The Ball State University baseball team's tough non-conference schedule continues this weekend.
The Cardinals will be playing in the Myrtle Beach Hyundai-Isuzu Classic in South Carolina. -áThey play one game Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The tournament includes some tough teams, including No. 24 Coastal Carolina University.
"It will be a good test for us," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "We will either win or find out what we need to work on. Either way it will make us better."
In the Saturday game against Coastal Carolina, one Cardinal will be seeing some familiar faces in the opposing dugout.
Ryan Chenoweth, who leads the Cardinals in batting average at .394, red-shirted last year with Coastal Carolina before transferring to Ball State.
While Chenoweth is the Cardinals' leading hitter, some others have begun to swing a hot bat as well.
Tyler Rodgers batted .600 in three games last weekend, and Matt Gard has a nine-game hitting streak.
One Cardinal who is having major struggles in the batter's box is Wayne Bond. Among everyday players, Bond is batting a team low .209.
"I think the big thing with Wayne is just getting some at-bats and getting comfortable," Beals said. "He's seeing the ball right now; he's just trying to do too much."
Bond agrees he has not played to his abilities so far.
"I got to try to stay within myself," Bond said. "I just need to get hits and not try to get doubles and home runs every time."
Beals said Bond can do good things once he reaches base.
"As well as he runs, he just needs to get the ball on the ground and compete," Beals said. "The strength of his game is getting on-base and creating havoc with his speed."
Bond said the team as a whole just needs more experience.
"Once we get some games under our belt, we will cut down on some of the mistakes and just get better," Bond said.
The Cardinals will be sticking with the same pitching rotation as they used last weekend.
Beals said Brenden Stines will lead off pitching against Georgia Southern University, followed by Tyler Pritchard Saturday against Coastal Carolina and finishing with Ryan DeGeeter against Bethune-Cookman College on Sunday.
"We feel that is our best rotation," Beals said. "That rotation allows Pritchard and DeGeeter to stay in the same spot as last year. Stines will go out Friday, which is certainly tough to do, but he is capable of performing well."
If the Cardinals win all three games, they will push their winning streak to five games.
"We're not looking at it as a full series," Beals said. "[We're] just looking to get to opening pitch Friday and take it one battle at a time."
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