Ball State University Athletics
BSU 3, Purdue 2
March 29, 2006 | Baseball
In the top of the second inning, senior third baseman C.J. Webb (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) and redshirt-sophomore designated hitter Justin Rogers (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) each posted singles to the right side, but the Cardinals were shut down with three straight flyouts.
Purdue took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third after loading the bases with one out. A single to the right side by DH John Hunter drove in one run and was followed by Neal Gorka getting hit by a pitch, scoring another for the Boilermakers as all base runners were forced over.
The Boilermakers put runners on the corners in the bottom of the fifth, but a 4-6-3 double play ended the threat.
After a Rogers walk, senior left fielder Chris Pestle (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) made his homecoming special by nailing a double to deep left center field to drive Rogers across the plate and cut the Purdue lead in half, 2-1. Senior right fielder Brian Meyer (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) pushed Pestle to third on a fielder's choice and Pestle scored just a few pitches later after a wild pitch by Purdue relief pitcher Trae Dauby to tie the game at 2-2.
Ball State took the lead after loading the bases in the top of the eighth with no outs. Senior first baseman Brad Miller (Muncie, Ind./Central) singled up the middle to leadoff the inning, followed by senior second baseman Kyle Dygert's (Angola, Ind./Angola) loop single into shallow left center. Junior Matt Gard (Muncie, Ind./Central) reached first on a throwing error by Dauby on a sac bunt play, and Dauby walked Rogers to score Miller for BSU's third run. Purdue relief pitcher Chris Toneguzzi posted three strikeouts to help close out the inning with BSU leading 3-2. With two hits today, Dygert extended his current hitting streak to nine consecutive games.
Junior shortstop Eric Earnhart (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) led off the top of the ninth with a double to deep right center and Miller smoked a single past the shortstop to push Earnhart to third, but Dygert's bunt attempt popped up to the pitcher, who then forced Earnhart out at third to end the inning.
The Boilermakers' Eric Osborn singled to start the bottom of the ninth and moved to second on a fielder's choice. A flyout to center field and a popup to shortstop ended the game in favor of Ball State.
Freshman Ryan Schmidt (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont) (0-0) made his third start of the season, going three innings with five strikeouts and no walks, while giving up six hits and two earned runs.
Junior Richie Fralick (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) was the first of three relief pitchers to take the mound for Ball State. Fralick took the mound in the fourth, pitching two innings and giving up one hit and walking one.
Sophomore Tyler Pritchard (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) came in during the sixth and notched one strikeout in his one inning of work.
Senior Kory Bucklew (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) took over in the bottom of the seventh and completed the final three innings in scoreless fashion, surrendering just two hits against 11 batters for the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Dauby (2-2) took the loss in one inning of work, giving up one earned run while walking two and surrendering two hits.
Ball State now trails 33-40-2 in the all-time series.
The Cardinals host the Mid-American Conference preseason favorite Miami Redhawks (8-11, 1-2 MAC) this weekend beginning Friday with a 3 p.m. game at Ball Diamond, and continuing Saturday and Sunday with 1 p.m. starts.
