» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: The Ball State softball team returns to Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, for the 2025 Mid-American Conference Softball Championships May 7-10 … The Cardinals enter as the No. 4 seed and will battle No. 5 seed Akron in the opening game of the tournament Wednesday at Noon.

 

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the MAC Softball Championship with a 1208-1187-4 (.504) overall record dating back to 1975 … With its 5-2 win at Ohio on April 29, the Cardinals reached the 30-win mark for the 17th time in program history and the 12th time in the past 18 campaigns.

 

» BALL STATE IN THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP: Ball State enters the 2025 MAC Softball Championship with a 31-31 all-time record in league tournament play after its run to the championship series last season … The Cardinals won the event in 1998, 2010, and 2015 with perfect 4-0 marks … Ball State finished as runner-up in the 2001 (3-2 record) and 2024 (4-2 record) tournaments … A complete MAC Softball Championship history can be found on page 3.

 

– VERSUS NO. 1 MIAMI: After posting back-to-back shutouts of the RedHawks on April 12 to win the 2025 regular season series by a 2-1 margin, the Cardinals hold a 61-58 lead all-time versus Miami … However, the RedHawks hold a 5-2 edge in MAC Softball Championship play, including an 8-0 (5) win to claim the tournament title last season.

 

– VERSUS NO. 2 OHIO: The Cardinals and Bobcats split an April 29 doubleheader in Athens, helping Ball State maintain a 55-46-1 advantage in the all-time series … Ohio does hold a 3-2 edge in MAC Softball Championship play after the teams split a pair of games at last season’s tournament … BSU earned the last win, advancing to the title game with a 5-1 victory for its third elimination game win on May 10.

 

– VERSUS NO. 3 CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Cardinals and Chippewas closed the 2025 regular season in Muncie this past weekend with both squads earning a shutout win … After the split, CMU holds an 80-35 advantage in the all-time series … That includes a 5-5 split in MAC Softball Championship play, with the Cardinals earning a 7-6 victory over the Chippewas in its first of three elimination game victories on May 10 last season.

 

– VERSUS NO. 5 AKRON: Ball State won two of the three games played in Akron this season, extending its lead in the all-time series to 49-26 … The series lead includes a 3-2 edge in MAC Softball Championship play, with the last tournament meeting being a 10-2 (6) Ball State victory on May 6, 2015 … This will be the first tournament meeting with former Ball State head coach Craig Nicholson (2007-13) leading the Zips.

 

– VERSUS NO. 6 NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies swept an April 1 doubleheader versus the Cardinals in Muncie, extending its lead in the all-time series to 55-40 … Included in the total is an 8-2 NIU lead in MAC Softball Championship play … The teams last met in the tournament May 12, 2018, with the Huskies eliminating the Cardinals courtesy of a 4-3 victory … NIU also handed BSU its first tournament loss that season with a 3-1 win.

 

BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:

» EARNING HER SPOT AMONG THE NATION’S BEST: Thanks to her solid play so far this season, redshirt senior catcher McKayla Timmons has been recognized as one of the nation’s top catchers, including earning the No. 2 spot in the latest D1Softball.com Power Rankings released April 24 … She also moved up three spots to No. 4 in the latest SoftballAmerica.com position rankings released April 28 … Timmons has earned those accolades by leading the MAC and ranking 44th nationally with a .430 batting average … Timmons has blasted a team-leading 15 home runs this season and ranks ninth nationally in walks per game at 0.91 … In addition, Timmons ranks fourth nationally in on base percentage (.608), 14th in slugging percentage (.906), 39th in runs scored (54) and 62nd in RBIs (53).

 

» CAREER IMPACT: Along with all her success this season, McKayla Timmons is set to end her collegiate career as one of the most prolific players in program history … In last Tuesday’s 5-2 win at Ohio, she became just the 11th player in program history to reach 200 career hits and she currently ranks first on Ball State’s career list in on base percentage (.512), second in slugging percentage (.782), second in home runs (56), second in RBI (178), third in batting average (.383) and fourth in runs scored (157) … She also owns the program record for times being hit by a pitch at 44, while her 107 career walks are fifth.

