The Ball State softball team opens its fall season Sept. 12 with a home game against Taylor.
The team will play a total of eight games this fall, allowing new players a chance to get real game experience.
"It's a good time for us to assess our new players and see them in game situations," head coach Tyra Perry said.
There have been discussions about removing the fall season, but the players and coaches decided to stick with it.
"Practice and games can be quite different for players, and sometimes you have those gamers," Perry said. "The light bulb comes on when they're in action."
The team is going to have a different style this year with the graduation of three All-Mid-American Conference First Team selections. The team is missing Jennifer Gilbert, who led the team last year with 19 home runs. Taylor Rager hit 10 home runs and Audrey Bickel had nine, both key components to last year's power hitting team.
"This year we're going to be short game, fast, gap-shot kind of team," senior outfielder Loren Cihlar said. "We're actually going to have to manufacture runs and no one has seen us do that before, but we're going to prove it to everybody."
Due to the loss of the seniors, many view the returning MAC champions as an underdog this season.
However, the team is prepared to step up to the task of replacing the seniors.
"We're all really excited being the underdogs, it's like a challenge," senior outfielder Hanne Stuedemann said. "We've all been working so hard, because we know we're a different type of team who needs to step up because we don't have those home-run hitters."
With a 33-19 record from last year the goal remains the same for the Cardinals, to win the MAC regular season championship. They hope to take it a step further and win the MAC tournament championship as well.
"We have three rings already, so we're trying to get our fourth," Cihlar said. "Another goal is to make it past the tournament because a lot of people don't think we can do it."
The Cardinals haven't won the conference postseason tournament since 2010 despite three consecutive regular season titles.
"We'd be the first class to win all four seasons, but we also want to make it to regionals and on to the NCAA tournament." Stuedemann said.
The team will start its fall season at 5:15 pm. on its newly renovated field.
Read More
Indiana Capital Chronicle: Digital grant program halted by Trump administration, state says
By Indiana Capital Chronicle / 6 hours agoIndiana is suspending the application period for a Digital Opportunity Grant program, which opened April 30, under orders from President Donald Trump’s administration.
Ball State ends 2025 season with loss to Miami in MAC Softball Championship semifinal
By Zach Carter / 2 days agoBall State ended the year with a 8-0 loss to Miami.
Cardinals elect a new pope, the first American pope in history
By Staff Reports / 4 days agoCardinal Robert Prevost, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, according to the Associated Press (AP).
