Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Wins MAC Championship, Dygert Earns Tourney MVP Honors
May 27, 2006 | Baseball
Ball State defeated Kent State 7-4 Saturday to win the Mid-American Conference Tournament and advance to next weekend's NCAA Regional.
The Cardinals (37-20) defeated the Golden Flashes for the second consecutive day on their way to winning their first tournament title in school history.
Kyle Dygert put the Cardinals on top for good with a two-run home run in the fourth inning. The homer, Dygert's second of the tournament, gave Ball Ball State a 3-1 lead.
"I was just hoping that would get us going," Dygert said. "I knew that wasn't going to be enough to win it. I was just glad to get a couple of runs on the board, get a lead and get everybody in the dugout going."
After Kent State climbed within a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, Ball State scored two more in the fifth on a C.J. Webb RBI single to take a 5-3 advantage.
The Flashes added two in the bottom of the fifth to climb within one run again, but that was the last time they would score.
Ball State reliever Jeff Michael entered the game in the bottom of the fifth, taking over for Richie Fralick, who started his first game of the season. Michael allowed just one hit over the next 3.2 innings, and closer Kyle Heyne sent the Flashes down in order in the ninth to earn his 11th save of the season.
"Whenever you go to game four of the tournament and you only give up four hits, you're pitching staff is doing a great job," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "Fralick threw well in his first start of the season and gave us a chance to win. And we've been nursing Jeff Michael along all season coming off his arm surgery, and today we let him go. He wanted to keep taking the ball, and he came up huge for us."
The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the ninth inning for some insurance before Heyne closed the game out.
Dygert earned the tournament's MVP award, while the Cardinals also placed Heyne, Eric Earnhart, Chris Pestle and Justin Rogers on the All-Tourney Team.
Ball State has now won 16 of its last 18 games. The team will learn its opponent for next week's NCAA Regional during Monday's tournament selection show.
Dygert extended his hitting streak to 12 games Saturday, while Earnhart extended his to 19, the longest streak by any Ball State player this season.
