A lot has happened in the world of Ball State sports since the college went on Fall Break. Here's a quick wrap up of some of the action that went down while classes were not in session.
Football
The Ball State football team got back into Mid-American Conference play in a big way Saturday with a 34-17 win over Kent State.
The Cardinals spoiled the Golden Flashes' homecoming by putting up 20 unanswered points in the second half to come from behind for the victory. BSU's defense stole the show after halftime by forcing three second-half turnovers.
BSU's special teams were no slouch either during the game. David Gater blocked a Kent State punt early in the second quarter that lead to a Scott-Blair touchdown a play later. Then, in the third quarter, Lorenzo Scott got a hand on a 28-yard field goal attempt by the Flashes.
Ball State quarterback Talmadge Hill put forth another solid showing for the Cardinals by going 16-of-27 passing for 164 yards and no interceptions.
Volleyball
A pair of losses this past weekend to MAC opponents Eastern Michigan and Ohio moved the Cardinals to 2-2 in the conference for the season.
Ball State's defeat at the hands of Ohio on Sunday broke the Cardinals' home-court winning streak against conference opponents that had stood since 1997. The Bobcats became only the second MAC team to own a victory over the Cards in Worthen Arena. The other is Miami.
It was not all doom and gloom for the team, though. Junior libero Stephanie Keller set two school records for digs in the defeats. Against Eastern Michigan, Keller registered 46 digs for a new BSU single-match record. Then, while facing Ohio on Sunday, she moved her career total to 1,252 digs to move to first on the BSU career digs list.
Soccer
The Cardinals split a pair of matches over the weekend.
On Friday, Ball State lost to Ohio 2-0 on a muddy soccer field at home. The Falcons' first goal came off of a long shot that bounced twice, once off the grass and once off of Ball State goalie Megan Swafford, before finding the net. Late in the match, BSU shifted forward and the Bobcats made them pay by scoring a second goal.
A brighter day made for better results for the Cardinals on Sunday as they registered a 1-0 victory over Toledo. Stacy Shull scored the Cards' only goal of the weekend when she headed in a corner kick from Dee Nocero.
Field Hockey
The weekend was less than kind to Ball State, as it dropped two MAC games at home to Kent State and Ohio.
In the loss to Kent State on Friday, the Golden Flashes took a 2-0 early and carried that lead into halftime. The Cardinals rallied in the second half, though, and managed to tie the game before Kent State scored the game-winning goal off a penalty corner with 2:54 to play.
Against Ohio, Ball State was shut out 1-0. The Bobcats controlled the game defensively and limited the Cards to only six shots and three corners. Ball State has now lost seven-straight games to Ohio during the past four years.
Men's Cross Country
At the Notre Dame Invitational (Gold Division), senior Aaron Hoover placed 25th to lead the team to a 7th-place finish. Behind Hoover were freshmen Stephen Cohen and Justin Stadt, who crossed the line 37th and 46th respectively. Filling out the Cardinals' top-five were senior Steve Samuel (50th) and freshman Jeff Kent (60th).
In the open race, sophomore Kyle Hinkleman led three Ball State runners with a 17th-place finish. Junior Alan Hemmelgarn placed 25th while freshman Justin Gauthier took 27th.
Women's Cross Country
The Cardinals took 11th out of 20 teams at the Notre Dame Invitational (Blue Division). Junior Jill Scully led BSU with a 15th-place finish. Behind her were senior Crystal Meeks (40th), junior Sarah Huddleston (55th), sophomore Nicole Hartford (73rd) and freshman Rose Lehe (86th).
Hartford registered a personal-best time of 18:57. Her finish helped solidify the team's top five as it prepares for the Pre-NCAA meet on Oct. 18.
Men's Golf
Ball State's two squads, White and Cardinal, placed eighth and ninth respectively at its lone home match of the year: the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational.
Freshman Wayne Denger paced the Cards by finishing tied for 12th with a three-round score of 218 (69-74-75). Sophomore Patrick Wilkes-Krier and junior Mike Kasula both shot 224 over three rounds to place second and third for BSU golfers.
Women's Tennis
Melissa Roach led the way for the Cardinals at the Ball State Invitational over the weekend by winning four-consecutive singles matches to take the Flight A Championship.
Roach was not the only Card to have a good tournament. Jenny Batty won Flight C, while Ball State's doubles teams lost only one match out of eight.
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