Three Cardinals Earn All-MAC Baseball Accolades
May 23, 2017 | Baseball
AVON, Ohio – Three Ball State baseball seniors – Matt Eppers, Sean Kennedy and Caleb Stayton – were honored at the Mid-American Conference Postseason Awards Presentation Tuesday evening. Kennedy was tabbed as an all-league first team honoree while Eppers and Stayton were on the second team. The teams were voted on by the league's head coaches.
Kennedy, an infielder from Dayton, Ohio, had a career year in his final season with the Cardinals. A MAC Player of the Year candidate, Kennedy's offensive numbers in league games were stellar. He led the MAC in four key offensive categories – batting average (.404), hits (40), doubles (10) and total bases (70). Kennedy also ranked among the top three players in two other categories – slugging (.707) and RBIs (30).
The second baseman hit .714 (10-of-14) in the series against Bowling Green on April 14-15. In game two of that series, Kennedy went 5-for-5 with three home runs, a triple, a double and nine RBIs. Kennedy set a program record with 17 total bases.
On April 18, Kennedy propelled Ball State to a 5-3 win over Purdue with a lead-off home run in the top of the 12th inning.
Eppers, an outfielder from Bristol, Indiana, has started 168 consecutive games heading into this week's MAC Tournament. Just like Kennedy, Eppers put up career numbers in his last year on the squad. In conference games, Eppers ranked among the top five MAC players in five categories – batting average (3rd), on-base percentage (5th), runs scored (2nd), hits (3rd) and triples (5th).
Eppers tallied a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning in Ball State's 7-6 win over Toledo on May 7. He leads the team with six triples and has 18 career triples, two shy of the Ball State record. The outfielder was also the lone Cardinal named to the MAC All-Defensive Team.
This was the second consecutive year Stayton has found his name on the all-conference team. The first baseman missed 13 games in March due to injury otherwise he would be ranked fourth in the league in batting average (.344). Stayton, a native of Goshen, Indiana, leads the MAC and ranks 22nd nationally in on-base percentage (.468). He has six sacrifice fly balls, which is tops in the league, and came through with the game-winning hit at Central Michigan last Thursday, a two-run single in the seventh inning.
Ball State (30-26) opens play at the MAC Tournament in Avon, Ohio, tomorrow against Ohio. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, including schedule updates for this weekend's series, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Kennedy, an infielder from Dayton, Ohio, had a career year in his final season with the Cardinals. A MAC Player of the Year candidate, Kennedy's offensive numbers in league games were stellar. He led the MAC in four key offensive categories – batting average (.404), hits (40), doubles (10) and total bases (70). Kennedy also ranked among the top three players in two other categories – slugging (.707) and RBIs (30).
The second baseman hit .714 (10-of-14) in the series against Bowling Green on April 14-15. In game two of that series, Kennedy went 5-for-5 with three home runs, a triple, a double and nine RBIs. Kennedy set a program record with 17 total bases.
On April 18, Kennedy propelled Ball State to a 5-3 win over Purdue with a lead-off home run in the top of the 12th inning.
Eppers, an outfielder from Bristol, Indiana, has started 168 consecutive games heading into this week's MAC Tournament. Just like Kennedy, Eppers put up career numbers in his last year on the squad. In conference games, Eppers ranked among the top five MAC players in five categories – batting average (3rd), on-base percentage (5th), runs scored (2nd), hits (3rd) and triples (5th).
Eppers tallied a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning in Ball State's 7-6 win over Toledo on May 7. He leads the team with six triples and has 18 career triples, two shy of the Ball State record. The outfielder was also the lone Cardinal named to the MAC All-Defensive Team.
This was the second consecutive year Stayton has found his name on the all-conference team. The first baseman missed 13 games in March due to injury otherwise he would be ranked fourth in the league in batting average (.344). Stayton, a native of Goshen, Indiana, leads the MAC and ranks 22nd nationally in on-base percentage (.468). He has six sacrifice fly balls, which is tops in the league, and came through with the game-winning hit at Central Michigan last Thursday, a two-run single in the seventh inning.
Ball State (30-26) opens play at the MAC Tournament in Avon, Ohio, tomorrow against Ohio. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, including schedule updates for this weekend's series, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
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