Ball State University Athletics
Ohio 9, BSU 6
April 09, 2006 | Baseball
Ohio opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the third inning, as Matt Stiffler tripled to right centerfield to drive in Chris Klimko, who was hit by a pitch. Dusty Hammond singled up the middle to drive in Stiffler and give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.
Ball State responded with four runs in the bottom of the third, as juniors Matt Gard (Muncie, Ind./Central) and Eric Earnhart (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) each posted singles and advanced one base apiece on a wild pitch during the next at bat. With an infield single to shortstop, senior Mike Sullivan (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) knocked in Gard and pushed Earnhart to third. Another wild pitch scored Earnhart and moved Sullivan, who later stole third, to second base. Senior Brad Miller (Muncie, Ind./Central) singled down the right field line to drive in Sullivan and give BSU its first lead of the game. Following two walks and with Miller now on third, redshirt-sophomore Justin Rogers (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) extended his hitting streak to 12 games as he placed a single into right field to score Miller.
The Bobcats knotted the game at 4-4 with two more runs in the top of the fourth. Willie Walker double down left field line, advanced on a flyout by Hayden Johnston and scored on a bunt single by Bryant Witt. Stiffler eventually drove in Witt with a single to second base.
After walks of Sullivan and Miller in the bottom of the fourth, a double steal created a gap for the Cardinals to add another run. Klimko, in an attempt to pick off the runner at third, threw the ball into left field allowing Sullivan to advance home on the error and give Ball State its last lead of the game.
Jon Vondrell singled up the middle to open the Bobcats' scoring in the fifth, as he drove Hammond across the plate. Anthony Gressick, Walker, Witt and Johnston all scored to give Ohio a 9-5 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, senior C.J. Webb (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) singled up the middle, followed by Rogers' double to right center to move him to third. Webb scored Ball State's final run of the game on Gard's RBI groundout to first base.
Freshman Ryan Schmidt (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont) suffered the loss to drop to 0-1 on the season. Schmidt pitched 1/3 of the fifth inning, allowing two hits, four earned runs and one walk.
Ohio's Dan Weiss completed the last five innings in relief for the win to improve to 2-0.
Ball State travels to Dayton on Tuesday, but returns home for a 3 p.m. contest with IPFW on Wednesday.
