Last weekend it was rain showers that taunted the baseball team's season-opening games in Birmingham, Ala. This time it is snow that has thrown an even bigger wrench into the schedule.
Originally, Ball State was to play in the Governor's Cup in Evansville beginning Friday. But Saturday's storm rendered the Aces' field unplayable and left the Cardinals searching.
However, a solution was quickly found, and the team will head to Memphis, Tennessee for three games this weekend.
"We all kind of scrambled to find a place to play," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "Evansville's coach (Dave Schrage) knew someone in Memphis who could get a field. We got a bunch of teams who were in the same boat as us."
Beals' team will play Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday, Evansville on Saturday and Northern Illinois on Sunday. Last weekend the Cardinals dropped all three of their contests at Alabama-Birmingham by three runs.
"After last weekend, the kids just want to play," said Beals, whose team hadn't practiced outdoors before the series with the Blazers. "Obviously we're disappointed, but we need to evaluate the big picture. I felt we played about how I expected us too.
"We were in all three games, and could have won all three. It was just a play or a hit here and there that kept us from winning."
Despite the three losses, Beals felt his team played good defense and handled plays well, considering it was the first time the Cards had fielded outside. He also thought the pitchers threw well overall, and was glad to see some young guys get their first collegiate hits.
The Blazers stole 13 bases in the three games, but Beals said that number was a little misleading.
"There were some double steals, some times where we made a great throw and it was close, and some times where they had first-and-third with two outs and we gave it to them," Beals said.
While the catcher's position is still under evaluation -- the Cardinals had a different backstop each game -- Beals said he would also be working more with pitchers on holding the runners.
Freshman first baseman Brad Miller led Ball State with five hits last weekend, including a home run. Brian Lynch, Jason Paul and Mike Johnston were the starting pitchers in the series.
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