Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Akron Saturday To Open Conference Play
March 22, 2007 | Baseball
Ball State (8-11)
vs. Akron (9-4)
Sat., March 24 @ 4 p.m.
Sun., March 25 @ 1 p.m.
Sun., March 25 @ 4 p.m.
Ball Diamond
Muncie, Ind.
About Ball State
The Cardinals enter the weekend having won seven of thier past 11 games . . . Ball State wrapped up last weekend by defeating Le Moyne Saturday and Bowling Green Sunday before dropping a midweek contest at Louisville . . . Despite having his nine-game hitting streak snapped at Louisville, first baseman Matt Stoeklen leads Ball State with a .350 batting average and 12 RBI . . . Center fielder Wayne Bond is second on the team at .289 and owns a five-game hitting streak entering the weekend . . . Freshmen outfielders Kory Benbow and Ryan Chenoweth lead the Cardinals in home runs with three each.
On The Mound
Brenden Stines, Tyler Pritchard and Ryan DeGeeter have formed the starting rotation every weekend so far for Ball State . . . DeGeeter leads the Cardinals in wins with three, and his 4.15 ERA ranks first among the team's starters . . . Closer Kyle Heyne anchors the Ball State bullpen with a win and four saves . . . His 3.09 ERA ranks third among Cardinal relievers behind Adam Quinn at 1.35 and Brad Piatt at 1.38 . . . Richie Fralick leads the bullpen in innings pitched with 14.0.
Scouting Akron
The Zips won nine of their first ten games before dropping three in a row at Memphis . . . Akron lost two one-run games to the Tigers before falling 12-6 on Sunday . . . All four Akron losses have come at the hands of Memphis, including the season-opener back in February . . . Doug McNulty leads the Zips with a .392 batting average and is one of four everyday starters hitting better than .300 . . . Kurt Davidson tops Akron in home runs with two and in RBI with 12 . . . The Zips had won nine games in a row before being swept by Memphis over the weekend.
On The Mound
Friday's starter Frank Turocy has started four games without a decision . . . He has struck out 12 batters and walked eight in 22.2 innings, and opponents are hitting .267 against him . . . Steven Zemanek II, who is slated to throw Saturday, has won two of his three starts, and opponents are hitting .352 against him . . . Ryne Romick leads the Akron bullpen with a 2.45 ERA in 11.0 innings . . . He is tied for the lead among Akron relievers in appearances with Jared Patterson at five.
The Series: Ball State leads the all-time series with Akron 20-14, dating back to 1993 . . . The Cardinals have won seven of the past 10 against the Zips, including two out of three last season at Akron . . . The Zips won the first game of last season's series 3-2 before Ball State won the next two 11-5 and 4-2.
Ring It Out
Prior to Sunday's series finale, Ball State will honor its 2006 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship team with a ring ceremony . . . All current players who were on the championship team will receive their rings along with several formers players who will be able to attend, including Jon Byerly, Kyle Dygert, Brian Meyer, Chris Pestle, Matt Singleton and C.J. Webb . . . Ball State President Dr. Jo Ann Gora and Director of Athletics Tom Collins will be on hand to pass out the rings along with head coach Greg Beals.
Picking Up The Pace
After getting off to a slow start, Ball State is now just three games below .500 . . . The Cardinals won four out of five games last week - beating Wake Forest twice and Le Moyne and Bowling Green once, while dropping a game to Evansville - before losing at Louisville Tuesday . . . Ball State has won seven of its past 11 games to improve to 8-11 after starting the season 1-7.
Mirror Image
Ball State's 8-11 record is exactly the same record the Cardinals' 2006 team owned through 18 games . . . That team didn't reach .500 until late March and really started to hit its stride when Mid-American Conference play started . . . Starting with the first MAC game March 24, the 2006 Cardinals won 26 of their final 36 games, including winning streaks of eight games and 11 games.
Pitcher Of The Week
Junior closer Kyle Heyne earned the MAC West Division's Pitcher of the Week honor Monday after picking up a win and a save the previous week . . . Heyne earned the win March 13 in Ball State's 7-6 victory at Wake Forest, shutting down the Demon Deacons in the bottom of the ninth after the Cardinals had taken a one-run lead in the top of the inning . . . Heyne returned to the mound the next day against Wake Forest and threw the final 1.1 innings to earn his fourth save of the season . . . The NCBWA Stopper of the Year candidate now owns 18 career saves, which places him second on Ball State's all-time list behind only Ron Schrock (1983-85), who had 24.
Three In A Row For DeGeeter
Dating back to his start March 4 at Austin Peay, Ryan DeGeeter has won three consecutive starts . . . DeGeeter earned the win Sunday in Ball State's 11-7 victory over Bowling Green . . . The senior right-hander pitched 5.0 innings against the Falcons, allowing three runs - two earned - on four hits . . . His most dominating start during his winning streak was at Austin Peay, where he held the Governors without an earned run on three hits in 7.0 innings . . . With the three straight wins, DeGeeter has improved to 3-2 with a 4.15 ERA, the best among Ball State's starters.
