The Ball State Cardinals (28-15, 12-4 MAC) won two of the three games against the Northern Illinois Huskies (14-29, 10-8 MAC) to put the Cardinals toward the top of the Mid-American Conference standings this past weekend at the Ralph McKinzie Field in DeKalb, Illinois.
Coming into the series finale Sunday between Ball State (28-15, 12-4 MAC) and Bowling Green (13-26, 6-12 MAC), all signs pointed toward a high-scoring, back-and-forth game. By the end of the game, there were a total of three runs and eight hits as the Cardinals completed the sweep with a game-three score of 2-1.
Freshman Justin Conant flipped the ball to senior Will Baker who fired it to senior John Ricotta for the game-ending double-play, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 win as well as a series win.
Sophomore Drey Jameson’s 12 strikeouts helps Ball State Baseball (26-15, MAC 10-4) hand Bowling Green (13-24, MAC 6-10) its eighth loss in its last nine games.
Just 14 pitches into the game, sophomore Drey Jameson punched out Indiana’s (28-13, 9-3 Big 10) first three batters. It was a favorable start for Ball State (25-15, 9-4 MAC), especially after giving up four runs in the first inning of the Cardinals’ 14-3 loss to the Hoosiers just a week prior. Tuesday, despite ending in a 9-3 loss, was a bounce-back game for the Cardinals.
senior pitcher Zach Peters complete game propelled the Owls over Muncie Central, 3-1, at First Merchants Ballpark Tuesday
Ball State (23-13, 7-3 MAC) came into Tuesday’s matchup with Indiana (25-12, 8-2 Big 10) with a perfect 9-0 record against in-state opponents. It was clear after the first inning of the Hoosiers’ 14-3 win they had no intentions of letting that streak get to 10.
In efforts to avoid the predicted bad weather for Sunday, Ball State and Eastern Michigan played two on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Drey Jameson’s efforts on the mound along with senior John Ricotta’s strength at the plate hand Ball State Baseball a victory over Eastern Michigan, 3-2.
As a child, you’re taught to aim high in most facets of life, but there are some exceptions. What about gas prices? Cholesterol levels? Time spent in traffic? It tends to make people happy when these things are low. The same applies for a pitcher’s earned run average (ERA).
Ball State (21-11, 5-2 MAC) took down Butler (17-13, 1-2 Big East) 12-5 Tuesday behind the performance of a four-man pitching staff.
After winning 10 games in a row, including their first four in Mid-American Conference play, the Cardinals (20-11, 5-2 MAC) dropped the first two games of a weekend series to Central Michigan (23-8, 7-2 MAC) before salvaging the third to avoid a sweep.
Redshirt junior Chase Sebby got the call to pinch hit in the bottom of the sixth inning, and he had an at-bat that shifted momentum in Ball State’s (19-9, 4-0 MAC) 12-4 win over Manchester (7-14, 2-0 HCAC) Wednesday.
After getting rained out Saturday and snowed out Sunday, Ball State (18-9, 4-0 MAC) woke up Monday to some better news. According to the Collegiate Baseball Division I Poll, the Cardinals were ranked 28th in the nation, and they showed why in their 12-5 win over Indiana Kokomo (24-10, 12-3 RSC).
It took 13 innings, but Ball State (17-9, 4-0 MAC) walked away from Friday’s contest with Kent State (10-14, 1-3 MAC) with a 9-8 win, bringing the Cardinals’ win streak to eight games.
Ball State head baseball coach Rich Maloney has an autographed ball in a glass case. Not a baseball, but a basketball. It was a gift from a friend. That friend is John Beilein, head basketball coach at the University of Michigan.
“Anything you can do” seemed to be what Ball State (16-9, 3-0 MAC) was humming in a 14-8 win against Valparaiso (5-16, 0-0 Valley) Wednesday.
In his second at-bat of the bottom of the ninth inning, Blake Dunn doubled home Western Michigan’s (6-16, 0-3 MAC) 15th run of the game and its eighth of the inning. The only problem was Ball State (15-9, 3-0 MAC) scored 20.
Three times in the first four innings senior John Ricotta came up to bat with two outs and runners on base. Three times he came through with an RBI hit. Ricotta finished the game 4 for 5 with four runs driven in, and his performance at the plate highlighted Ball State’s (14-9, 2-0 MAC) 10-3 win over Western Michigan (6-15, 0-2 MAC) Saturday.
With wind gusts blowing upwards of 15 mph to right field, Friday was not an ideal day for pitchers as Ball State (13-9, 1-0 MAC) and Western Michigan (6-14, 0-1 MAC) squared off. Each team connected for a pair of home runs, and the Cardinals wound up on top, 8-5.
