Coming off a rainy but successful weekend in New Mexico, Ball State softball (5-2) will head east this weekend to take on Canisius (1-8), East Carolina (6-4) and Saint Francis (5-5) in the ECU Pirate Invitational.
Ball State is coming off a hot weekend in which it went 2-0, defeating Boston University and New Mexico State. Sophomore Janae Hogg headlined last weekend as she hit two game-winning home runs. Junior Aeshia Miles has had the hot hand on the mound as of late, as she was named Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week. Miles played her first full game of the season against the Aggies, allowing seven hits and striking out five.
Canisius has gotten off to a rough start, going 0-5 last weekend in the Jacksonville Spring Tournament. The Golden Griffins have met another MAC opponent this season in Bowling Green. The Griffins dropped the game 0-8. Freshman Lindsi Dennis leads the Golden Griffins this season in hits with six in eight games. The Cardinals will wrap up tournament play against the Griffins Sunday.
Going into the Friday night cap, the Cardinals will face host East Carolina. The Pirates held a 4-1 record last weekend in the Pirate Clash at ECU. Senior Meredith Burroughs has driven in the most runs for the Pirates with six. Sophomore Olivia Narron and junior Ashley Weingartz are both running .308 and .313 batting averages early this season. The Cardinals will also meet the Pirates in the Saturday afternoon game.
Ball State's final new opponent of the weekend will be Saint Francis in the Saturday morning slot. The Red Flash currently stand at a .500 record with a notable win over Maryland last weekend in Auburn, Alabama. Saint Francis also held close with No. 12 Auburn in their first matchup, losing 4-3 before being shutout in the next game 4-0. Sophomore Abby Tranhan has proven to have the red-hot hand for the Red Flash as she struck out 10 last weekend in the win over Maryland. Junior Kassidy Troxell also hit a grand slam last weekend in an 8-1 win over Georgia State.
Ball State's first game against Canisius is scheduled to start 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Contact Jack Williams with comments at jgwilliams@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @jackwilliamsBSU.
The Daily News welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.