After a week off, the Ball State baseball team looks to keep the momentum going in the home opener this weekend against Detroit.
The Cardinals, who won six of eight games during Spring Break to improve to 8-6, will play the Titans in a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday, both starting at 1 p.m.
First-year head coach Greg Beals emphasized that while the team has been winning and the Detroit series is a big one, the team is remaining on a "pretty even keel."
"We had a great day of practice Wednesday," Beals said. "The series is big for the program, not only because it's the home opener, but it's my first home game as a coach.
"I don't like having that much time off," he said of not having played since Saturday because Wednesday's game was rained out. "We had an intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday, but I wish we could've played Wednesday."
Detroit comes in with a 2-8 record, but Beals said it has played some good competition. "They played Ohio State close. We won't get caught off guard; we'll be ready (for them)."
So far, the Cardinals have had a good mix of veterans and newcomers leading the way.
Freshmen Brad Miller and Mike Sullivan have started from day one at first base and center field, respectively, while classmate Joe Ness has notched a win and two saves on the mound.
Freshman Kyle Dygert took over the second base position after James Nowicki twisted his ankle in the first inning of the Spring Break competition. Dygert is now hitting .395 and was recently named Mid-American Conference West Player of the Week.
"Dygert's won that job," Beals said. "You can't justify taking him out. Jimmy's playing well, but I'm not sure he's 100 percent."
The top three starting pitchers are seniors Jason Paul (3-1 record, 1.93 ERA) and Brian Lynch (3.57), and junior lefty Mike Johnston (3.10).
Beals said the main objective will be to keep that momentum going despite the week off.
"Whenever you're on a roll, you want to keep it up," he said. "You know how Dick Vitale (on basketball broadcasts) says a team needs a time-out? Well, we didn't need a time-out.
"We've learned how to win. We had some close games, but we were able to pull them out."
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