Baseball Hosting Bowling Green for Three Games Starting Thursday to Finish Regular Season

Thursday, May 14

Muncie, Ind.

3 PM

Ball State University

Bowling Green

Luke Reed and DJ Scheumann in grey Ball State baseball uniforms walking off the field

Photo by: Caden Vincent

Baseball Hosting Bowling Green for Three Games Starting Thursday to Finish Regular Season

May 13, 2026 | Baseball

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The Ball State baseball team concludes its regular season with three home games against Bowling Green starting on Thursday.

The series opener is set for 3 p.m., with Friday (3 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) contests to follow. Fans are encouraged to arrive early Saturday for a pregame Senior Day ceremony. Links to the video and radio streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (22-28, 15-15 Mid-American Conference) topped Northern Illinois 17-5 in Sunday's series finale in DeKalb to salvage a win in the series. The Cardinals clinch a spot in next week's MAC Tournament if they win a game this weekend against Bowling Green.

The Falcons (19-32, 12-18 MAC) fell 15-5 in eight innings to Toledo on Tuesday night after taking 2 of 3 against Western Michigan at home last weekend. Bowling Green needs to sweep this weekend and have UMass lose a game against Central Michigan to clinch a MAC Tournament berth.

Kyle Hallock is in his sixth season as the head coach at Bowling Green, who was picked to finish fifth in the MAC preseason poll two seasons after claiming the MAC regular season title.

The Falcons rely on a pitching staff that has the top strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.34) in the MAC and second-best strikeouts per nine innings ratio (9.6). Bowling Green's offense scores 5.0 runs per game (12^th in the MAC).

Redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Ethan Stade paces the MAC in strikeouts per nine innings (14.48, No. 5 in NCAA Division I), strikeouts (96, No. 25), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.65, No. 25) and WHIP (1.09) while ranking fourth in hits allowed per nine innings (7.24). Fellow redshirt senior Anthony Mitta leads the Falcons in batting average (.307), OPS (.820) and hits (55).

If the Cardinals clinch a spot in the MAC Tournament, they will be scheduled to play on Wednesday, May 20 at ForeFront Field in Avon, Ohio.

WIN AND IN: Ball State can clinch a spot in next week's MAC Tournament with one win against Bowling Green this weekend.

The Cardinals must win a game to have a chance to make the tournament, as they would lose a tiebreaker if not. The top six teams make it, and Ball State could be a No. 5 or No. 6 seed depending on how this weekend's MAC games play out.

SEVENTEEN ON SUNDAY: The Ball State offense scored 17 runs in Sunday's win at Northern Illinois for the third time in MAC play this year.

The scoring output ties a team-best in conference play with previous wins against Eastern Michigan (17-13 on March 13) and Ohio (17-7 on March 29). This is the first time since the 2016 season that Ball State has scored 17+ runs in a MAC game three times in a year. That season's team put up 17 and 20 runs in back-to-back games against Ohio in early April and 21 vs Western Michigan the following week.

SENIOR SATURDAY: Eight student-athletes will be recognized before Saturday's game in a Senior Day ceremony.

Gavin Balius, Alex Burden, John Chambers, Brett Griffiths, Zach Leduc, Ryan Muizelaar, Owen Quinn, and Luke Reed comprise the 2026 Ball State baseball senior class.

DOING DAMAGE AS THE DESIGNATED HITTER: Sophomore Brayden Huebner stands among the league leaders in multiple offensive categories entering this weekend.

The right-handed batter, who has slotted in as the DH and leadoff hitter for the balance of the season, ranks fourth in the MAC in slugging percentage (.634), fifth in doubles (15) and seventh in runs scored (54).

QUICK CARDINALS: Seniors Gavin Balius and Brett Griffiths are near the top of the national leaderboards in stolen bases and triples, respectively.

Balius has swiped 37 bags to pace the MAC and rank sixth in NCAA Division I, while Griffith's six triples are the fourth-most nationally. Justin Love (44 steals in 1997) and Zach Cole (nine triples in 2022) hold Ball State program records in those categories.

CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: Ball State leads the league in double plays turned (41) and ranks third in the MAC with a .978 fielding percentage.

The 2025 Cardinals finished the season ranking fourth in NCAA Division I in fielding percentage (.983) and 20th with 49 double plays.

COMEBACK CARDINALS: Ball State's 10-9 win over UMass on April 25 was its fifth this season when trailing entering the ninth inning.

The walk-off home run from Jack Bakus was the first of the year for the Cardinals, while Griffiths delivered a pair of walk-off knocks earlier in the campaign (March 8 vs Central Michigan and April 11 vs Akron). The two wins at Western Michigan (March 21 and 22) also featured comebacks from down 6-3 and 4-3 going into the ninth, respectively.

SEVENTH INNING STRETCH AND NINTH INNING RALLIES: The Ball State offense has been at its best in the seventh innings of games, scoring 55 runs total in that frame so far this season.

The Cardinals have allowed 41 runs in the seventh this year for a +14 run margin. Ball State's best run differential in an inning is +32 (40-8) in the ninth largely thanks to the five comeback wins as mentioned above.