Starting from the first pitch of the game, Ball State University played a mistake-ridden game in a 12-4 loss to Purdue University, Ball State's first to the Boilermakers since 2002.
The first pitch was hit down the third base line, where Cardinal third baseman Matt Gard committed a throwing error allowing Purdue's Jordan Comadena to reach first base safely.
"For some reason we weren't really ready to play today," coach Greg Beals said. "I don't know if it was the weather, but the weather was the same for both teams. It was colder today than it has been the last couple times out, but that's no excuse."
Ball State committed four errors, walked five Purdue batters and hit four Boilermakers with a pitch.
In the third inning, three straight Purdue batters were hit by a Jeff Loveys pitch. The last walked in the Boilermakers' sixth run of the game and third run of the inning.
"Loveys just wasn't very good in his inning of work," Beals said.
The Cardinals came into the game with a chance to get back to .500 but fell to 11-13 with the loss.
Freshman Brad Piatt started on the mound for the Cardinals. He pitched three innings and allowed three runs, only two earned, on four hits while striking out three batters and walking one.
"My arm was a little tight, but it started to loosen up," Piatt said. "I got behind a few batters, and they took advantage of it. My job is to put up zeros, and I didn't do it."
Loveys took over for Piatt at the start of the fourth inning. Loveys pitched one inning and allowed three runs, all unearned, on two hits, while striking out two and walking zero. Loveys also had the only wild pitch for either team.
"We had a couple guys pitch pretty well and a couple guys struggle a little bit," Beals said. "Our defense wasn't very good and that certainly doesn't help the pitching staff at all."
The Cardinals have struggled with fielding throughout the season. The team came into this week last in fielding percentage in the Mid-American Conference at .944. As of March 26 the Cardinals had committed 47 errors, 12 more than Central Michigan University, the next closest team.
The offense for the Cardinals also struggled on the chilly, rainy day. After scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning, the Cardinals went the next five innings without crossing the plate.
"We did all right in the third inning," Beals said. "We got two guys on base, and then we weren't able to do anything with it. That stalled our offense. You break the game down and look at it at-bat by at-bat. We had some good at-bats but we weren't able to string enough of them together to get anything going."
The Boilermakers broke a 1-1 tie in the third inning, scoring two runs. The second run of the inning came on a rare play. Purdue's Jeff Mojzik attempted to steal second but got caught in a rundown. However, Mojzik was able to distract the Cardinal infielders long enough to allow Ryne White to steal home.
"The only mistake we made on that play was we were a little late on our call home," Beals said. "That call is supposed to come from our third baseman and catcher. I'm not as concerned about that play as some of the others we made on defense."
The Boilermakers increased their lead to 7-1 by scoring four total runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
The Cardinals attempted a comeback, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and one run in the eighth. However, the comeback was short-lived as Purdue scored one run in the top of the eighth inning, followed by four runs in ninth.
"All the way around the horn, we were very mediocre today," Beals said.
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