Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Defeats Western Michigan In Opening Round of MAC Tourney
May 24, 2006 | Baseball
KENT, Ohio - Ben Snyder threw a complete game, striking out 10 batters, as Ball State defeated Western Michigan 6-2 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Wednesday.
The third-seeded Cardinals (34-20) led or were tied the entire game. They will play Thursday at 4 p.m. against No. 2 seed Central Michigan, which defeated fifth-seeded Miami on Wednseday.
With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ball State left fielder Chris Pestle gave Ball State the lead for good with a solo home run to left field. The Cardinals then advanced runners to second and third with two outs. Mike Sullivan lined back to Broncos' pitcher Dan O'Brien, who knocked the ball down with his glove but overthrew the first baseman, allowing both runners to score and the Cardinals to take a 4-1 lead.
Ball State added two more runs in the eighth inning on an RBI double by Kyle Dygert and a double steal to provide some insurance for Snyder.
The sophomore left-hander, however, didn't need much. Through six innings, Snyder shut out Western Michigan, allowing only one hit. At one point, he sent down 11 consecutive Bronco batters.
"Snyder had probably his best effort of the year today," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "He's a great competitor, and great competitors show up in big games."
Snyder allowed six hits in the game, the biggest of which came off the bat of Western Michigan catcher Mark Abro in the top of the seventh inning. Abro led off with a solo home run to left field to tie the game 1-1.
But just as quickly as Abro had tied the game, Pestle gave the lead back to Ball State with his home run to almost the same location.
"Pestle hit a hanging curve ball and matched their home run to put us back in the lead," Beals said. "Then we were lucky enough to score two more runs on an error to put us in the lead for good."
Ball State spread its eight base hits out between six batters. Shortstop Eric Earnhart led the way with a 3-for-5 effort had the plate, extending his hitting streak to 16 games.
The Cardinals scored their first run of the game in the third inning on a Matt Singleton RBI single that scored Matt Gard from third base.
