Softball Hosts Western Michigan Saturday & Sunday

Saturday, April 11

Muncie, IN

1 p.m.

Ball State University

Western Michigan

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

Photo by: Katrina Shammami, CMU

April 10, 2026 | Softball

Ball State (15-20; 3-20 MAC) hosts Western Michigan (18-19; 7-8 MAC)
Games 33 at Northern Illinois	Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats \| Live Video (One-Camera Feed)
Games 34 at Northern Illinois	Saturday, April 11 - 30 minutes after Game 1 Live Stats \| Live Video (One-Camera Feed)
Games 35 at Northern Illinois	Sunday, April 12 at Noon ET Live Stats \| Live Video (One-Camera Feed)
Tickets Info	FREE ADMISSION
Notes	Ball State \| Western Michigan
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team closes the week with a three-game home series versus Western Michigan ... The Cardinals and Broncos will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a Noon game Sunday at the Ball State Softball Stadium ... Earlier in the week, Ball State lost all three games of a midweek series at Northern Illinois.

» THIS WEEKEND'S PROMOTIONS:
- PICNIC AT THE PARK - With limited concessions availability due to construction at the Ball State Softball Stadium, fans may feel free to bring either a soft-sided cooler, picnic baskets or reusable bags to hold any outside food, non-alcoholic beverages and sealed water bottles ... Prohibited items inside the stadium include alcoholic beverages, glass containers, hard-sided coolers, grills, heating elements and cooking equipment.
- APRIL 11 / HOMETOWN HEROS DAY - The Cardinals have invited Ball State University Police, local fire departments, emergency medical services and veteran organizations to attend the games.
- APRIL 12 / STRIKEOUT CANCER DAY - The Cardinals will highlight cancer awareness throughout the game, including giveaways from the NFCA.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend series versus Western Michigan with a 1225-1209-4 (.503) 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: The Ball State offense is paced by a trio of Cardinals batting above .350, led by senior first baseman Lindsey DeRoeck with a .372 average ... DeRoeck also ranks second in the MAC and 30th nationally with 13 doubles ... Senior designated player / pitcher Ella Whitney is second on the squad with a .355 average, while leading the MAC and ranking 31st nationally with 47 RBIs ... She also leads the squad and is second in the conference with 11 home runs ... Redshirt sophomore catcher Allee Noble is third on the team with her .354 average, including her first two career home runs last weekend ... Overall, Ball State's offense is sixth in the MAC with a .292 average.

PITCHING: On the pitching front, junior Brinkley Kita leads the squad with a 3.43 ERA over 51.0 innings of work ... She also boasts a 4-4 record and a team-low .275 opponent's batting average ...Redshirt junior Bridie Murphy leads the squad with 60.1 innings of work, while boasting a 4-4 record and a 4.29 ERA ... Ella Whitney is right behind at 55.0 innings, maintaining a 5-5 record and 4.71 ERA ... Overall, Ball State's pitching staff is fifth in the MAC with a 4.40 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .300 average.

DEFENSE: Ball State ranks fourth in the MAC and 87th nationally with a .968 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 32 errors on the season, while turning 13 double plays ... Toledo (20) and Central Michigan (26) are the only league schools to commit fewer errors the Ball State this season ... BSU has also limited opposing teams to 14 stolen bases this season which is tied for 22nd nationally ... Miami is the next lowest in the conference at 18.

» VERSUS WESTERN MICHIGAN: Ball State holds a slim 69-68 lead in the all-time series after winning the last four games ... Last season, the Cardinals swept an April 16, 2025, doubleheader in Kalamazoo by scores of 4-3 and 14-4 ... Of the 69 wins, 36 have come at home with Ball State owning a 36-32 edge in games player in Muncie ... The last time the teams met at the Ball State Softball Stadium was an April 20, 2022, twinbill with the Cardinals winning both games 5-0 ... BSU also won the season opener one day earlier by as score of 4-3.

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.

» MORE ON WHITNEY: Including her two seasons at FIU, Whitney owns 29 pitching wins, a 3.89 ERA and 139 strikeouts ... She is also a .312 career batter with 141 hits, including 31 doubles, two triples and 26 home runs ... Of her 26 career home runs, 21 have come with the Cardinals which tie for 14th in program history ... Whitney's 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 weekend ranked 11th in program history with a .339 (114-for-336) career batting average ... Her 100th career hit came in vs. Butler (March 24) 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 the opening game of the March 28 doubleheader 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 30 runs this season which tie as the 12th-most in the league and raise her career total to 104.

» GRAND SLAMS: Sophomore second baseman Addison Zimpleman became the third different Ball State player to hit a grand slam this season in the 6-2 victory over Toledo (March 28) 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 36 times so far this season to rank third in the MAC and 20th 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 179 pitches over the past two-plus seasons.

» WALK THIS WAY: The Cardinals have drawn 138 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 138 walks currently rank fourth in the MAC and 71st nationally, led by 18 from Ella Whitney ... In fact, eight Ball State batters have drawn at least 10 walks this season.

» THE POGUE FACTOR: Another first-year player for the Cardinals, Skylinn Pogue enters the WMU series tied for the team lead with 30 runs scored, while tying for fourth on the team with a .327 batting average ... Pogue has also smashed a team-leading four triples to tie for second in the MAC and 28th in the country ... A two-year starter at Iowa (2023-24), they are the first four triples of Pogue's collegiate career ... She has also collected her first four collegiate doubles this season, while picking up her second and third collegiate home runs.

» A NOBLE CAUSE: Redshirt sophomore Allee Noble has worked her way into the lineup, starting 13 of the last 15 games at catcher ... During the span, she leads the team with a .350 average, including 14 hits, two doubles, six RBIs and four runs scored ... Mainly a pinch runner as a redshirt freshman in 2025, scoring seven runs, she has recorded her first 17 career hits this season and boasts a .354 average over 18 games, with 17 starts at catcher.

» SPENCER BREAKS OUT: Redshirt junior outfielder Grace Spencer had a breakout weekend versus Ohio, including the first two home runs of her collegiate career ... Her first blast was a three-run shot to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run in last Friday's 7-6 victory to open a doubleheader versus the Bobcats ... She added a two-run shot in the nightcap of the twinbill, while driving in all three BSU runs in the game ... Throw in last Tuesday's game at IU Indy and Spencer produced a team-best .545 batting average last week, to go along with team highs of six runs scored and eight RBIs.