Ball State University Athletics
Brad Miller Named MAC West Division Baseball Player of the Week
May 22, 2006 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - For the second time in the last three weeks, Ball State senior first baseman Brad Miller (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.) has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week. The award is the second for Miller this season and the third of his career.
Miller earns the honor after helping guide the Cardinals to a 2-2 record last week, including a 5-3 victory at Indiana and a 2-1 series setback at Central Michigan. BSU dropped the first (9-6) and third (19-16) games to the Chippewas, while scoring an 8-7 win in the second.
For the week, Miller recorded seven total hits - - three home runs and four doubles - - while hitting for a .438 (7-for-16) rate of success. He tallied nine RBI over the four games, while adding six runs scored, six walks and a 1.250 slugging percentage. Defensively, Miller posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 32 putouts.
After going 1-for-8 in the first two games of the week, Miller found his swing in Friday's 8-7 victory over the Chippewas, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of home runs. In his first at bat of the game, Miller belted a solo homer over the left-center field wall. After drawing a walk in the third, Miller added RBI doubles to left in the fifth and seventh innings to bring the Cardinals within one run at 5-4.
With Ball State trailing 7-6 in the top of the ninth, Miller had his first record-setting moment of the weekend, when he smashed what proved to be the game-winning two-run home run over the left field wall. With the blast, the Cardinals' first baseman became the BSU and Mid-American Conference career record holder for RBI at 222. He also tied BSU's career home run record at 49.
Miller's second record-setting performance of the weekend came in his second at bat of Saturday's regular-season finale, when he blasted a three-run homer to left-center field to take sole possession of BSU's career home run mark with 50. He would also add an RBI double in the seventh inning to bring his league-record RBI total to 226.
Entering the 2006 MAC Tournament, Miller has recorded 296 career hits, to pace the Cardinals and rank third on the MAC's all-time list. He needs just two more home runs to become the league's all-time career leader in that category. His 514 career total bases are also a BSU and MAC record.
The Ball State baseball team will open MAC Tournament play Wednesday at 10 a.m. as the No. 3 seed and will battle No. 4 seed Western Michigan to kick off action in the four-day double-elimination tournament. The winner of the contest will move on to face the winner of No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 5 Miami at 4 p.m Thursday, while the loser will battle the winner of No. 1 Kent State vs. No. 6 Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m. Thursday.
