Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Oklahoma State
Baseball Falls To Oklahoma State To End FAU Beach Ball Bash
February 18, 2007 | Baseball
BOCA RATON, Fla. - In the eighth inning of the Ball State baseball team's Sunday contest with Oklahoma State, the Cardinals had freshman Zach Dygert at the plate with freshmen Joe Mack, Kory Benbow and Ryan Chenoweth on the bases.
Ball State lost the game 19-4, but the Cardinals were able to manufacture two runs in that eighth inning, something the team hopes is a sign of things to come from its young players.
In the four games Ball State played over the weekend at the FAU Beach Ball Bash, 10 freshmen saw playing time, and 15 Cardinals saw their first action in a Ball State uniform.
One of those newcomers, Chenoweth, put Ball State on the scoreboard Sunday against Oklahoma State, which entered the weekend ranked 16th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association.
The left-handed Chenoweth led off the fifth inning with an opposite field solo shot over the left field fence to score the Cardinals' first run of the day.
Chenoweth was one of seven Cardinals to record a hit in the game.
Leading off the sixth inning, senior Matt Gard blasted his first home run of the season over the same part of the fence to score the Cardinals' second run.
But with the exception of those two home runs and Ball State's two-run eighth inning, Oklahoma State provided most of the offense on the day. The Cowboys scored the first seven runs of the game.
After getting on the board in the first inning with a Matt Mangini sacrifice fly, Oklahoma State tacked on four runs in the second inning. Keanon Simon laced and RBI double, and Corey Brown followed with a three-run home run to push the Cowboys' lead to 5-0.
Oklahoma State added two more runs in the third on a Dusty Harvard RBI triple and a Ryan Flavell sacrifice fly, extending its lead to 7-0.
The Cowboys went on to add five runs in the fifth inning, three in the sixth and four in the eighth to pull away.
With the loss, Ball State drops to 0-4 on the season, while Oklahoma State improves to 5-1. The Cardinals return to action next weekend with three games at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn.
