Ball State University
Miami
Miami Comes From Behind Sunday To Defeat Cardinals
April 01, 2007 | Baseball
OXFORD, Ohio - The Ball State baseball team led almost the entire way Sunday at Miami, but the RedHawks stormed back in the late innings to win the final game of this weekend's three-game series.
Miami (16-9, 6-0 MAC) ended an offensive display by both teams by scoring in its final at bat to hand Ball State (11-16, 2-4 MAC) a 16-15 loss.
Every Cardinal who went to the plate in the game recorded a hit, including Matt Stoeklen, who hit safely three times and reached base in five of his six plate appearances. The Cardinals matched their season-high with 18 hits and set a season-high for runs, but Miami's comeback spoiled Ball State's bid to get back to .500 in conference play.
After Miami tied the game 15-15 with a run in the eighth inning, the RedHawks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Chris Niro then came to the plate for Miami and hit a deep fly ball over the heads of the drawn-in Ball State outfielders to score the winning run.
The run capped a string of seven unanswered as Miami overcame what had been a 15-9 deficit through five and a half innings.
Ball State will look to get back on track Wednesday when the Cardinals host Indiana at Ball Diamond at 3 p.m. The Cardinals then continue conference play next weekend with three games at Ohio.
In Sunday's game, Ball State scored all of its runs in the first six innings, as it built several commanding leads.
After struggling to score runs in Saturday's 2-1 loss, Ball State quickly found the scoreboard in Sunday's game. The Cardinals batted around in the top of the first inning and scored seven runs on four hits with the help of three Miami errors. The Cardinals forced Miami starter Jeff Day from the game after just a third of an inning.
Stoeklen drew a bases-loaded walk to score the first run before Ryan Chenoweth singled up the middle for the first hit of the game to score two more runs. Matt Gard later plated another pair of runs on a double to left center field, and Eric Earnhart, batting for the second time in the first, closed the scoring for the inning with a two-RBI single to center field.
Having set a season-high for runs in an inning, Ball State took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the first.
Miami chipped away at Ball State's lead with a run in the bottom of the first on a Brandon Hillier solo home run and two runs in the third on an Eric Darlage homer. But the Cardinals got all those runs back and more in the fourth.
Five Cardinals doubled in the fourth inning as Ball State put up four more runs. Wayne Bond led off the inning with a double to right field, and Justin Rogers, Stoeklen, Kory Benbow and Jeremy Hazelbaker each followed with run-scoring doubles as the Cardinals expanded their lead to 11-3.
After giving up a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cardinals took their largest lead of the game at 13-4 with two runs in the top of the fifth.
Miami started its comeback with a five-run bottom of the fifth. Eric Darlage laced a two-RBI double in the inning, and J.D. Mynhier hit a three-run home run to cut the Ball State lead to 13-9.
The Cardinals picked up two runs in the top of the sixth inning on a home run from Earnhart, extending the lead back to 15-9. But those were the last runs Ball State could manage against the RedHawks, who scored seven unanswered to close out the game.
In addition to Stoeklen's three hits, Earnhart, Chenoweth, Benbow, Gard, Hazelbaker and Zach Dygert each picked up two hits. Earnhart led the Cardinals with four RBI, followed by Chenoweth and Gard with three.
Miami used eight pitchers in the game, and Ball State used five. Bailey Pratt, the final RedHawk pitcher of the day, earned the win after throwing the final two-thirds of the ninth inning.
