Ball State University Athletics
SCHEDULE UPDATE: Softball Heads To Miami For Three-Game Series
April 16, 2026 | Softball
| Ball State (16-23; 3-15 MAC) at Miami (31-13; 12-6 MAC) | |
| Games 40 at Miami | Friday, April 17 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats |  Live Video |
| Games 41 at Miami | Friday, April 17 - 30 minutes after Game 1 Live Stats | Live Video |
| Games 42 at Miami | Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats | Live Video |
| Tickets Info | FREE ADMISSION |
| Notes | Ball State |  Miami |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: After Wednesday's thrilling 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Indiana State, the Ball State softball team will look to carry over the momentum Friday when it opens a three-game series versus league rival Miami with a 3 p.m. doubleheader at the Miami Softball Stadium ... The teams will also play a single game Saturday starting at 1 p.m. ... The scheduled was adjusted to anticipated weather on Saturday.
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» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend series at Miami with a 1226-1212-4 (.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.
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» A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS:
OFFENSE: The Ball State offense is paced by a trio of Cardinals batting above .340, led by senior first baseman Lindsey DeRoeck with a .358 average ... DeRoeck also ranks fifth in the MAC and 59th nationally with 13 doubles ... Senior designated player / pitcher Ella Whitney is second on the squad with a .350 average, while ranking second the MAC and ranking 44th nationally with 48 RBIs ... She also leads the squad and is second in the conference with 11 home runs ... Junior shortstop Maia Pietrzak is third on the team with her .341 average and has scored a team-leading 33 runs ... Overall, Ball State's offense is seventh in the MAC with a .289 average.
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PITCHING: On the pitching front, junior Brinkley Kita leads the squad with a 3.83 ERA over 56.2 innings of work ... She also boasts a 5-6 record and a team-low .272 opponent's batting average ... Redshirt junior Bridie Murphy leads the squad with 71.0 innings of work, while boasting a 4-5 record and a 4.83 ERA ... Ella Whitney is right behind at 56.1 innings, maintaining a 5-5 record and 4.85 ERA ... Overall, Ball State's pitching staff is sixth in the MAC with a 4.74 ERA.
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DEFENSE:Â Ball State ranks second in the MAC and 57th nationally with a .971 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 32 errors on the season, while turning 14 double plays ... Toledo (26) and Central Michigan (29) are the only league schools to commit fewer errors the Ball State this season ... BSU has also limited opposing teams to 16 stolen bases this season which is tied for 22nd nationally ... Miami is the next lowest in the conference at 19.
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» VERSUS MIAMI: While Ball State holds a 61-60 edge in the all-time series, Miami won three of the five meetings last season ... The RedHawks opened a three-game series in Muncie with a 7-4 (8) victory on April 11, 2025, at the Ball State Softball Stadium ... The Cardinals rebounded by sweeping an April 12 doubleheader by scores of 3-0 and 5-0 ... Unfortunately, Miami also picked up a pair of wins in the MAC Tournament by scores of 6-5 on May 8 and 8-0 (5) on May 9 ... The RedHawks hold a 27-25 edge in games played in Oxford, including sweeping an April 16, 2024, doubleheader by scores of 8-3 and 4-2 ... Ball State's last win at the Miami Softball Stadium was a 4-2 victory to open an April 20, 2021, twinbill.
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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.
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» MORE ON WHITNEY: Including her two seasons at FIU, Whitney owns 29 pitching wins, a 3.92 ERA and 139 strikeouts ... She is also a .312 career batter with 145 hits, including 33 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.
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» CLIMBING THE BALL STATE CHARTS: Junior Maia Pietrzak enters the weekend ranked 10th in program history with a .344 (120-for-349) 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.
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» 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 33 runs this season which tie as the 13th-most in the league and raises her career total to 106.
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» 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.
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» 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 41 times so far this season to rank third in the MAC and 16th 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 184 pitches over the past two-plus seasons.
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» WALK THIS WAY: The Cardinals have drawn 154 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 154 walks currently rank fifth in the MAC and 62nd nationally, led by 20 from Ella Whitney and Skylinn Pogue ... In fact, eight Ball State batters have drawn at least 10 walks this season.
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» THE POGUE FACTOR: Another first-year player for the Cardinals, Skylinn Pogue enters the weekend ranked second on the squad with 31 runs scored, while boasting a .306 batting average ... Pogue is also tied for the team lead with four triples to tie for third in the MAC and 37th 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.
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» A NOBLE CAUSE: Redshirt sophomore Allee Noble has worked her way into the lineup, starting 16 of the last 19 games at catcher ... During the span, she boasts a .304 average, including 14 hits, two doubles, five RBIs and four runs scored ... Mainly a pinch runner as a redshirt freshman in 2025, scoring seven runs, she has recorded her first 18 career hits this season and boasts a .315 average over 21 games, with 20 starts at catcher.
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» 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 the 7-6 victory to open an April 3 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 the March 31 game at IU Indy and Spencer produced a team-best .545 batting average during the week, to go along with team highs of six runs scored and eight RBIs.