 

» SHINING BEHIND THE PLATE TOO: In addition to pacing the offense, McKayla Timmons has proven to be one of the nation’s top threats behind the plate and finished the 2024 season ranked as one of the nation’s best catchers by SoftballAmerica.com … She was fifth on SA’s final catchers list and 47th among the nation’s top 100 players … The effort was aided by Timmons throwing out 11 of the 37 runners attempting to steal a base on her last season … She has already caught nine runners trying to steal this season, while surrendering just 17 stolen bases, and has picked off a pair of runners at first base.

 

» ON THE BASES: Ball State has proven to be one of the nation’s craftiest teams on the base paths, ranking first in the MAC and 24th among all NCAA Division I programs with a 1.81 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals have successfully stolen 85 of the 99 bases it has attempted to steal, led by 21 stolen bases from McKayla Timmons which is third in the league and 73rd nationally … Overall, 14 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base, with redshirt junior second baseman McKenna Mulholland ranking second on the squad and seventh in the MAC with 16 and sophomore shortstop Maia Pietrzak ranking third on the squad and 10th in the MAC at 14 … Conversely, Ball State has limited opposing squads to just 19 stolen bases on 28 attempts this season … Only 11 teams in the country have limited teams to less stolen bases, with the next best MAC school being Central Michigan at 25.

 

» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State has been putting on an offensive clinic so far this season, ranking first in the MAC and 22nd nationally by averaging 6.79 runs per game … The Cardinals have earned eight run-rule victories and have scored 10-or-more runs in 13 games this season … Overall, Ball State is out-scoring opponents 319 to 202 and owns a 24-4 record when scoring at least five runs … In fact, Ball State’s 319 runs scored are already the seventh-most in a season in program history, with the record being the 368 runs scored by the 2012 squad.

 

» TAKING THE HIT: Ball State’s offense is bolstered by its ability to get on base, and one area the Cardinals excel in is staying tough in the box and getting hit by pitches … The Cardinals currently lead the nation in being hit 86 times, which is already a BSU single season record topping the previous mark of 55 set in 2015 … Leading the way is McKenna Mulholland who broke the program’s single season record in the regular season finale vs. Central Michigan with her 16th HBP this season which is ninth nationally … McKayla Timmons and Maia Pietrzak are right behind at 15 and 13, respectively … The next closest team is St. John’s which has been hit 67 times over 55 games, eight more than the Cardinals have played.

 

» THE WHITNEY EFFECT: Junior Ella Whitney, who played her first two seasons of collegiate softball at FIU, is second in the MAC and 33rd nationally with her 18 pitching victories … Over 155.1 innings of work, the two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week honoree has compiled a 2.97 ERA which is fifth in the MAC … Whitney has also limited opposing batters to a .230 average against which ranks first in the league, while owning the third-best WHIP in the MAC at 1.23.

 

» MORE ON WHITNEY: A two-way player for the Cardinals, Ella Whitney is also a big offensive threat, boasting a .313 average and ranking second on the team in both home runs (9) and RBIs (47) … She recorded Ball State’s first triple of the year and is tied for second on the team with 11 doubles.

 

» SOME OF THE NATION’S TOUGHEST: Maia Pietrzak and senior outfielder Kara Gunter enter the MAC Softball Championship as two of the nation’s toughest batters to strike out … Pietrzak is fourth in the MAC and 37th nationally at one strikeout per every 25.3 at bats, while Gunter is sixth in the MAC and 63rd nationally at one strikeout per every 21.6 at bats.

 

» MORE ON PIETRZAK: Maia Pietrzak is having a spectacular sophomore season, ranking  second on the team and 13th in the MAC with a .362 batting average … In fact, she leads all MAC players and ranks 18th nationally with 59 runs scored which is the third-most in a single season in program history … She is also third on the squad with seven home runs.