With a 1-6 record, the Ball State University baseball team will go into this weekend looking to start a winning streak similar to one that helped lead the Cardinals to a Mid-American Conference Championship last season.
In 2006 the team went 38-22, including 16-9 in the MAC, winning the MAC Tournament by defeating Kent State University in back-to-back games and reaching the NCAA Regional.
However, last year's team struggled in its opening games as well. The team started 2-7 before winning 13 of the next 17 games.
The Cardinals will have an opportunity to pick up three victories this weekend and continue their improvement.
For the first time this season, Ball State will be playing in a series rather than a tournament. The first seven games were against six different opponents, while this weekend the Cardinals will play Austin Peay State University all three games.
Coach Greg Beals said he prefers to play a series because teams make adjustments from game to game and try to figure the other team's strategy.
"It is a different dynamic," Beals said. "We can see how a guy is hitting and then try to get him out the next game. The second and third games are much more of a battle. We have to make good adjustments to win."
One area Ball State will be focusing on is batting. This year's team has hit four home runs in seven games and is batting .243.
Beals said youth is a key factor in Ball State's low batting average. He said as the team gets more at-bats the average will go up.
"The batting average is going to rise," Beals said. "The quality of our at-bats was much better last weekend than that first weekend. We need to just stick with our game plan."
Beals said some of the younger players stray from the game plan when they are struggling to see the pitches. He said it will change as they get more at-bats. They will learn not to revert back to what they used to do in high school, he said. He sees the team batting between .295 and .305 by the end of the season.
"I'm not sure how fast it will get there, but I'm confident it will," Beals said.
One of the three Cardinal batters with a batting average of more than .300 is outfielder Ryan Chenoweth, who has started all seven games and leads the team in most batting categories. He has the highest batting average at .476, is the only Cardinal with multiple home runs, has the highest slugging percentage and highest on-base percentage and has more than three times the RBIs of any other Cardinal. Chenoweth said his hot start isn't all because of his skills and ability.
"Baseball is a game of luck," he said. "I worked hard and listened to the coaches. I get lucky with some at-bats, and other times I just get the hit."
Austin Peay is 2-2 on the season with an 8-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Vanderbilt University. The Cardinals played Vanderbilt last weekend, losing 15-3.
"[Austin Peay] is solid," Beals said. "I wouldn't say they do anything great, but they also aren't poor at anything."
Chenoweth and Beals said they are confident the Cardinals can win all three games if they play with more confidence.
"First weekend we played bad in all four games," Beals said. "Last weekend I think we played well in two of the three games. The defense behind our pitchers hasn't helped them. They have pitched much better than on paper would make them look."
Chenoweth said with Ball State continuing to get more experience, its confidence will increase and help the team win.
"We all know we're young," he said. "It's going to take a couple of weeks. We played 20 times better last weekend compared to the first weekend. Our team as a whole has to just get more confident."
In ActionBall State at Austin Peay State University
TIMES2:30 p.m. FridayNoon Saturday and Sunday
VENUERaymond C. Hand Park
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