Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Bellarmine
SCHEDULE UPDATE: Softball Heads To Louisville for Cardinal Classic
March 05, 2026 | Softball
| Ball State (7-6) at Cardinal Classic (hosted by Louisville) - UPDATED SCHEDULE DUE TO WEATHER | |
| Games 14 vs. Bellarmine (5-14) | Friday, March 6 at 11 a.m. ET Live Stats |
| Games 15 at Louisville (15-4) | Friday, March 6 at 1:30 p.m. ET Live Stats |  ACCNX |
| Games 16 at Louisville (15-4) | Saturday, March 7 at 9 a.m. ET Live Stats |  ACCNX |
| Games 17 vs. Long Island (0-20) | Sunday, March 8 at 11:30 a.m. ET Live Stats |
| Games 18 vs. Illinois (7-12) | Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m. ET Live Stats |
| Tickets Info | FREE ADMISSION |
| Notes | Ball State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team closes its 2026 pre-conference slate this weekend at the Cardinal Classic hosted by Louisville ... The Cardinals open the three-day event Friday with games versus Bellarmine (11 a.m.) and host Louisville (1:30 p.m.) ... Saturday's lone game will be a rematch of the battle of the Cardinals starting at 9 a.m. ... Ball State is also slated to play Long Island (11:30 a.m.) and Illinois (2 p.m.) Sunday.
» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the Cardinal Classic with a 1217-1195-4 (.505) 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.
» LAST TIME OUT: Ball State went 3-2 at the Hilltopper Spring Fling hosted by Western Kentucky ... BSU topped Illinois by a score of 7-6 and IU Indy by a score of 2-1 (8) on the opening day ... After losing an extra-inning thriller by a score of 6-4 (10) to host WKU to open play Saturday, the Cardinals rebounded with a 12-4 (5) victory over IU Indy ... Ball State closed the event with a 4-2 setback to Illinois Sunday.
 » 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, leading the team and ranking 77th nationally with a .463 batting average ... Named MAC Co-Player of the Week for her play at last weekend's Hilltopper Spring Fling, DeRoeck also leads the squad with 17 RBIs and 11 of her 19 hits have gone for multiple bases, including seven doubles, a triple and three home runs ... Senior pitcher / designated player Ella Whitney has been almost as solid, boasting a .385 average with 14 RBIs, three doubles and three home runs.
PITCHING: Redshirt junior Bridie Murphy was named the MAC Co-Pitcher of the Week for her effort at the Hilltopper Spring Fling, which included an eight-inning complete game victory over IU Indy in which she struck out seven batters and limited the Jaguars to five hits ... Murphy is second on the squad with a 3.15 ERA this season, while holding opposing batters to a .286 average this season ... Freshman Gray Gray leads the squad with a 3.11 ERA and 15 strikeouts, one more than Murphy.
DEFENSE: Ball State ranks fourth in the MAC and 91st nationally with a .968 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 12 errors on the season, while turning five double plays.
» VERSUS THE CARDINAL CLASSIC FIELD: Ball State owns a 14-12 record against teams in the Cardinal Classic field ... The Cardinals own a 3-1 edge in the all-time series versus Bellarmine, including a 3-1 victory in the latest meeting March 25, 2025 ... Ball State is 1-4 all-time versus Louisville, but have not played the Cardinals since an 8-0 (5) setback on March 8, 2015 ... BSU has already picked up a pair of wins over Long Island this season, with the most recent being a 12-2 (5) win on Feb. 8 at the FGCU Kickoff Classic ... Ball State split a pair of games with Illinois last weekend, with the Illini earning a 4-2 win in Sunday's final game for both squads at the Hilltopper Spring Fling.
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 26 pitching wins, two saves and 129 strikeouts ... She is also a .307 career batter with 117 hits, including 24 doubles, one triple and 18 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.
» CLIMBING THE BALL STATE CHARTS: Junior Maia Pietrzak enters the Cardinal Classic ranked 12th in program history with a .335 (84-for-257) career batting average ... She is Ball State's active career leader with 84 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 .440 on base percentage.
» 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 have opened the 2026 season on a similar pace, averaging 5.77 runs per game to rank fifth in the league and 90th nationally ... Both of Ball State's wins at the FGCU Kickoff Classic came via the run rule, with the Cardinals have out-scored opponents 75 to 51 so far this year.
» 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 13 times so far this season to rank fourth in the MAC and 79th 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 156 pitches over the past two-plus seasons.
» WALK THIS WAY: The Cardinals have drawn 63 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 ... Junior third baseman Mandy Lauth currently leads the team with 11 walks, while ranking first in the MAC and 15th nationally with 0.92 walks per game ... Lauth, who has also been hit-by-pitch a team-leading six times this season, is second in the MAC and 53rd nationally with a .575 on base percentage ... Senior outfielder Ashley Lovett is fifth in the league and 117th nationally with 0.69 walks per game.
» LEADING THE CHARGE: In addition to leading the squad with 17 RBIs so far this season, Lindsey DeRoeck has a MAC-best .902 slugging percentage ... Of her 19 hits, 11 have gone for multiple bases including seven doubles, one triple and three home runs.Â
» 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.
