Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Toledo
Softball Travels To Toledo For Weekend #MACtion
March 26, 2026 | Softball
| Ball State (12-13; 1-5Â MAC) at Toledo (8-20; 4-2 MAC) | |
| Games 26 at Toledo | Friday, March 27 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Games 27 at Toledo | Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Games 28 at Toledo | Saturday, March 28 - 30 minutes after Game 1 Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | FREE ADMISSION |
| Notes | Ball State | Toledo |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Toledo ... The Cardinals and Rockets are scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at Scott Park.
» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the Toledo series with a 1222-1202-4 (.504) overall record dating back to the 1975 season ... 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:Â
OFFENSE: Senior first baseman Lindsey DeRoeck has made quite the impact in her first season at Ball State, ranking sixth the MAC with a .413 batting average ... DeRoeck also ranks second in the MAC and 61st nationally with 10 doubles, while her .675 slugging percentage is 13th in the league ... Senior designated player / pitcher Ella Whitney and redshirt junior catcher / third baseman Skylinn Pogue are currently tied for second on the squad with .354 average ... Both have logged 28 hits this season, with Whitney owning a team-high eight home runs and Pogue collecting a team-high three triples ... Whitney also has a team-high 32 RBIs, while Pogue is second on the squad with 23 runs scored ... Overall, Ball State's offense is sixth in the MAC with a .291 average, while ranking third in the league and 72nd nationally with a .401 on base percentage.
PITCHING: On the pitching front, junior Brinkley Kita leads the squad with a 3.15 ERA over 33.1 innings of work ... She also boasts a 3-2 record and a .277 opponent's batting average, while striking out 17 total batters ... Ella Whitney has thrown a team-leading 44.1 innings and has a 5-2 record to go along with a 3.79 ERA ... She is holding opposing batters to a .271 average and has also struck out 17 batters ... Overall, Ball State's pitching staff is second in the MAC with a 3.62 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .287 average.
DEFENSE: Ball State ranks third in the MAC and 107th nationally with a .966 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 25 errors on the season, while turning 10 double plays ... Ball State has also limited opposing teams to 11 stolen bases this season which is tied for 20th nationally.
» VERSUS TOLEDO: Ball State holds a 67-54-1 lead in the all-time series versus Toledo after picking up the three-game series victory last season ... Ball State won the opening game of the series played March 21-22, 2025, at the Ball State Softball Stadium by a score of 13-8 ... While Toledo rallied back to win the second game 17-14 (8) over a two-day span, the Cardinals took the series finale by a score of 9-8 ... Ball State is 28-31-1 all-time in games played in Toledo, with the Rockets claiming all three meetings during the 2024 regular season ... The Cardinals last wins at Scott Park came April 16, 2022, when BSU took both ends of a doubleheader by scores of 10-2 and 9-5.
BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:
» NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After her solid play on both offense and in the circle at the Cardinal Classic (March 6-8), Ella Whitney was named the D1Softball Mid-Major National Player of the Week ... She helped guide the Cardinals to a 4-1 record at the event by driving in 12 RBIs and blasting three home runs, while earning a 2-0 record and 1.85 ERA in the circle ... She also finished the tournament with a .471 batting average and four runs scored, while diving in what proved to be the game-winning run versus Bellarmine (March 6) with her second grand slam of the season ... She registered a 1.235 slugging percentage and a 1.735 OPS, adding two doubles and one triple to her stat line for 21 total bases.
» PRESEASON ACCOLADES: Ella Whitney 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.
» MORE ON WHITNEY: Including her two seasons at FIU, Whitney owns 29 pitching wins, a 3.74 ERA and 134 strikeouts ... She is also a .309 career batter with 130 hits, including 26 doubles, two triples and 23 home runs ... Her 100th career hit was an 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 ... Her 100th career RBI came courtesy of her solo home run in the 15-1 (5) victory over Bellarmine (March 6) earlier this season.
» CLIMBING THE BALL STATE CHARTS: Junior Maia Pietrzak enters the week tied for 11th in program history with a .339 (101-for-298) career batting average ... Her 100th career hit came in Tuesday's setback to Butler when she executed a perfect bunt single to load the bases in the bottom of the third inning ... Later in the inning, she would successfully steal home to help the Cardinals tie the score at 5-5 ... Pietrzak also singled to open the fifth inning and scored on double one batter later ... The two runs scored raised her career total to 99, which leaves her one shy of her becoming just the 16th player in program history to score 100 career runs for Ball State.
» TOUGHEST TO STRIKE OUT: In addition, Maia Pietrzak enters the Toledo series as one of the toughest batters in the MAC to strikeout out, ranking third in the league with one strikeout ever 25.0 at bats ... The average also ties for 61st nationally ... In fact, Pietrzak has only struck out 15 times in her collegiate career ... She finished her sophomore season ranked second in the MAC and 29th nationally with one strikeout per every 27.5 at bats.
» TAKING THE HIT: A pride point for the offense under the leadership of third-year associate head coach Matt Burns, Ball State batters have been hit by a pitch 23 times so far this season to rank fifth in the MAC and 71st 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 games the Cardinals played ... Under Burns' offensive guidance Ball State batters have been hit by 166 pitches over the past two-plus seasons.
» WALK THIS WAY: The Cardinals have drawn 110 total walks so far this season, including tying the program's single game record with 14 walks in the 9-5 victory over Southern Indiana (Feb. 13) ... Ball State previously drew 14 walks in a 15-7 (6) victory over Kent State on April 4, 2018 ... The team's 110 walks currently rank fourth in the MAC and 79th nationally, led by 13 each from junior third baseman Mandy Lauth, Skylinn Pogue, Ella Whitney and senior outfielder Ashlee Lovett.
» SPEAKING OF POGUE: Another first-year player for the Cardinals, Skylinn Pogue enters the Toledo series tied for second on the squad in both average (.354) and runs scored (23) ... Pogue has also smashed a team-leading three triples to tie for second in the MAC ... A two-year starter at Iowa (2023-24), they are the first three triples of Pogue's collegiate career ... She has also collected her first four collegiate doubles this season, while picking up her second career home run with her fourth-inning solo shot in Ball State's 7-6 victory over Illinois (Feb. 27).
» SEVERINO SHUTTING THE DOOR: Sophomore pitcher Breanna Severino has been finding her groove in relief during the MAC season, boasting a 0.58 ERA over four appearances and a team-high 12.0 innings of work ... She picked up her first save of the season in last Saturday's win at Central Michigan, throwing the final 3.0 innings and allowing just two hits ... During #MACtion, Severino has allowed just 10 hits and one run, while boasting a 1.33 WHIP and a .233 average against, both leading the squad ... She also has a team-high six strikeouts during the span.
