Ball State University
Wake Forest
Ninth Inning Run Lifts Cardinals Over Wake Forest
March 13, 2007 | Baseball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After trailing through the early innings and leading into the late innings, the Ball State baseball team found itself tied 6-6 with Wake Forest heading into the ninth.
The Cardinals came through in the clutch, scoring a ninth inning run to top the Demon Deacons, which had taken two out of three games over the weekend from No. 4 Virginia, by a 7-6 score.
First baseman Matt Stoeklen had three hits on the day for Ball State, stretching his hitting streak to five games. Center fielder Wayne Bond and left fielder Justin Rogers each had two hits for the Cardinals.
Ball State (5-9) and Wake Forest (11-6) will play the second and final game of their midweek series Wednesday at 3 p.m.
In Ball State's ninth inning Tuesday, Bond led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second base on a single from Rogers. After taking third base on a wild pitch, Bond came home to score the game-winning run on a one-out sacrifice fly deep to center field off the bat of right fielder Kory Benbow.
Closer Kyle Heyne, who had entered the game in the eight inning, retired Wake Forest in the ninth inning to earn the win. With the victory, Ball State has now won two games in a row and four of its past six.
Early in Tuesday's game, Wake Forest jumped out to a lead with a two-run first inning. Center fielder Eric Williams reached on a one-out single and came around to score on a two-run home run off the bat of first baseman Allan Dykstra.
Ball State evened the score 2-2 in the top of the third inning on a home run from freshman second baseman Jeremy Hazelbaker. After catcher Zach Dygert drew a walk, Hazelbaker blasted a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence for his first collegiate home run to tie the game.
Wake Forest regained the lead in the bottom of the third inning on an opposite field solo home run by designated hitter Willy Fox.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead for the first time in the top of the fourth inning with two runs on three hits. Stoeklen started things with a one-out double to left center field and came home to score when Benbow laced a double to almost the same location. Matt Gard followed with a single on the next pitch, bringing Benbow home to give the Cardinals a 4-3 advantage.
Ball State padded its lead with two more runs in the seventh inning. After back-to-back walks by Dygert and Hazelbaker, Bond singled to load the bases. Rogers followed with a single up the middle that scored two runs to push Ball State's advantage to 6-3.
Wake Forest got those two runs back in the bottom of the seventh on another two-run homer from Dykstra. The Demon Decons then tied the game with one more run in the eighth before Benbow's sac fly secured the win for Ball State.
Benbow finished with two RBI, as did Rogers and Hazelbaker. Richie Fralick threw the first four innings for Ball State, allowing three runs on four hits. Adam Quinn came in to throw the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, allowing two runs and striking out three. Brenden Stines entered the game in the eighth inning before giving way to Heyne who finished it out.
