Akron Softball Set To Throw First Pitch Of MAC Play At Ball State

Friday, March 22

Muncie, Ind.

3:00 PM

University of Akron

Ball State

Akron Softball Set To Throw First Pitch Of MAC Play At Ball State

March 21 | Softball

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Akron vs. Ball State
March 22-23 | Muncie, Ind.
Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex

Game Information
Live Stats:GoZips.com
Watch: GoZips.com (Friday)
Watch: GoZips.com (Saturday)
Akron vs. Ball State Gamenotes (PDF)

What's Ahead
As the Akron softball team puts tournament play behind them until the postseason, the 2019 schedule turns to Mid-American Conference play for the Zips. Akron is scheduled for its first taste MACtion this weekend as the Zips travel to Muncie, Ind. Akron takes on Ball State in a three-game series starting on Friday, March 22 with a single contest before the Zips and Cardinals play two on Saturday, March 23.

Scouting the Cardinals
Ball State, the MAC preseason favorites to claim the regular-season championship and hoist the MAC Tournament trophy, enters MAC play after posting a 22-10 non-conference record through the first month and a half of the 2019 campaign. The Cardinals competed at the FGCU Kickoff Challenge (3-2), Madiera Beach Invitational (4-2), Silicon Valley Classic (4-1), USF Invitational (1-4), JU/UNF Spring Break Challenge (4-0), and the Mercer Bears Classic (4-1).

The Cardinals have three players who average over .300 hitting in a minimum of 20 games played including Haley Dominique, Kim Manuel, Amaia Daniel, and Kendall Fields. Dominque leads Ball State in nearly every statistical category owns a .343/.646/.458 slash line, 34 hits, 23 RBI, 22 runs scored, eight doubles, six home runs, and two triples. In 30 games and 15 starts, Kim is hitting .343 on 12 hits, scored 16 runs, and owns a team-high 11 steals in 11 attempts. Daniel, a freshman utility player, owns a .340 average, 16 hits, a .981 OPS, and 10 RBI.

Inside the circle, Ball State has five pitchers pick up at least one win through 32 games for the Cardinals. Despite the strong pitching staff, the Cardinals ace Sarah Venker, has been dangerous on the rubber for Ball State. Venker owns a 10-2 record, a 2.22 ERA, has tossed five complete games, and three shutouts. In 66.1 innings of play, Venker has surrendered just 48 hits, 23 runs, has struck out 69 hitters and walked just 30. Coupled with Venker, the trio of Darcie Huber, Tieghan Morio, and Aeshia Miles has a combined 11-8 record.

Series History
Dating back to 1991, Akron and Ball State have met on the field in 56 contests with the Cardinals owning a 34-22 advantage over the Zips. When competing in a Mid-American Conference match-up, Akron trails Ball State 19-32 and is an even 13-13 when going head-to-head in Muncie, Ind.

Last Time Out
An offensive outburst by Ball State on day two of a three-game series resulted in a pair of wins as the Cardinals defeated the Akron softball team 9-1 and 16-5 to complete the sweep at Lee Jackson Field.

In game one of the twinbill, Ball State scored four runs in the first two innings and an additional two runs in the top half of the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead.

Senior Kooper Vertz (Dilsboro, Ind.) started game two just as she did in game one of the weekend. Vertz tossed 2.1 innings, gave up five runs on six hits and struck out three. Redshirt freshman Shaye DeLeonardis (Martins Ferry, Ohio) entered the contest out of the pen and tossed 2.2 innings surrendering five hits and four runs.

2019 Zips Tidbits

Eight Zips, including Samantha Malik, Macky Mitchiner, Camryn Michallas, Amaya Smith, Lauren Holdsworth, Morgan Cadmus, Adrian Smith, and Lexie Petrof made their Akron debuts at the Blue Host Invitational.
Five Akron players recorded an OPS of over 1.000 in Akron's first five games, including Sydney Jascoe (1.559), Jessie Holzman (1.115), Kimberly Rodriguez (1.004), and Samantha Malik (1.034).
Sydney Jascoe recorded at least one hit in all five games for the Zips recording a five-game hit streak.
Adrian Smith picked up her first win in her first appearance in an Akron uniform against Morgan State (12-11).
The Zips scored 12 runs in their season opener, which is the most runs scored by an Akron team in a season opener.
For the third time in program history, Akron has ended two games in a draw. No Zips team has finished a season with more than a pair of ties.
In the first five games of the season, Akron stole 18 bases in 22 attempts courtesy of nine different Zips baserunners, including six base runners going a combined 12-for-12.
Adrian Smith struck out a season-high eight batters against Morgan State in her second victory of the season.
Mikayla Newland and Adrian Smith recorded the Zips first combined shutout of the season (5-0) over the Bears.
Amaya Smith earned her first collegiate victory inside the circle against George Mason.
Sydney Jascoe recorded three RBI against George Mason which are a career-high in a single-game.
At the Madeira Beach Tournament, Akron recorded 36 hits, eight doubles, two home runs, 20 RBI, scored 36 runs, and went 13-for-17 on stolen bases.
Sydney Jascoe has recorded team-highs in multi-hit games (6), hitting streak (8 games), multi-RBI games (5), on-base streak (8 games).
Kayla Wulf is currently on a team-best two-game hitting streak and has the largest active on-base streak at eight games.
The Zips offense has scored a season-high 20 runs in the third inning.
Jascoe owns a .600 batting average with a runner on third and less than two outs and .500 when successfully advancing runners.
Laura Lakins is hitting a team-high .556 with runners in scoring position and .429 with runners on the bases, Jessie Holzman owns a team-best .583 average when leading off an inning, and Sydney Jascoe has totaled a team-high seven RBI with two outs.
Samantha Malik owns a team-best .400 average with base empty.
Amaya Smith tossed her first career complete game shutout in an 8-0 win over North Carolina A&T.
Freshman Camryn Michallas recorded her first career multi-hit contest against UT Martin going 2-for-2 with an RBI

Up Next
A week full of softball is on the docket for the Zips with five games scheduled in a span of five days. Akron travels to Youngstown, Ohio to take on Youngstown State in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, March 26. The Zips return to MAC play and will open their 2019 home schedule at Lee Jackson Field on March 29-30 when Akron hosts Western Michigan in a three-game series.