegiate start, earning a complete game shutout in the 10-0 (5) win over Long Island (Feb. 7) ... Over a team-high 12.0 innings of work at the FGCU Kickoff Classic, she registered a team-low 2.33 ERA and stuck out a team-leading 12 batters ... Her 12 strikeouts were fourth in the MAC and 103rd nationally, while her strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.00 is 87th nationally.
» PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION: The Ball State softball team was picked to finish third among the 12 teams in the MAC's annual preseason coaches' poll ... The Cardinals earned 98 total points and two first-place votes ... Miami was picked to win its seventh consecutive MAC regular season titles with 116 points and eight first-place votes, while Ohio was selected second with 108 points and one first-place tally ... The Cardinals also earned one vote to win the MAC Softball Championship title, with Miami and Ohio garnering five each.
