Softball Opens 2026 Season Friday at FGCU Kickoff Classic

Friday, February 6

Fort Myers, FL

12:30 p.m.

Ball State University

Charlotte

Softball Opens 2026 Season Friday at FGCU Kickoff Classic

February 04, 2026 | Softball

Ball State (0-0) at FGCU Kickoff Classic
Games 1 vs. Charlotte (0-0)	Friday, February 6 at 12:30 p.m. Live Stats
Games 2 vs. Long Island (0-0)	Saturday, February 7 at 3 p.m. Live Stats
Games 3 at FGCU (4-11)	Saturday, February 7 at 5:30 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
Games 4 vs. Southern Illinois (0-0)	Sunday, February 8 at 10 a.m. Live Stats
Game 5 vs. Long Island (0-0)	Sunday, February 8 at 12:30 p.m. Live Stats
Tickets Info	Ticket Information
Notes	Ball State \| Charlotte \| Long Island \| FGCU \| Southern Illinois
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens the 2026 season Friday when it battles Charlotte at 12:30 p.m. in its first of five games at the FGCU Kickoff Classic ... The Cardinals play Long Island (3 p.m.) and host FGCU (5:30 p.m.) Saturday and close the tournament with games versus Southern Illinois (10 a.m.) and LIU (12:30 p.m.) Sunday.

» IN THE OPENERS: Ball State enters Friday's game versus Charlotte with a 29-22 record in season-opening games since the 1975 season ... Last season, the Cardinals opened the year with a 4-1 victory over Oregon State (Feb. 7), powered by a solid pitching performance from Ella Whitney ... Whitney earned the complete game victory by scattering six hits and allowing just one run, while striking out three batters ... BSU's offense broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of a three-run home run from McKayla Timmons ... Kara Gunter drove in BSU's final run with a RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the 2026 season with a 1210-1189-4 (.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 QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS: Ball State is coming off one of the most prolific scoring seasons in program history, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference and 22nd nationally with a 6.59 runs-per-game average in 2025 ... While only 53% of the offense returns from a runs scored standpoint, three of the team's top five batters will be back in the lineup starting with junior infielder Maia Pietrzak ... Pietrzak was second on the squad and ninth in the MAC with a .376 batting average, while ranking first in the league and 35th nationally with 60 runs scored ... Also returning is two-way player senior Ella Whitney, who ranked second in the MAC with 50 RBIs while boasting a .299 batting average ... Whitney also led the Ball State pitching staff and became just the seventh player in program history to reached 20 wins in a season with a 20-4 overall record ... Whitney also led all MAC pitchers with a .231 opponents' batting average and ranked second in the conference with a 2.84 ERA ... Along with Whitney, starters sophomore Breanna Severino (8-6; 4.67 ERA) and junior Brinkley Kita (5-4; 4.36 ERA) return to the circle, as does senior Bridie Murphy who missed the 2025 season due to injury ... Murphy owns an 18-14 career record, along with a 3.81 ERA and 128 strikeouts.

» 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.

» VERSUS THE FGCU KICKOFF CLASSIC FIELD: Ball State owns a 15-21 all-time mark versus teams in the FGCU Kickoff Classic field ... The Cardinals are 0-1 all-time versus Charlotte, with the 49ers earning a 9-8 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two teams last season ... Ball State is 6-2 all-time versus Long Island, including a 5-0 victory in the latest meeting Feb. 29, 2020 ... FGCU holds a 5-2 edge in the all-time series, despite the Cardinals earning a 2-0 victory in its last trip to the FGCU Softball Complex Feb. 10, 2019 ... BSU is 7-13 all-time versus Southern Illinois, with the Salukis earning a 12-7 victory in the last meeting March 4, 2022.

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 enters 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 24 pitching wins, two saves and 117 strikeouts ... She is also a .298 career batter, with 102 hits, including 21 doubles and 15 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: Maia Pietrzak enters her junior season ranked 10th in program history with a .345 (77-for-223) career batting average ... She is Ball State's active career leader with 74 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 seventh in program history with a .446 on base percentage and 15th with a .525 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 successfully stole 87 of the 101 bases it attempted to steal, with total steals ranking 29th nationally ... Overall, 14 different Cardinals stole at least one base last season, with four players in double figures ... While the team lost its two top thieves from last season, in McKayla Timmons (21) and Kara Gunter (16), the Cardinals still return 47.1% of its stolen bases, 41 of 87, led by Maia Pietrzak at 14 and redshirt junior Payton Fox at 13.

» STOPPING OPPONENTS IN THEIR TRACKS: Ball State limited opponents to 20 stolen bases on 30 attempts last season ... Only 10 teams in the country held teams to fewer stolen bases.

» 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 earned nine run-rule victories and scored 10-or-more runs in 13 games last season ... Overall, Ball State is out-scored opponents 336 to 221 and owned a 26-4 record when scoring at least five runs ... In fact, Ball State's 336 runs scored were the sixth-most in a season in program history.

» TAKING THE HIT: Ball State's offense was bolstered by its ability to get on base, and one area the Cardinals excelled in was staying tough in the box and getting hit by pitches ... 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 ... A pride point for third-year associate head coach Matt Burns, Ball State batters were hit 52 times in 2024, giving his players 143 free bases over the past two seasons.