Ball State University Athletics
Vanderbilt 7, BSU 6
March 04, 2006 | Baseball
The Cardinals opened the scoring for the second straight day on a bases-loaded single to right field by senior third baseman C.J. Webb (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah), which drove in seniors Matt Singleton (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and Brad Miller (Muncie, Ind./Central) and gave BSU a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning.
In the third inning, redshirt-sophomore left fielder Justin Rogers (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) singled to right for his second hit of the game, while Webb moved him to third base on a single that just escaped the reach of the VU second baseman. In just his third game of the season, junior right fielder Eric Earnhart (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) drove Rogers in on a single to left field for his first hit of the year, giving Ball State a 3-0 lead.
A single and a walk, followed by a balk by BSU sophomore pitcher Tyler Pritchard (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon), making his second start of the season, loaded the bases for Vanderbilt with no outs in the bottom of the third. VU first baseman Ryan Flaherty drove in two runs with a single to left center in the next at bat. Another walk followed by a hit batter loaded the bases once again for the Commodores, but the Cardinals stopped them from adding to their two-run third inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Vanderbilt loaded the bases on a walk, single and an error on a sac bunt attempt, but stellar defense by Webb at third base ended the threat as he stopped a shot down the left field line that could have driven in a few runs.
Singleton hit an infield single to third base and reached second on a groundout in the top of the seventh. A passed ball gave him a free ride to third base, while Miller was later intentionally walked. Rogers reached first on an error by VU's shortstop, who threw the ball into centerfield, allowing Singleton to score and Miller to move to third base. Webb hit a sac fly to right field, driving Miller home and increasing the BSU lead to 5-2.
Freshman pitcher Jay Broughton (Indianapolis, Ind./Triton Central) came in during the bottom of the seventh with one out and runners on first and second. Vanderbilt's Parker Hanks tied the game up with one swing as he tagged his second home run of the year over the left field wall to clear the bases.
In the top of the eighth inning, junior Matt Gard (Muncie, Ind./Central) singled to the second baseman, reached second on a sac bunt, then scored on a Singleton single to right field to regain the BSU lead 6-5.
Broughton retired the Commodores in the eighth by notching two strikeouts and a groundout.
Vanderbilt's David Macias walked to start the ninth inning, then advanced to second base on a passed ball. Macias moved to third on a sac bunt, which was followed by a groundout to third. Redshirt-sophomore Kyle Heyne (Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater) came in with two outs in the ninth, attempting to get his second consecutive save, but gave up a two-run shot to Dominic de la Osa to end the game 7-6 in favor of Vanderbilt. With one earned run against him, Heyne (1-3) took the loss, while VU's Ty Davis (3-1) got the win.
Pritchard left after four innings of work, giving up three hits and two earned runs, while striking out three and walking two. Senior Kory Bucklew (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) entered the game in the fifth and sat the batters down in order. Bucklew went 2.1 innings, giving up two hits and two walks, while striking out two batters. Broughton finished 2.1 innings, posting two strikeouts, walking one and surrendering two earned runs.
The Cardinals and Commodores wrap up their series Sunday at 1 p.m. Ball State will continue its spring trip with mid-week games at Belmont and Evansville, before traveling to Minneapolis, Minn., for the Metrodome Tournament.
