Softball Travels to IU Indy For Tuesday Showdown

Tuesday, March 31

Indianapolis, IN

3 p.m

Ball State University

IU Indy

Maia Pietrzak and Meagan Ramos; Ball State softball game action; at Central Michigan, Game 1 on March 21, 2026

Photo by: Katrina Shammami, CMU

March 30, 2026 | Softball

Ball State (13-15; 2-7 MAC) at IU Indy (4-25; 1-2 Horizon League)
Games 25 hosts Butler	Tuesday, March 31 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats
Tickets Info	FREE ADMISSION
Notes	Ball State \| IU Indy
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team opens the week Tuesday with a scheduled 3 p.m. first pitch at IU Indy ... It will be the third meeting between the teams this season, with the Cardinals winning the first two ... Ball State will then welcome Ohio to the Ball State Softball Stadium for Eastern Weekend with a 3 p.m. game Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State Tuesday's game at IU Indy with a 1223-1204-4 (.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:
OFFENSE: Senior first baseman Lindsey DeRoeck has made quite the impact in her first season at Ball State, ranking seventh the MAC with a .411 batting average ... DeRoeck also ranks second in the MAC and 51st nationally with 11 doubles, while her .656 slugging percentage is 13th in the league ... Senior designated player / pitcher Ella Whitney is second on the squad with a .360 average, while redshirt junior catcher / third baseman Skylinn Pogue is third at .356 ... Both have logged 32 hits this season, with Whitney owning a team-high nine home runs and Pogue collecting a team-high four triples ... Whitney also has a team-best 35 RBIs, while Pogue is second on the squad with 24 runs scored ... Overall, Ball State's offense is fifth in the MAC with a .294 average, while ranking third in the league and 72nd nationally with a .399 on base percentage.

PITCHING: On the pitching front, junior Brinkley Kita leads the squad with a 2.77 ERA over 43.0 innings of work ... She also boasts a 4-2 record and a .261 opponent's batting average, while striking out 20 total batters ... Ella Whitney has thrown a team-leading 47.0 innings and has a 5-3 record to go along with a 4.02 ERA ... She is holding opposing batters to a .277 average and has also struck out 20 batters ... Overall, Ball State's pitching staff is third in the MAC with a 3.77 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .289 average.

DEFENSE: Ball State ranks third in the MAC and 98th nationally with a .967 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 27 errors on the season, while turning 11 double plays ... Ball State has also limited opposing teams to 11 stolen bases this season which is tied for 16th nationally.

» VERSUS IU INDY: The Cardinals hold a 15-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Jaguars, including a pair of wins already this season ... The first was a 2-1 (8) victory Feb. 27 and the second was a 12-4 (5) win the following day ... Both games were played at the Hilltopper Spring Fling hosted by Western Kentucky ... Prior to this season, IU Indy earned an 8-3 win in the last game played at the IU Indy Softball Complex on April 12, 2022 ... Overall, Ball State is 3-1 in games played on the Jaguars' home field, with its last true road win in the series being an 11-4 triumph March 30, 2010.

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 3.77 ERA and 137 strikeouts ... She is also a .311 career batter with 134 hits, including 29 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 (105-for-310) career batting average ... Her 100th career hit came in last 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.

» ANOTHER MILESTONE MARK FOR PIETRZAK: Maia Pietrzak became just the 16th player in program history to reach 100 career runs scored in Saturday's opener at Toledo when she led off the game with a single to right field and scored on a triple from Skylinn Pogue ... Pietrzak scored 14 runs her freshman season, while adding 60 her sophomore campaign which are the third-most in a single season in program history ... She has already scored 27 runs this season which tie as the ninth-most in the league.

» GRAND SLAMS: Sophomore second baseman Addison Zimpleman became the third different Ball State player to hit a grand slam this season in last Saturday's 6-2 victory over Toledo when she took a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right center in the second inning to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run ... It was her first multiple base hit and first home run playing for the Cardinals, while she registered five doubles, a triple and seven home runs last season as a freshman at Purdue Fort Wayne.

» 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 27 times so far this season to rank fourth in the MAC and 56th 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 170 pitches over the past two-plus seasons.

» WALK THIS WAY: The Cardinals have drawn 115 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 115 walks currently rank fourth in the MAC and 91st nationally, led by 14 from Ella Whitney ... In fact, seven Ball State batters have drawn at least 10 walks this season.

» SPEAKING OF POGUE: Another first-year player for the Cardinals, Skylinn Pogue enters Tuesday's game at IU Indy ranked second on the squad in runs scored (24) and third in batting average (.356) ... Pogue has also smashed a team-leading four triples to tie for first 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 MAC play, boasting a team-leading 1.70 ERA over five appearances and 12.1 innings of work ... She picked up her first save of the season at Central Michigan (March 21), throwing the final 3.0 innings and allowing just two hits ... During #MACtion, Severino has allowed just 13 hits and three runs, while boasting a 1.70 WHIP and a .277 average against.