Ball State University Athletics
April 3: Baseball Weekly Release
April 03, 2006 | Baseball
April 3: Baseball Weekly Release (PDF)
This week in Ball State Baseball: The Cardinals host Valparaiso University on Tuesday at 3 p.m., then travel to Notre Dame, Ind., to take on the University of Notre Dame with a 5 p.m. game at Frank Eck Stadium . . . BSU returns home to host Mid-American Conference foe Ohio University for a three-game series this weekend, with Friday's game scheduled for 3 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday's contests both at 1 p.m. . . . All five games can be heard live on 91.3 WCRD or on the internet by visiting www.wcrd.net or www.ballstatesports.com, with Mike Perleberg and Joel Nickels calling the action.
About the Cardinals: Ball State enters the week with a 14-11 overall record (5-1 MAC) after defeating Wright State (2-1) and Purdue (3-2) plus sweeping the Miami RedHawks (19-13, 5-0, 4-2) last week . . . 3B C.J. Webb led the team with his .579 batting average, eight RBI and four doubles . . . Webb now leads the team with his .294 average, after bumping it up 82 points from last week's .212 . . . OF Chris Pestle nailed three home runs, all against Miami . . . 1B Brad Miller hit .571 with a team-high 12 hits . . . OF Justin Rogers, Miller and Webb all have seven-game hitting streaks entering the week . . . RHP Tyler Pritchard went 8.1 scoreless innings on the mound, giving up just three hits while striking out seven batters -- including a career-high six vs. Miami -- to earn a win in two outings last week . . . LHP Kory Bucklew posted two victories, both in relief capacities, during 5.1 innings of work . . . Ball State is unbeaten at home (4-0) and in extra inning outings (2-0) so far this season . . . The Cardinals are hitting .251 as a team, up from .228 last week . . . The pitching staff has a 3.42 combined ERA . . . RHP Jay Broughton (3.20 ERA, 1-1, 19.2 IP, 7 ER, 14 BB, 14 SO) is Tuesday's projected starter, while LHP Ryan Schmidt (3.18 ERA, 0-0, 11.1 IP, 4 ER, 9 BB, 11 SO) is slated for Wednesday . . . This weekend's probables include LHP Ben Snyder (4.67 ERA, 3-2, 44.1 IP, 23 ER, 19 BB, 46 SO) on Friday, RHP Tyler Pritchard (3.37 ERA, 3-1, 34.2 IP, 13 ER, 15 BB, 21 SO) on Saturday and RHP Ryan DeGeeter (2.33 ERA, 2-3, 38.2 IP, 10 ER, 15 BB, 28 SO) on Sunday.
About Valparaiso: The Crusaders enter the week with a 4-14 overall record after going 2-4 last week . . . Valpo is hitting .256 as a team, led by INF Ryan Manthei's .388 batting average . . . The Crusaders have a 6.39 team ERA . . . RHP John Snelten (3.70 ERA, 1-0, 24.1 IP, 10 ER, 6 BB, 9 SO) is slated to start Tuesday's game.
The Series: Ball State leads the all-time series 39-27-1, having won the last six meetings, including a 9-5 victory during their last meeting April 5, 2005, at Valparaiso.
About Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish enter the week with a 17-8 overall record (5-1 Big East) after winning four games last week . . . Notre Dame is hitting .305 as a team, led by 1B/OF Craig Cooper's .385 mark . . . The Irish have a 3.31 team ERA . . . LHP Wade Korpi (2.73 ERA, 2-1, 26.1 IP, 8 ER, 8 BB, 36 SO) is slated as Wednesday's starter.
The Series: Notre Dame leads the all-time series 14-12, but BSU earned a 14-5 win April 6, 2005, at Notre Dame.
About Ohio: The Bobcats enter the week with an 8-11 overall record (2-4 MAC) after going 2-2 last week . . . Ohio is hitting .283 as a team, led by P/OF Anthony Gresick's .372 batting average . . . The Bobcats have a 5.91 team ERA . . . This weekend's probables include RHP Derek Witt (5.59 ERA, 3-2, 38.2 IP, 24 ER, 9 BB, 27 SO) on Friday and RHP John Angelicchi (10.18 ERA, 0-4, 20.1 IP, 23 ER, 11 BB, 15 SO) on Saturday, while Sunday's is still to be determined.
The Series: Ohio leads the all-time series 48-34, but the Cardinals won the final two meetings of last year's series in Athens, Ohio, with an 11-3 win May 7 and a 5-2 victory on May 8.
BSU Baseball All-Time: The Cardinals own a 1,281-1,194-14 (.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 116-78 (.598) overall record and a 53-26 (.671) 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.
