After dropping the first two games of the series to Eastern Michigan (10-18, 5-4 MAC), Ball State baseball (15-15, 4-5 MAC) rebounded with a 5-0 win in Ypsilanti on Sunday.
Saturday’s game started quickly for Eastern Michigan’s offense in the first inning as John Rensel Jr. singled to score Zachary Owings to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Ball State’s offense broke through in the fourth when William Baker singled to center, scoring two runs and giving Ball State its first lead. Eastern Michigan wasted no time in tying the game at two in the bottom of the inning when Max Schuemann notched a base hit to bring home Eli Gora.
In the fifth, Nate Jones singled to right where an error occurred, allowing Kolton Schenker to score from second and give the Eagles a 3-2 lead.
The Cardinals captured the lead in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Riedel to score Chase Sebby, who doubled and stole third to start the inning. Colin Brockhouse drove home Riedel on another sacrifice fly to give Ball State a 4-3 lead.
Both teams traded runs in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth to tie the score 5-5. With two men on base in the bottom of the ninth, freshman Jared Kauffman hit a walk-off single to give Eastern Michigan its second win of the series.
While pitching just a third of an inning, Eastern Michigan’s Mitchell Sparks earned his fifth win of the year. Ball State’s Nolan Gazouski was tagged with the loss.
In the final game of the series, Ball State’s starting pitcher Drey Jameson silenced the Eastern Michigan bats for a dominating 5-0 win.
Neither team scored a run until the fourth when Ball State’s Tim Blankenberger drove an RBI single off Eastern Michigan’s starter Luke DeVenney. The run proved to be all Jameson would need on his way to a complete game performance.
However, the Ball State offense provided more run support in the later innings. In the seventh, Jeff Riedel smacked an RBI double, and William Baker drove home a run with a single to give Ball State a 3-0 lead.
After a Griffin Hulecki double to start the eighth, freshman Noah Powell drove him home with a single to center.
Riedel continued his stellar day in the ninth with a lead-off single and a steal of second base. After two wild pitches, Riedel scored to push the Cardinals ahead, 5-0.
In the bottom of the ninth, Eastern Michigan threatened Jameson with two runners on base, but the freshman struck out Kauffman for the final out of the game to preserve the shutout.
For his second straight start, Jameson tossed at least six innings without allowing a run. He struck out ten Eagle batters, while giving up five hits and three walks. Jameson picked up his second win on the season, while DeVenney is tagged with the loss. Powell, Sebby, Riedel and Baker all finished with two hits apiece.
Ball State will now prepare to visit Purdue at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Contact Gabi Glass with comments at grglass@bsu.edu or on Twitter @gabiglass.
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