Ball State’s Kris Burdine is still a little sour about last year’s season-sweep at the hands of the NIU softball team.

“We need a much better showing from the whole team this year,” Burdine said. “It’s usually a competitive series, but we need to win this one after last season.”

At 2 p.m. today, the BSU senior will try to lead the Cardinals (12-27 overall, 5-6 MAC) to victory at Mary Bell Field in a doubleheader with NIU (10-32, 2-10). The Huskies also will try to break their 14-game losing streak.

Ball State coach Terry Laux was in need of someone to fill the hole after losing the team’s offensive leader to graduation last season.

Burdine responded to the call with her best season at Ball State. Entering today’s game, she leads the team with a .320 batting average, .440 slugging percentage, two home runs and 40 total hits. She also is second on the team in steals and on-base percentage.

“She really assumed the leadership role, and we have depended on her a lot this season,” Laux said. “It’s great to have a lead-off hitter like her because whenever she gets on, we are looking to score her.”

This is a fact that NIU coach Donna Martin also knows and has tried to prepare for.

“She is a good little lead-off hitter,” Martin said. “When she goes, the team goes, so we need to keep her off the bases as much as possible.”

Burdine attributes much of her success this year to her hard work in the off-season.

After last season, Laux spent more time with her to get her to be a more consistent hitter, and Burdine said the work has paid off big time.

“I consider myself a very aggressive hitter so I really needed to work on becoming more disciplined,” Burdine said. “What I learned has allowed me to see much better pitches this year and be more consistent.”

Consistency is one thing Martin said she looks for from her pitching staff to try and hold Burdine and the Cardinals in check.

“We need a win, plain and simple,” Martin said. “We need our pitchers to step up and get those big outs. The main thing is that we try to target people who could hurt us, and Burdine definitely is one.”