Each week, The Ball State Daily News sports staff picks its PPQ — the player, play and quote of the week. And, with the help of our online readers, the weekly fan choice is also featured.
Here's this week's best:
Player: Morgan Coombs, baseball
The senior right-hander pitched five innings in relief in Saturday's 5-2 upset at No. 15 Arkansas, giving up no earned runs and striking out eight Razorbacks batters. For his efforts, Coombs was named MAC Pitcher of the Week and National Primetime Pitcher of the Week by CollegeBaseball360.com.
Play: Ellie Carrico, gymnastics
Ball State trailed Illinois State by 0.025 going into the final rotation Sunday as Carrico, a sophomore, stepped up as the first Cardinal on the floor exercise. She scored a career-best 9.65, the first of six scores above 9.6, as Ball State went on to win the meet at Worthen Arena.
Quote: "It's a huge relief for us. We just came out with this fire. We wanted it so bad. We wanted to prove who we are." — Men's volleyball middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic after his team's 3-1 win at Saint Francis, the night after losing at Penn State in one of the worst losses in recent program history.
Fan Choice: Randy Davis, men's basketball
For the third week in a row, Davis (23 votes, 32 percent) won this week's Fan Choice poll. Davis earned MAC West Player of the Week honors after scoring a career-high 24 points while adding five rebounds and five assists in Ball State's win over Central Michigan, then had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win over UT Martin.
To vote in next week's poll, be sure to visit Monday's online edition of The Ball State Daily News.
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By Logan Connor / 7 hours agoHead coach Ryleigh Skaggs is looking to turn the narrative on Wes-Del girls’ basketball
Cardinals survive five-set marathon against Central Michigan, advance to MAC Championship Final
By Daniel Kehn / 18 hours agoBall State advances to the MAC Championship with a five-set marathon victory over Central Michigan
Ball State women’s basketball falls to No. 16 UNC in the Battle 4 Atlantis
By Elijah Poe / 19 hours ago“I'm really glad that I was able to come back in time to play because we're not going to get this moment back,” senior Madelyn Bischoff said about the 63-52 loss to No. 16 North Carolina. “Even though we didn't win, I do think that this is really going to help us in the long run.”
