The three-game winning streak the Ball State University baseball team carried into its weekend at Bowling Green State University quickly disappeared. For the first time this season the Cardinals were swept, dropping them out of first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Two of the losses came on walk-off hits for the Falcons and dropped the Cardinals to 15-15 overall and 5-5 in the MAC. Bowling Green improved to 16-14 and 7-4 in conference. A rainout Friday forced the teams to play a doubleheader on Saturday and Bowling Green took advantage with 3-2 and 7-6 wins. On Sunday they finished the sweep with a 9-7 victory in 10 innings.
Junior closer Morgan Coombs (2-4) allowed both the walk-off hits and allowed five runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
"Morgan is our go-to guy," Beals said. "He just had a bad weekend. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."
Ball State scored first in all three of the games, only to see its leads evaporate. The Cardinals also committed nine errors during the weekend.
"They're a good-hitting team," Beals said. "They can create offense for themselves, but several times we helped."
The errors led to seven unearned runs, including the final two in the first game on Saturday for Bowling Green. Senior reliever Tom Mueller took the loss when an error by sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek allowed the runs for the Falcons.
Catcher Zack Dygert said the team did not play well in the clutch throughout the weekend.
"We weren't able to get the big hits and play defense in big situations," Dygert said.
The lack of clutch hitting was apparent in the first game on Saturday, when the Cardinals put runners on second and third base with one out in the ninth inning, but were only able to manage a sacrifice fly. In the second game, Vitek hit a solo home run in the ninth to tie the game, but Coombs was unable to hold the Falcons off the board.
Ball State again rallied late Sunday, scoring two runs in the ninth to tie the game. In the 10th sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet walked, stole second and advanced to third on an error. Freshman left fielder Cody Elliot bunted him home to put the visitors up, but again Coombs was unable to finish the game. In the home half of the tenth inning, left fielder Jon Berti hit a three-run walk-off home run.
Elliot went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run and two stolen bases on Sunday. Beals said he was starting to play like the player he recruited.
"He had a slow freshman start," Beals said. "He's figuring things out. Today he played the way we hoped he would."
Also having a big weekend was Dygert who went 5-for-8 with two RBIs and two runs in the doubleheader.
"I made a couple changes [to my swing]," Dygert said. "The weather is getting nicer and I'm about 100 at bats into the season. I feel like my timing is just getting better."
Dygert crossed the 100 at bat mark in Saturday's first game and is now hitting .327 with 32 RBIs for the season.
Beals said his team needed to get back to work to get back to its winning ways. Ball State will have its first chance to snap its longest losing streak of the season on Tuesday at home against Huntington University.
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