Ball State University Athletics
Feb. 28: Baseball Weekly Release
February 28, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 28: Baseball Weekly Release (PDF)
This week in Ball State Baseball: The Cardinals travel to Nashville, Tenn., for a three-game series with the Vanderbilt Commodores . . . Friday's first pitch is slated for 4 p.m. at Hawkins Field, while Saturday's game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start and Sunday's at 1 p.m.
About the Cardinals: Ball State dropped two games at The Citadel Tournament in Charleston, S.C., last weekend . . . The Cardinals fell 5-4 to Towson on Friday and 13-8 to Le Moyne on Sunday . . . Brad Miller hit his second home run of the season against Towson, while Chris Pestle knocked his first of the year against Le Moyne . . . Ben Snyder struck out nine batters and walked one, while surrendering seven hits and three earned runs Friday against the Tigers . . . Seven pitchers combined for the nine-inning effort Sunday against the Dolphins, striking out nine batters with only five walks and two earned runs . . . In 2.0 innings of work, Tyler Pritchard and Jay Broughton each struck out a game-high three batters . . . Justin Rogers leads the team with a .429 batting average (6-for-14) . . . Snyder (0-1, 6.17 ERA, 11.2 IP, 14 SO), Pritchard (0-0, 5.06 ERA, 5.1 IP, 5 SO) and Ryan DeGeeter (0-1, 1.12 ERA, 8.0 IP, 4 SO) are expected to start Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
About Vanderbilt: The Commodores, who host Murray State Tuesday, enter the week with a 3-4 overall record after recording a 1-2 mark at home last weekend . . . VU defeated Pittsburgh (2-1), before falling to Kent State (2-1) and Kansas (4-3) . . . Vanderbilt's projected pitching rotation for Friday through Sunday includes LHP David Price (0-1, 4.63 ERA, 11.2 IP, 19 SO), RHP Matt Buschmann (1-1, 2.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 13 SO) and LHP Cody Crowell (0-0, 1.46 ERA, 12.1 IP, 4 SO), respectively . . . INF/OF David Macias has a team-high .294 batting average with five hits in 17 at bats . . . INF Rucker Taylor leads the Commodores with his .483 on-base percentage.
The Series: Ball State and Vanderbilt have met four times before, with the Commodores owning a perfect record against BSU . . . Then No. 13 Vanderbilt swept a three-game series (6-2, 7-1, 4-0) with the Cardinals March 4-6, 2005.
BSU Baseball All-Time: The Cardinals own a 1,268-1,187-14 (.516) all-time record . . . Ball State began play in 1920, compiling a 2-3 record under Orville Sink . . . In 85 years of competition -- no games were played in 1944 due to the war -- BSU has compiled a winning record 39 times . . . With a 38-18 record last season, the Cardinals have finished .500 or better in each of the last 10 seasons.
Head Coach Greg Beals: Greg Beals is currently in his fourth season as the head coach of the Ball State baseball team . . . In three-plus seasons with the Cardinals, Beals has compiled a 103-71 (.592) overall record and a 48-25 (.658) Mid-American Conference mark . . . In 2003, Beals became the most successful first-year head coach in school history by guiding the Cardinals to a 36-21 overall record . . . Beals is also the first BSU head coach to win the MAC West Division title in his first season, with a 17-10 MAC ledger . . . In addition, he is just the third coach to post a winning record in his first year at BSU . . . Beals earned his first head coaching win March 1, 2003, with a 4-3 win over Evansville . . . His first MAC win was a 24-2 victory over Central Michigan, March 28, 2003 . . . His 100th career victory came May 21, 2005, with an 8-0 shutout in the second game of a doubleheader with Wright State . . . Beals is just the eighth head coach in Ball State baseball history, ranking sixth in overall wins and third in MAC victories . . . Pat Quinn, BSU Associate A.D. and baseball sport supervisor, holds the record for career overall wins (323), while current University of Michigan head coach Rich Maloney owns the MAC win mark (149).
MAC Preseason Poll: Ball State was picked to finish second in the MAC West Division preseason coaches poll (released Feb. 1), behind last year's divisional runner-up Central Michigan . . . Miami is the favorite to win the East Division and the postseason Tournament.
Awards: Redshirt-sophomore Kyle Heyne earned Ball State's first individual honor of 2006 -- and his first career individual accolade -- after being named the MAC West Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20) . . . In five innings of relief work at UAB, Heyne posted a career-best six strikeouts, while allowing just one hit, no walks and zero earned runs.
