Ball State University
Evansville
Baseball Falls In Friday's Home Opener Against Evansville
March 16, 2007 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - Playing its home opener in the first game of the Ball State Invitational Friday, the Ball State baseball team fell to Evansville 9-3.
The Cardinals picked up 10 hits on the day but left 10 runners stranded. Center fielder Wayne Bond led the way with three of those hits, and right fielder Kory Benbow and catcher Zach Dygert notched two hits each.
Ball State (6-10) returns to action Saturday at 2:30 p.m., when the Cardinals will take on Le Moyne. The Dolphins lost 7-1 to Bowling Green in Friday's second game.
But in the day's first game, Evansville (12-7) jumped out to an early lead, and Ball State never quite recovered. The Purple Aces put two runs on the board in the first inning and added two more in the third to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
The Cardinals struck back with one run in both the third and fourth innings to cut the lead to 4-2. Ball State's third inning run scored when first baseman Matt Stoeklen singled to bring Bond home. Ball State scored in the fourth inning on a Dygert RBI groundout that scored shortstop Eric Earnhart.
After falling behind 6-2 after two more Evansville runs in the top of the fifth inning, Ball State added another run in the sixth when Dygert picked up his second RBI of the day on a run-scoring double that brought Benbow around.
But the Purple Aces picked up one run in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth to seal the win. Kai Tuomi earned the win on the mound for Evansville after allowing three runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings. Left fielder Pat Tumility led the Aces with three hits, and three Evansville players recorded two RBI.
Six different Cardinals recorded a hit in the game. With Stoeklen's run-scoring single in the third inning, the Ball State junior extended his hitting streak to seven games.
