Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Set For NCAA Appearance
May 31, 2006 | Baseball
2006 NCAA Tournament Notes
THIS WEEK IN BSU BASEBALL: Ball State enters the NCAA Regional as a No. 4 seed coming off its first MAC Tournament championship . . . The Cardinals open the double-elimination regional Friday against Kentucky at the Wildcats' Cliff Hagan Stadium . . . The other first round contest in Lexington matches No. 2 seed College of Charleston against No. 3 seed Notre Dame. The winners of each contest will face each other Saturday to advance to the championship game . . . The losers of each contest will face each other Saturday in an elimination game. . . . The championship game is scheduled for Sunday with an extra game, if necessary, slated for Monday.
2006 NCAA Regional
Hosted by Kentucky
Friday-Monday, June 2-5
No. 1 Kentucky
No. 2 College of Charleston
No. 3 Notre Dame
No. 4 Ball State
Friday, June 2
Game 1 Notre Dame vs. Col. of Charleston 2 p.m.
Game 2 Ball State vs. Kentucky 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 TBA
Game 4 Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 TBA
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 TBA
Game 6 Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 TBA
(if necessary)
Monday, June 5
Game 7 Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 6 TBA
LIVE BROADCASTS: Ball State will provide live radio coverage of all games at the NCAA Regional on WXFN AM 1340 in Muncie and also streamed live on the Internet by clicking the links below . . . Jeff Weller will handle the play-by-play.
NCAA Baseball: Ball State vs. Kentucky - June 2 @ 7 p.m. -- LIVE AUDIO!
NCAA Baseball: Ball State @ NCAA Game #2 - LIVE AUDIO!
NCAA Baseball: Ball State @ NCAA Game #3 (if necessary) -- LIVE AUDIO!
NCAA Baseball: Ball State @ NCAA Game #4 (if necessary) -- LIVE AUDIO!
THE RECORD: Ball State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 37-20 (16-9 MAC) record . . . The Cardinals are fresh off their first MAC Tournament championship in school history after defeating Kent State 7-4 in Saturday's tournament championship game . . . Ball State defeated Western Michigan in the first round, Central Michigan in the second and Kent State in the semifinal before defeating the Golden Flashes again in the title game . . . The Cardinals became the first team to win the conference tournament with a perfect 4-0 record since 2000 . . . Dating back to April 26, Ball State has won 16 of its last 18 games . . . Dating back to March 25, the Cardinals have won 30 of their last 39.
BSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Ball State is playing in its third NCAA Tournament and its first since becoming a Division I program in 1973 . . . The Cardinals made their first appearance in 1965, participating in the NCAA District 4 Playoff in Athens, Ohio, and losing both games they played . . . Ball State returned to the District 4 Playoff in Minneapolis in 1969 and won two games before being eliminated by Southern Illinois.
BSU All-Time NCAA Tournament Results
May 31, 1969 vs. Southern Illinois, L 3-4
May 30, 1969 vs. Minnesota, W 4-1
May 30, 1969 vs. Ohio, W 4-3
May 29, 1969 Southern Illinois, L 6-15
May 28, 1965 Detroit, L 3-4
May 27, 1965 Ohio State, L 0-4
BSU VS. NO. 1 KENTUCKY: Friday's meeting between Ball State and Kentucky will be the sixth all-time . . . The two teams last faced each other in 2002 with the Wildcats taking two out of three in Lexington . . . Kentucky won the most recent match-up 6-5 in 10 innings on March 10, 2002 . . . Ball State leads the all-time series 3-2, including a 22-5 win on March 9, 2002.
BSU VS. NO. 2 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: The Cardinals and the Cougars have met just once . . . The Cougars won the only meeting 8-0 in Charleston on March 7, 1994.
BSU VS. NO. 3 NOTRE DAME: Of all the teams in the field, Ball State is most familiar with Notre Dame . . . The Irish lead the all-time series 15-12, including a 6-4 victory in South Bend back on April 5 . . . Ball State won last year's meeting between the two teams 14-5, also in South Bend . . . RHP Tyler Pritchard earned his first career win in that game, throwing five scoreless innings and allowing four hits . . . In four career games against Notre Dame, Ball State 1B Brad Miller owns a .526 batting average to go along with two home runs, four doubles and seven RBI . . . Miller owns a slugging percentage of 1.053 and an on-base percentage of .571 in his career against the Irish . . . In two games against Notre Dame since transferring to Ball State, 3B C.J. Webb is 5-for-8 for a .625 batting average.
INSTANT RELIEF: The Ball State bullpen allowed just two runs in 12.1 innings of work during the MAC Tournament for an ERA of 1.46 . . . Closer Kyle Heyne threw four hitless innings in the tournament . . . He earned the win in Friday's victory over Kent State, throwing the final three innings of Ball State's 11-inning win . . . The next day he earned his 11th save of the season, sending the Golden Flashes down in order in the ninth inning . . . Jeff Michael also came out of the bullpen to hold Kent State scoreless and allow just one hit in 4.0 innings of work in Saturday's championship game . . . Kory Bucklew allowed one run in 3.2 innings during the tournament.