Offensive Outburst
Ball State produced a season-high 11 runs on a season-best 18 hits in Sunday's win over Bowling Green . . . Shortstop Eric Earnhart led the way with a season-high four hits, and first baseman Matt Stoeklen notched three hits . . . Five other Cardinals had two hits in the game, including Kory Benbow, who blasted two home runs . . . Ball State's previous season-highs for runs and hits came March 3 at Austin Peay, when the Cardinals scored 10 runs on 16 hits in a 10-1 victory.
Fountain Of Youth
Through 19 games, five Ball State freshmen have started at least 10 . . . Kory Benbow leads the Cardinal freshmen with 18 starts, followed by Ryan Chenoweth with 17 starts, Jeremy Hazelbaker with 15, Tyler Rogers with 13 and Zach Dygert with 12 . . . A total of 10 freshmen have seen action for Ball State.
Up Next
Following the series with Akron, Ball State hosts Indianapolis Tuesday at 3 p.m. and Purdue Wednesday at 3 p.m. . . . The Cardinals then travel to Oxford, Ohio, next weekend to continue MAC play with a three-game series at Miami.
Cardinals Tabbed Second In MAC West
Ball State was picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division by the league's coaches . . . The Cardinals were picked in the preseason poll to finish behind Central Michigan in the West Division, which is exactly where last year's team ended the regular season . . . The 2006 Cardinals, however, defeated the division champion Chippewas on their way to winning the first MAC Tournament Championship in school history . . . Since the conference went to a divisional format in 1998, Ball State has never finished worse than second in the West, and the Cardinals have won the division six times . . . In 2006, Ball State finished the season 38-22 and 16-9 in the MAC.
WATCH Out For Rogers
Junior outfielder Justin Rogers has been placed on the 2007 Wallace Watch, a list of 148 student-athletes eligible for the Brooks Wallace Award, presented to the College Baseball Foundation's player of the year . . . Rogers returns as Ball State's leading hitter in 2007 after batting .347 as a sophomore on Ball State's 2006 NCAA Regional team . . . He logged 13 doubles, five home runs and 44 RBI last season on his way to earning All-MAC Second Team honors . . . Rogers hit .560 over the Cardinals' final 14 games, helping Ball State go 12-2 during that stretch to lock up a second place finish in the MAC West Division.
And Heyne, Too
Junior closer Kyle Heyne has been named to the preseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in Division I baseball . . . Heyne ranked second in the MAC with 12 saves in 2006 and finished the season with a team-best 2.11 ERA . . . He led the Cardinals with 29 appearances and struck out 46 batters while walking only five in 42.2 innings of work . . . He earned the win in Ball State's 2006 MAC Tournament semifinal victory over Kent State and then earned the save in the championship game rematch with the Golden Flashes . . . He then picked up another save in the Cardinals' first round NCAA Regional win over Kentucky.
New Faces
Ball State welcomes 14 newcomers to its program for 2007 . . . Nine true freshmen and five transfers are new to the 2007 team . . . Of the 14 newcomers, 13 come from the state of Indiana . . . First baseman Matt Stoeklen, from Northglenn, Colo., is the only newcomer from outside the Hoosier State . . . Those newcomers join 20 returning players for Ball State, 14 of whom earned letters in 2006 . . . The pitching staff boasts the highest number of returning players with 11, including 2006 weekend starters Tyler Pritchard and Ryan DeGeeter and 2006 mid-week starter Jay Broughton.
Local Products
Of the 32 players on Ball State's roster, 22 are from the state of Indiana, including 13 of the 14 newcomers to the program this season . . . Of those 22, five are from the Muncie area . . . Senior second baseman Matt Gard played locally at Muncie Central High School, while freshman infielder Shannon McCormick played high school baseball at Burris in Muncie . . . Freshmen Kory Benbow and Nick Zimmerman were high school teammates at nearby Cowan High School, and freshman Jeremy Hazelbaker played nearby at Wapahani High School.
Among Best In 64-Team Era
Ball State ranks as one of the top 64 baseball programs in the nation since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, according to Baseball America . . . In the magazine's ranking system, Ball State has accumulated 58 total points over the past eight seasons to rank 62nd since the expansion of the NCAA Tournament . . . The Cardinals own a .618 (283-175) winning percentage since 1999, and the program made its first NCAA Regional appearance in 2006 . . . Ball State has had three players named Baseball America All-Americans in the past eight years . . . During that time period, the Cardinals have had 10 players drafted in the first 10 rounds of the draft . . . Of those players, Larry Bigbie, Bryan Bullington, Brad Snyder and Justin Wechsler have each spent time on Major League Baseball rosters.
Beefing Up The Home Schedule
After playing just 17 home games in 2006, Ball State is slated to play 24 games at Ball Diamond in 2007 . . . In addition to playing 15-of-27 Mid-American Conference games in Muncie, the Cardinals will also play host to in-state, Big Ten foes Indiana and Purdue.
