Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Comes From Behind to Defeat IPFW
April 12, 2006 | Baseball
The Mastodons scored two runs in the first and five in the third to jump out to a 7-0 lead. BSU chipped away at the deficit by posting two runs in the fourth on back-to-back home runs by senior Brad Miller (Muncie, Ind./Central) and redshirt-sophomore Justin Rogers (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham). Rogers' extended his hitting streak to 14 games with his second career long ball.
IPFW added two more in the top of the sixth inning, but the Cardinals scored three in the bottom of the sixth as senior Mike Sullivan (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) knocked a two-run shot over the center field wall, pushing his hitting streak to 10 games. Miller nailed his second homer of the game -- 11th of the season -- over the right center wall in the next at bat to cut the score to 9-5.
After another run by the Mastodons in the top of the seventh, Ball State notched another three-run inning. Dygert posted a pinch-hit solo shot – his first of the year – over the right field wall to start things off. Senior Matt Singleton (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) singled to left center to score junior Matt Gard (Muncie, Ind./Central), while Sullivan singled to left center to score another run.
The Cardinals' big inning came in the eighth, as they scored seven runs on six hits. Senior C.J. Webb (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) drilled his second home run of the season, while Gard nailed a three-run shot to right field for his first career blast. Rogers singled to right center and combined with a fielding error on the center fielder, to push all three base runners home and cap off the inning.
IPFW came back with five in the top of the ninth to knot the game at 15-15, but after senior Chris Pestle (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) was hit by a pitch, Dygert took the first pitch he saw over the wall for the game-winner.
The Cardinals combined for eight homers in the offensive battle, while IPFW managed one.
Redshirt-sophomore Kyle Heyne (Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater) earned the win (3-4) after going 1.1 innings in a relief capacity. Heyne struck out three batters, while surrendering two hits, two earned runs and a walk.
The Cardinals travel to Kent State (17-11, 6-3 MAC) for a three-game Mid-American Conference series this weekend.