DYNAMIC DYGERT: Second baseman Kyle Dygert was named MVP of last week's MAC Tournament . . . Dygert hit .438 for the tournament with two home runs, seven RBI and an .875 slugging percentage . . . His first home run, a three-run shot Thursday vs. Central Michigan, broke open a 3-3 tie and propelled Ball State to a 12-5 win over the Chippewas . . . His second homer broke a 1-1 tie Saturday against Kent State and gave the Cardinals a lead they would never lose . . . Dygert hit safely in every game of the tournament, extending his hitting streak to 12 games . . . He is just the second Ball State player to be named the MVP . . . Brad Snyder earned the honor in 2002.
ALL-TOURNEY HONORS: Ball State placed four other players on the all-tournament squad, giving the Cardinals five spots on the 10-member team . . . SS Eric Earnhart was named to the team after hitting .400 during the tournament in the Cardinals' leadoff spot . . . LF Chris Pestle hit two home runs in the tournament, including a grand slam, to earn a spot on the team . . . RF/DH Justin Rogers hit .308 and drew four walks in being named to the team . . . Rogers' two-run homer in the eighth inning of Friday's game against Kent State sent the contest into extra innings, where the Cardinals would outlast the Golden Flashes . . . The final Cardinal on the all-tournament team was RHP Kyle Heyne, who threw four perfect innings in the tournament, earning the win Friday and the save in Saturday's title game.
HITTING STREAKS: Shortstop Eric Earnhart holds the team's longest hitting streak of the season at 19 games . . . Earnhart hit .400 during the MAC Tournament with three multi-hit games . . . Kyle Dygert also hit safely in every game to extend his season-best hitting streak to 12 games . . . During the season, the Cardinals have had three other players compile hitting streaks of longer than 10 games: Mike Sullivan (14), Justin Rogers (14) and Brad Miller (13).
MILLER'S RECORD SEASON: During the third inning of a May 20 contest at Central Michigan, 1B Brad Miller hit his 50th career home run to take over first place on the school's all-time list . . . Miller also set the school's single-season RBI record with 75 and owns the career RBI record with 227 . . . His 21 home runs this season are two shy of Thomas Howard's school record 23 long balls in 1986.
OTHER RECORDS: In addition to the home run and RBI marks, Miller and fellow four-year starter Mike Sullivan set the following offensive school records during the 2006 season:
Miller: Career hits - 300
Miller: Career games started - 224
Sullivan: Season at-bats - 245 (2006)
Sullivan: Career at-bats - 888
Sullivan: Career runs scored - 204
GOLDEN GLOVES: As a team, Ball State owns a .974 fielding percentage, the best in the Mid-American Conference . . . In the most recent NCAA rankings, the Cardinals' fielding percentage placed them 11th in the nation . . . C Matt Singleton leads the Ball State starters with a .997 fielding percentage, and 1B Brad Miller is close behind at .993 . . . Three other regulars (3B C.J. Webb, CF Mike Sullivan and LF Chris Pestle) own fielding percentages above .980.
GOING THE DISTANCE: In the first round of the MAC Tournament against Western Michigan, sophomore LHP Ben Snyder threw the Cardinals first complete game of the season . . . Snyder allowed two runs on six hits, while striking out 10 batters and walking two . . . The lefty tops all Ball State pitchers with 101.1 innings of work and 99 strikeouts . . . The complete game in the MAC Tourney was the third of his career.
MAN ON FIRE: RF/DH Justin Rogers has been Ball State's hottest hitter down the stretch . . . Over the Cardinals final 18 games (of which the team won 16), Rogers compiled a .508 batting average, a .730 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage . . . During that stretch, four other Cradinals are hitting above the .300-mark: Kyle Dygert (.419), Eric Earnhart (.417), Brad Miller (.389) and Mike Sullivan (.342).
ALL-MAC: For their performances this season, Brad Miller and Justin Rogers were named to the All-MAC team . . . Miller earned first team honors, while Rogers was named to the second team.
AWARDS: Twice in the final month of the season, Brad Miller was named MAC West Player of the Week . . . The senior first earned the award May 8 for his performance in Ball State's sweep of Toledo . . . He earned the honor againg May 22 after an offensive explosion in the series at Central Michigan . . . Miller was the third Cardinal to earn individual accolades this season . . . 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.
BSU BASEBALL ALL-TIME: The Cardinals own a 1,304-1,203-14 (.520) 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 37-20 record heading into the regional, the Cardinals have secured a finish of .500 or better for the 11th consecutive season.
