Just two games in to the three-game series, Ball State has already won its series against Ohio.
Ball State knocked off Ohio 7-3 in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader.
A recurring theme this year, Ball State jumped out to an early lead.
Wes Winkle led off the game with a sharp double down the left field line, and was knocked in on a sacrifice fly by Cody Campbell, giving Ball State an early 1-0 lead.
After Ohio tied the game, freshman catcher Sam Tidaback gave Ball State a lead it never gave up. He pushed a home run over the left field fence, and Sean Godfrey hit a home run to the same spot just an inning later, giving Ball State a 3-1 lead.
The Cardinals opened the game up in the bottom of the sixth. After Kevin Schlotter walked and Campbell singled, Blake Beemer’s single to center brought a run in.
Dominick Catanzarite pinch hit for Jake Hines, and responded by hitting a double deep to left, bringing home two more runs. Catanzarite was knocked in by Tidaback, extending the lead to 7-1.
In the bottom of seventh, Ball State loaded the bases after a hit, error and hit batter, but couldn’t convert and extend the six run lead, as Billy Wellman grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Ohio cut the lead to 7-2 in the eighth off a single, double and sacrifice fly.
The Bobcats started a rally in the ninth with three straight singles to bring another run across the board, but Miles Moeller entered and slammed the door to end the game.
Ball State starting pitcher Chris Marangon worked out of several jams, without giving up runs.
He pitched eight innings, giving up nine hits and three earned runs.
In both the first and fifth innings, Ohio put runners in scoring position, but Marangon induced double plays to get out of the innings unscathed.
Marangon picked up his second win of the season, extending his record to 2-3.
Ball State evened its overall record to 19-19 and improved its Mid-American Conference record to 8-9.
Game two of the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.
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