Statistics
Ball State hitting - 7-34
Indiana hitting - 12-35
Ball State extra-base hits - 4
Indiana extra-base hits - 3
Indiana racked up 12 team hits to Ball State’s seven, but Cardinal head coach Rich Maloney said his team made better contact.
“They had a lot of dink hits. Sometimes the game’s cruel,” he said. “Today we hit the ball better than they did, they were just fortunate. But by the same token, we had an opportunity second and third, didn’t score. You just can’t do that against a good pitching staff.”
Ball State led 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning when
senior designated hitter Scott Tyler ripped a double down the right-field line
after senior second baseman Ryan Spaulding’s leadoff walk.
After a groundout, junior right fielder Alex Call stepped into the box against with
Tyler and Spaulding on second and third.
Call entered the game with a Mid-American Conference-best .417 batting average, but struck out swinging on a low curveball from freshman right-handed pitcher Jonathan Stiever for the second out of the inning. Stiever then struck out the next batter to end the inning without allowing a run.
Maloney said he had to give credit to the Hoosier pitching staff, which entered the game with a 2.85 ERA – the 12th best mark in the country.
“When they struck out Call, they struck out one of the best hitters in the country,” he said. “And they did it when they had to do it.”
Though Call finished the game 0-4, Maloney said his day was an example of how well the Cardinals hit, even if it didn’t show in the box score.
With one out in the top of the seventh and the score tied 3-3, Call hit a shot to left field over the head of Indiana junior left fielder Alex Krupa, only to watch Krupa dive toward the fence and make an acrobatic catch to kill a potential Ball State rally before it could start.
Maloney chalked the play up to bad luck.
“Some days they don’t fall,” he said. “I thought [starting pitcher Matt Haro] deserved a better fate than three runs, but that’s what he gave up. If we’d have just added a run or two, right there it would have been a big difference.”
Haro, a left-handed senior, allowed nine hits and gave up a solo home run to Hoosier junior first baseman Austin Cangelosi in the bottom of the fourth, but the home run was the only extra-base hit against him.
In five innings on the mound, he allowed three runs (two earned) without walking a batter. His ERA now sits at 2.53, and he is still 2-1 after the no-decision.
Indiana junior right-handed pitcher Kent Williams (1-0, 8.53 ERA) was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless seventh inning, in his only inning on the mound. Junior right-handed Thomas Belcher (2.05 ERA) recorded his fifth save of the year.
Ball State sophomore Colin Brockhouse (3-4, 3.89 ERA) was credited with the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh.
Though their overall winning streak was snapped, the Cardinals will look to improve on their five-game MAC winning streak at Central Michigan. The series is set to begin at 3:05 p.m. April 15 in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., followed by a 2:05 p.m. game April 16 and a 1:05 series finale April 17.
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