Ball State University
Georgia Southern
Cards Fall To Georgia Southern, Prepare For Coastal Carolina
March 09, 2007 | Baseball
CONWAY, S.C. - First baseman Matt Stoeklen blasted his first home run of the season, and center fielder Wayne Bond picked up two hits, but the Ball State baseball team struggled to produce runs Friday afternoon.
The Cardinals (3-8) pitched effectively for most of the game but fell 3-1 to Georgia Southern (12-7) in the first game of the Myrtle Beach Hyundai Isuzu Classic at Coastal Carolina.
Ball State returns to action in the tournament Saturday at noon against the host Chanticleers, which entered the weekend ranked 17th by Baseball America.
Follow the entire tournament online with live stats at the Coastal Carolina athletics Web site: http://www.goccusports.com/?tournament=18
"We knew it was going to be a tough weekend of competition when we came down here," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "The teams here are very good, and Coastal Carolina is at the top of those teams. Tomorrow's game is going to be a challenge for us, but that's really what we want at this time of year is tough competition."
Stoeklen's home run in the eighth inning Friday provided Ball State's only offense of the day. The junior took a Brian Wilkerson pitch high and deep just inside the left field foul pole. Zach Dygert also recorded a hit in the inning on a single up the middle, but Ball State couldn't push any more runs across.
Wilkerson pitched eight strong innings for Georgia Southern, allowing four hits and striking out five batters. A.J. Battisto pitched the ninth inning for the Eagles to pick up the save.
Georgia Southern did all of its damage in the first two innings. The Eagles scored two runs in the first inning on a two-out, two RBI double from catcher Griffin Benedict and added one more in the second on a sacrifice fly from center fielder Matt Miller.
After allowing three runs on two hits and four walks through the first two innings, Ball State starting pitcher Brenden Stines settled down. Stines held Georgia Southern scoreless over the next four innings, allowing only three more hits and one more walk.
Brad Piatt entered the game in the seventh inning and pitched the final two innings for Ball State without allowing a hit.
Bond led the Cardinals at the plate, going 2-for-4. He singled in the first inning but was later erased on a double play. In the fourth inning, Bond singled again and stole second base before being left stranded.
Benedict led Georgia Southern at the plate, recording three of the Eagles' hits in four at bats.
