Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Florida Atlantic
Baseball Drops Season Opener 8-3 At Florida Atlantic
February 17, 2007 | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Ball State baseball team jumped out to an early lead Friday night in its season-opener at Florida Atlantic, but the host Owls came back and pulled away in the middle innings for an 8-3 win.
The Cardinals resume play in the FAU Beach Ball Bash Saturday with a doubleheader against La Salle. Game one is slated for 11 a.m.
Follow the entire tournament online with live stats through the following link to the Florida Atlantic Athletics Web site: http://fausports.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/07-fau-beach-ball-bash.html
Ball State took an early 2-0 lead Friday on the strength of two Wayne Bond runs. The junior center fielder led the game off with a single, advanced to third base on back-to-back walks and then scored on a wild pitch.
Then, leading off the third inning, Bond reached on an error and advanced to second base. He moved to third on a wild pitch and later scored on a Matt Stoeklen RBI groundout.
Florida Atlantic took its first lead of the game with a three-run bottom of the third inning. Daniel Bomback led off the inning with a home run for the Owls, and Mike McKenna followed two batters later with a two-run shot to put Florida Atlantic ahead 3-2.
Ball State knotted the score 3-3 in the top of the fourth inning on a Cory Dragstrem RBI single. Freshman right fielder Kory Benbow led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third base before Dragstrem lined a single over the shortstop to tie the game.
But Florida Atlantic answered Ball State's game-tying run with five straight runs. The Owls scored one run in the fourth inning on a Robbie Widlansky RBI single and then added four more in the fifth to take control.
Widlansky highlighted the four-run fifth with a two-out double that scored the final two runs of the game, pushing Florida Atlantic's lead to 8-3.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Brenden Stines earned the first start of his Ball State career on the mound and surrendered four runs in four innings of work.
Freshman right-hander Brad Piatt threw the fifth an sixth innings and allowed four runs, but none were earned. Sophomore right-hander Adam Quinn came in to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. Quinn held Florida Atlantic scoreless over those final two innings and did not allow a hit.
Dragstrem led the way at the plate for the Cardinals with three hits and one RBI. Bond, Stoeklen and freshman designated hitter Ryan Chenoweth each collected one hit for Ball State.
With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 0-1 on the season.
