MUNCIE, Ind. — Last year, senior Faith Hensley said she felt like the Ball State softball team had to play nearly perfectly if it wanted to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Welcoming in then-first-year coach Lacy Schurr (formerly Wood), the Cardinals finished the season with a 37-18 record and 31-8 mark in the Mid-American Conference, good to finish second in the league. With the cancelation of the usual postseason conference tournament, Ball State's regular season mark left it just short of Miami (46-8, 36-2 MAC), which went on to represent the MAC in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional.
In 2021, Ball State, a team with 11 seniors and super seniors played well, but fell just short of clinching its first NCAA Tournament bid in six years.