Softball Hosts Ohio Friday & Saturday

Friday, April 3

Muncie, IN

1 p.m.

Ball State University

Ohio

Photo by: Brad Caudill - Ball State Athletics

April 02, 2026 | Softball

Ball State (14-15; 2-7 MAC) hosts Ohio (22-12; 5-4 MAC)
Games 30 hosts Ohio	Friday, April 3 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
Games 31 hosts Ohio	Friday, April 3 - 30 minutes after Game 1 Live Stats \| ESPN+
Games 32 hosts Ohio	Saturday, April 4 at 1 p.m. ET Live Stats \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	FREE ADMISSION
Notes	Ball State \| Ohio
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns home this weekend for a three-game series versus Ohio ... With wet weather in the forecast for much of the weekend, the teams are currently scheduled to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday and the series finals Saturday at 1 p.m.

» 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 4 / CHALLENGE LEAGUE BUDDIES DAY - Members of the Challenge League will be on hand and serve as anthem buddies during starting lineup ... The team will also sign autographs after the game, weather permitting.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the weekend series versus Ohio with a 1224-1204-4 (.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 sixth the MAC with a .409 batting average ... DeRoeck also ties for first in the MAC and 32nd nationally with 11 doubles, while her .656 slugging percentage is 12th in the league ... Senior designated player / pitcher Ella Whitney is second on the squad with a .366 average, while redshirt junior catcher / third baseman Skylinn Pogue is third at .355 ... Whitney owns a team-high nine home runs and Pogue has collected a team-high four triples ... Whitney also has a team-best 38 RBIs, while Pogue is second on the squad with 27 runs scored ... Overall, Ball State's offense is fifth in the MAC with a .303 average, while ranking third in the league and 63rd nationally with a .405 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 second in the MAC with a 3.82 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .291 average.

DEFENSE: Ball State ranks third in the MAC and 103rd nationally with a .966 fielding percentage ... The Cardinals have committed just 28 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 15th nationally.

» VERSUS OHIO: The Cardinals hold a 55-46-1 edge in the all-time series versus the Bobcats after splitting an April 29. 2025 doubleheader in Athens last season ... Ohio took the opening game by a score of 2-0, while Ball State won the nightcap 5-2 ... In games played in Muncie, the Cardinals own a 33-19 advantage including winning the 2024 regular season series at the Ball State Softball Stadium ... Ball State swept both ends of a March 16, 2024, doubleheader by scores of 7-5 and 5-0, while Ohio won the series finale the next day be a score of 7-0.

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 3.77 ERA and 137 strikeouts ... She is also a .313 career batter with 136 hits, including 31 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 weekend ranked 10th in program history with a .344 (108-for-314) 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 last 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 28 runs this season which tie as the 10th-most in the league and raise her career total to 102.

» 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 29 times so far this season to rank third in the MAC and 44th 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 172 pitches over the past two-plus seasons.

» WALK THIS WAY: The Cardinals have drawn 116 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 116 walks currently rank fourth in the MAC and 93rd 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 the Ohio series ranked second on the squad in runs scored (27) and third in batting average (.355) ... Pogue has also smashed a team-leading four triples to tie for first in the MAC and 22nd 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 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.

» A NOBLE CAUSE: Redshirt sophomore Allee Noble has worked her way into the lineup, starting seven of the last nine games at catcher ... During the span, she leads the team with a .423 average, including 11 hits, two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored ... Mainly a pinch runner as a redshirt freshman in 2025, scoring seven runs, she has recorded her first 14 career hits this season and boasts a .412 average in over 12 games, with 11 starts at catcher.