“Gritty” performance keeps the Cardinals hot heading into postseason play

By Caleb Zuver / April 16, 2023

Having to dig out of a hole has been a common thread for Ball State (13-9, 5-5 MAC) in 2023. Whether it was within respective matches, or trying to recover from a 2-5 start in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, they’ve been battling from behind for most of this season. After their 4-3 win Sunday over the Buffalo Bulls (9-8, 5-5 MAC), they’ve fought all the way back to claim a spot in the upcoming MAC tournament. 

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WOMEN'S GOLF

Ball State takes 7th at Lady Jaguar invite despite poor round two conditions

By Elijah Poe / April 16, 2023

Women’s Golf traveled to Carmel, Indiana, to play in the Lady Jaguar Invitational playing 36 holes at Plum Creek Golf Club this past weekend. Ball State's five-person roster consisted of junior Kiah Parrott, first-year Jasmine Driscoll, first-year Sarah Gallagher, first-year Madelin Boyd and second-year Payton Bennett. 

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WOMEN'S TENNIS

Ball State extends win-streak to five, sweeps Northern Illinois

By Caleb Zuver / April 16, 2023

Ball State Women’s Tennis (18-3, 7-1 MAC) continued its dominant ways Sunday by sweeping the Northern Illinois Huskies (12-14, 2-6 MAC) for the second time this year. The scoreboard says that the Cardinals had no issues but assistant coach Rifanty Kahfiani explained that this was a much tougher one to get than the last time these teams matched up on March 31.

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SOFTBALL

Cardinals sweep Buffalo, return to .500

By Zach Carter / April 16, 2023

Ball State (21-21, 11-9 MAC) opened its weekend home series with a doubleheader. In game one, the Cardinals used solid offense and good pitching to capture a 4-1 victory.

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MEN'S GOLF

Ball State Men’s Golf places seventh at the Boilermaker Invitational

By Elijah Poe / April 15, 2023

After coming off of a tournament that ended Wednesday, Ball State Men’s Golf was back in action with a quick turnaround for the Boilermaker Invitational.  

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MIVA TOURNAMENT

Cardinals down Quincy to advance to MIVA semis

By Corbin Hubert / April 15, 2023

The energy inside Worthen Arena was constant throughout Saturday’s quarterfinal sweep (25-20, 25-19, 25-15) for the No. 10 Cardinals (19-8, 11-3 MIVA) in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament against the No. 8 seed Quincy.  

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MCS PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

8 in ‘88: A look back at Muncie Central’s 1988 state basketball championship team

By Grayson Joslin / April 15, 2023

Coming into the 1987-88 season, Muncie Central had seven state championships to their name, but they hadn’t had any since 1979 when they took down conference rival Anderson in the state championship game. The Bearcats made it all the way to Market Square Arena and won their eighth state championship in school history. Thirty-five years after the team in purple raised the state championship trophy, players and fans look back on that team. 

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MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS

Ball State's tennis teams cruise to conference wins

By Caleb Zuver / April 14, 2023

In order for a collegiate tennis match to take place outdoors, the temperature must be 50 degrees or higher, and sustained winds must be less than 20 miles per hour. Because of this, Ball State Men’s and Women’s tennis have been indoors for its home matches this season... both teams got to share the sunshine Friday as they each had 1 p.m matches at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center in the team’s first home outdoor matches of the year. 

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SPORTS

Intramural Flag Football begins

By Dylan Selke / April 14, 2023

“It’s a little bit of a taste of what it’s kind of like to be a division one football player,” Junior Jacob Valentine said. “Growing up, that was kind of a dream of mine, so to be able to do that here at the college that I go to is really exciting.” 

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SOFTBALL

Ball State drops third MAC series in a row against Western Michigan

By Zach Carter / April 12, 2023

In a mid-week road series against Western Michigan, Ball State softball fell 2-1, the Cardinals have now lost three Mid-American Conference (MAC) series in a row. In the series opener, Ball State was run-ruled 10-2 and the Cardinals rounded out the series by splitting Wednesday’s doubleheader.

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MEN'S GOLF

Ball State Men’s Golf places 11th out of 15 at a stacked field for the Mason Rudolph Championship

By Elijah Poe / April 12, 2023

“The course was playing a little bit more challenging this year than in years past,” [head coach Mike] Fleck said. “I think the greens were a little firmer and faster, the rough was definitely thick, and they had some rain in the week and let the rough grow out.” 

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SPORTS

The Elam Ending

By Andy Newman / April 12, 2023

“What I didn’t know at the time in 2007 is that it would take 10 years of outreach to people to finally see it implemented in 2017,” Elam said. “The whole time I felt like I was one day away from a major breakthrough.”

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SPORTS

Ball State softball pitcher stands out among the rest

By David Rodriguez / April 12, 2023

“I did have big expectations for myself. I expected myself to do the same thing that I did and then better. I had to kind of change those expectations because they were just too much to put on anybody, especially yourself,” Russo said. 

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BASEBALL

Ball State Baseball falls to Hoosiers in key in-state non-conference matchup

By Kyle Smedley / April 11, 2023

Ball State Baseball (23-9, 10-2 MAC) fell to Indiana (23-10, 7-2 B1GTEN) in an in-state non-conference matchup 16-13. The Cardinals return to action April 14 at 3 p.m., as they begin their weekend series against Central Michigan (17-13, 7-5 MAC) in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

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SPORTS

Men’s golf flies high

By Maxwell Robinson / April 10, 2023

 “I’ve kind of been on the struggle bus a little bit and its been a matter of putting everything together whether one week struggling off a tee, one week struggling putting. It was nice to finally have a good week,” Smith said. 

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SPORTS

Ball State Badminton Club founded

By Bryce Dmyszewicz / April 10, 2023

“I really enjoy being here because I get to meet new people who love the sport, since nobody’s in my major here, a break from school and a break from daily life,” explains member Emily Howell. 

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SOFTBALL

Ball State falls to Toledo in first home-series loss, drops to seventh in MAC

By Zach Carter / April 9, 2023

The Cardinals returned home for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) series with Toledo. After three games, the Cardinals fell 2-1 in their first home-series defeat.  “We've just gotta get the ball rolling,” Cardinals head coach Lacy Schurr said. “This team is very, very capable and I think we just need a little bit of momentum going into the right time of the year.”

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MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Cardinals knock off rival Purdue Fort Wayne to claim second-straight MIVA regular season title

By Staff Reports / April 8, 2023

The Cardinals (18-8, 11-3 MIVA) achieved the above Saturday with their sweep (25-17, 25-17, 25-22) of their MIVA rival Purdue Fort Wayne (16-12, 7-7 MIVA) in what was Senior Night for the program. Fifth-year outside attacker Kaleb Jenness wound up leading Ball State on offense with a game-high 15 kills.  

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NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

COBB: Two steps forward, one step backward

By Derran Cobb / April 8, 2023

One might think that these accomplishments would be the main story to come out of this game, but you would be wrong...in the closing minutes of the game, LSU, fans and even Iowa knew the game was over. This prompted Reese to taunt Clark, using the "you can't see me" gesture, popularized by WWE wrestler John Cena. Next, she pointed at her hand signaling she was ready for the ring. 

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BASEBALL

Ball State Baseball wins fifth straight series, taking two out of three games over The Citadel

By Kyle Smedley / April 8, 2023

Ball State Baseball (23-8, 10-2 MAC) went 2-1 in its final non-conference series of the season against The Citadel (15-16, 1-5 Southern). The Cardinals return to action April 11 at 6 p.m. against Indiana University (20-10, 5-2 B1GTEN) in Bloomington.