With two weekend wins in Memphis, Tenn., the Ball State baseball team, in the words of first-year head coach Greg Beals, "finally has things going in the right direction."
After falling to Northern Illinois 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday, the Cardinals (2-4) recovered to down Evansville by the same score, then shut out St. Louis, 2-0.
"Our guys played well enough to win (against Northern)," Beals said. "We just made a couple crucial mistakes."
Northern erased a 3-0 deficit with two out rallies in the seventh and eighth innings, then took the win when Cardinal reliever John Pettibone issued a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the tenth.
"After the loss, we had a heart-to-heart talk," Beals said. "We came out with a sense of urgency, and played tough on Saturday and Sunday.
"I didn't think it'd be quite so hard to get that first win, but hopefully we're off and running now."
Saturday, the Cardinals built a 4-0 lead against Evansville before holding on to down the winless Aces. On Sunday, Kiel Hohman's two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth provided the necessary scoring against the Billikens.
Although the offense struggled over the weekend, Beals was pleased with how the pitching came through.
"We really pitched the ball better," he said. "We got three good games from our starters.
"With the guys we lost, pitching was an emphasis for us this year. Not just throwing, but hitting locations and changing pitches. Our starters did a great job of that."
Brian Lynch allowed just one run in seven innings against Northern. Mike Johnston (1-1) yielded two runs (one earned) to Evansville in 6 2/3 innings before Andrew Anderson finished up for the save. Jason Paul (1-1) then struck out eight in six innings against St. Louis, with Kory Bucklew and Joe Ness (save) completing the shutout.
Brad Snyder (two doubles, two RBI) and Mike Sullivan had four hits apiece over the weekend. Snyder also had two stolen bases, while he and Jason Bucholtz scored twice.
Beals is confident his team will have improved hitting over its spring break trip, during which the Cardinals will play eight games.
"We did struggle a bit (hitting)," Beals said, "but we just need more practice and more at-bats. We haven't been able to really take batting practice outside yet (because of the weather). We're very capable; we're going to hit better."
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