Ball State University Athletics
Baseball: April 17 Weekly Release
April 17, 2006 | Baseball
Baseball: April 17 Weekly Release (PDF)
This week in Ball State Baseball: The Cardinals travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a 3 p.m. game against the Xavier Musketeers Tuesday at Hayden Field . . . BSU then travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a Mid-American Conference weekend series against the Eastern Michigan Eagles . . . Friday's game is slated for 6 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium, while Saturday's is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start and Sunday's for 1 p.m. . . . Tuesday's game can be heard live on 91.3 WCRD or on the internet by visiting www.wcrd.net or www.ballstatesports.com.
About the Cardinals: Ball State enters the week with a 19-16 overall record (7-5 MAC) after going 3-2 in five games last week . . . The Cardinals defeated Dayton 16-5 on Tuesday and IPFW 17-15 on Wednesday, but dropped two of three against Kent State . . . The Golden Flashes took Friday's game 7-6, before BSU came back to win 10-9 Saturday, then KSU took a decisive 7-2 win on Sunday . . . OF Mike Sullivan, currently on a 13-game hitting streak, batted .435 (10-for-23) with a home run and five RBI in the five-game span . . . 2B Kyle Dygert slugged his first three homers of the season, including the walk-off home run Wednesday against IPFW . . . OF Justin Rogers, whose season-best 14-game hitting streak ended Friday at KSU, nailed his first career grand slam Saturday -- and Ball State's first of the year -- one week after posting his first career homer . . . RHP Kyle Heyne picked up a win and a save in three appearances last week . . . INF/DH Matt Gard owns a team-best .352 batting average, while Sullivan ranks second at .320 . . . Rogers (.311) and 1B Brad Miller (.306) round out the BSU offensive starters hitting above the .300 mark . . . The Cardinals are hitting .273 as a team, while the squad's ERA is 4.65.
About Xavier: The Musketeers enter the week with an 11-26 overall record (3-9 Atlantic 10) after dropping four of five games last week, including an 8-0 shutout by BSU's MAC East rival Miami . . . INF Adam Lipski leads the Musketeer starters with a .290 batting average . . . Xavier is hitting .252 as a team, while the pitching staff has a 5.80 ERA.
The Series: Ball State leads the all-time series 10-6, including a 14-9 win in their meeting May 10, 2005, at Ball Diamond . . . Ryan DeGeeter earned the win for the Cardinals, while Mike Sullivan scored the game-winning run on a Brad Miller RBI single.
About Eastern Michigan: The Eagles enter the week with a 16-16 overall record (7-5 MAC) after winning three of four games last week, including taking two of three against Ohio . . . LHP/IF Steve Bradshaw leads EMU with a .373 batting average, while C Patrick Dean (.333) is the only other Eagle hitting over .300 . . . The Eagles are hitting .257 as a team, while the pitching staff has a 4.71 ERA.
The Series: Eastern Michigan leads the all-time series 60-56-1, but the Cardinals have won the last two meetings . . . Ben Snyder picked up a win in a 2-1 game April 30, 2005, with Sullivan scoring the GW-run on a Kyle Dygert RBI single . . . Erik Morrison earned the win in a 17-16 contest May 1, 2005, with Matt Singleton scoring the GW-run on a Matt Gard RBI single.
BSU Baseball All-Time: The Cardinals own a 1,286-1,199-14 (.517) 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 121-83 (.593) overall record and a 55-30 (.647) 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' 50th MAC victory came Sunday, March 26 with a 4-2 win at Akron.
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 . . . Senior C.J. Webb added to that with his MAC West Player of the Week (April 2) honor . . . Webb led the Cardinals with his .579 (11-for-19) batting average and eight RBI in five games.
