Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Lipscomb
Baseball Defeats Lipscomb, Prepares For No. 1 Vanderbilt
February 23, 2007 | Baseball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Ball State baseball team earned a 1-0 victory Friday against Lipscomb to kick off the Music City Challenge.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 1-4 on the season, while Lipscomb falls to 5-4. Ball State returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m. Muncie time against Vanderbilt, the nation's top-ranked team.
"Obviously tomorrow's game is going to be a big challenge for us," Ball State coach
Greg Beals said. "Vanderbilt is a great program, and it's going to be a great college baseball atmosphere. It's going to be a good learning experience for our guys, and it should be very beneficial for us down the road."
Fans can watch a webcast of Saturday's game or follow the game with live stats through the following link to the Vanderbilt Athletics Web site: http://vucommodores.collegesports.com/sports/m-basebl/radio-tv-internet.html
In Friday's game, the Cardinals were able to build some momentum heading into the Vanderbilt contest. Ball State produced all the offense it would need against Lipscomb in the top of the first inning.
Wayne Bond led the game off with a single for Ball State, stole second base and later advanced to third. With the bases loaded and one out, Ryan Chenoweth singled to left field to score Bond.
Chenoweth finished 2-for-4 on the day to lead the Ball State effort at the plate. Six other Cardinals picked up one hit each in the game.
The one run was enough for Ball State starting pitcher
Brenden Stines, who threw six and two-thirds scoreless innings to earn the win. He struck out five batters and allowed five hits.
"Getting the first win of the season under our belts was big, especially with the young ball club we have," Beals said. "Now our guys know we can play a good game of baseball and win a one-run game."
Stines pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the third inning after Lipscomb put runners at first and third with one out. The sophomore right-hander struck out Lipscomb leadoff hitter Ben Williams and then got Allen Bolden to ground out to end the threat.
Lipscomb threatened again in the bottom of the sixth inning, moving a runner to third base, but Stines struck out Casey Bond to end the inning.
Kyle Heyne came in to throw the final two and one-third innings for Ball State to get the save.
With one out and runners on the corners in the bottom of the ninth, Heyne induced a ground ball from Donnie Amos.
Matt Gard fielded the ground ball at shortstop and flipped to Jeremy Hazelbaker at second base for one out. The Lipscomb base runner was also called for interference for an illegal slide, making the third out and ending the game.
