Ball State University Athletics
2007 Baseball Schedule Includes 24 Games At Ball Diamond
November 28, 2006 | Baseball
The Ball State baseball team has announced its 2007 schedule, which includes 24 home games at Ball Diamond.
In addition to playing 15-of-27 Mid-American Conference games at home, the Cardinals will play host to in-state, Big 10 foes Indiana and Purdue. Ball State also has a home tournament slated for March 16-18, featuring Evansville, Le Moyne and Bowling Green.
"We've beefed up our home schedule," Ball State coach Greg Beals says. "For a northern school to play 24 home games is tough, so we're excited."
Coming off an NCAA regional appearance in 2006, Ball State will open its season Feb. 16-18 at the Florida Atlantic Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla. The Cardinals will begin the tournament against Oklahoma State and will also play host Florida Atlantic and La Salle.
The Cardinals will spend the next two weekends of the season in Tennessee. Ball State first travels to Nashville Feb. 23-25 to play in the Music City Challenge along with Vanderbilt, Lipscomb and Belmont. The following weekend, the Cardinals will play a three-game set at Austin Peay.
The team's spring break trip kicks off March 9-11 at the Myrtle Beach Hyundai-Isuzu Classic, where Ball State will play host Coastal Carolina, Bethune-Cookman and Georgia Southern. The trip continues with a stop at Wake Forest for two games March 13-14 before the Cardinals return home for the Ball State Invitational.
"In the early part of our season, we like the idea of playing tournaments," Beals says. "It gives you a chance to see more teams, see different competition and play more neutral-site games as opposed to a three-game series at someone else's home field."
Following a game at Louisville March 20, Ball State opens the MAC portion of its schedule with a three-game set at home versus Akron. The Cardinals will also play home conference series against Kent State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan. Road series for the Cardinals include trips to Miami, Ohio, Western Michigan and Toledo.
In addition, the Cardinals will play non-confence, mid-week games at Ohio State April 18, at Notre Dame April 24 and at Indiana State May 8.
The top six teams in the MAC will meet May 23-27 for the conference tournament, hosted by the league's top team. With the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line, the Cardinals wills look to defend their 2006 MAC Tournament title, the first in school history.
