Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts MAC-Leading Eastern Michigan This Weekend
April 20, 2007 | Baseball
Ball State (15-21, 4-8 MAC) vs.
Eastern Michigan (13-15, 9-1 MAC)
Friday, April 20 @ 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 21 @ 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 22 @ 1 p.m.
Ball Diamond
Muncie, Ind.
Television
Sunday's game will be broadcast on Comcast Local by Ben Holden and Geoff Zahn.
Radio
WCRD 91.3 FM (Joel Nickels play-by-play, Chris Lowry color commentary)
Live Stats
Available at ballstatesports.com
About Ball State
The Cardinals have won four out of their past seven games after splitting a doubleheader Wednesday at Big Ten foe Ohio State . . . Ball State is hosting its second straight Mid-American Conference series after taking one out of three games from Kent State at home last weekend . . . Matt Stoeklen is leading the Cardinal regulars in batting average at .317 and in RBI with 23 . . . Eric Earnhart is second on the team at .303, and Wayne Bond is hitting .293 after having his 13-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday . . . Kory Benbow blasted a home run in the second game at Ohio State and now owns a MAC-leading eight homers on the year . . . Ryan DeGeeter leads the Cardinal pitching staff with four wins, and Kyle Heyne owns a MAC-best nine saves
The Last Time Out
Ball State split a doubleheader with Ohio State Wednesday, earning a 5-0 win in the first game before dropping the second 3-2 . . . Both games were seven-inning contests . . . Richie Fralick threw 5.0 shutout innings to earn the win in game one, and Kyle Heyne earned the save . . . Nate Fields led the Cardinals at the plate with two hits in each game . . . Matt Stoeklen drove in a run in each game.
Scouting Eastern Michigan
The Eagles enter the weekend in first place in the MAC West after sweeping three games last weekend against Ohio, including two shutouts of the Bobcats . . . Eastern Michigan then split a doubleheader Wednesday at Michigan . . . Steve Bradshaw leads the Eagle regulars with a .358 batting average and is one of five Eastern Michigan players hitting better than .300 . . . Derek Lehrman leads the team in home runs with four, and Jeff Hehr owns a team-best 16 RBI.
The Series
Ball State trails the all-time series with Eastern Michigan 62-57-1 . . . The Eagles took two out of three games from the Cardinals last season in Ypsilanti . . . Ball State has won 17 of the past 19 meetings between the two teams in Muncie, dating back to 1997.
Live From Ball Diamond
Sunday's series finale will be the first game ever to be televised by Comcast Local at Ball Diamond . . . The first game of last season's Ball State-Eastern Michigan series was televised from Ypsilanti by Comcast Local . . . The sports network also carried Ball State's victory over Kent State in the 2006 MAC Tournament championship game.
The Save Machine
Ball State closer Kyle Heyne has been named to the midseason watch list for the NCBWA's Stopper of the Year award, given to the nation's top relief pitcher . . . He is one of 40 pitchers on the list . . . Heyne earned his MAC-leading ninth save of the season in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader over Ohio State . . . The junior also owns two wins on the mound for the Cardinals . . . With nine saves this season, Heyne now owns 23 for his Ball State career . . . With his next save, he will tie Ron Schrock (1983-85) for the most career saves in school history . . . He is six saves shy of tying the Ball State single-season saves record of 15, set by Erik Morrison in 2005.
Getting The Bats Going
Over the past 12 games, three Ball State regulars are hitting better than .320: Eric Earnhart (.346), Matt Stoeklen (.333) and Wayne Bond (.325) . . . The Cardinals are hitting .284 as a team over that 12-game stretch compared to their .271 team average for the season . . . Stoeklen, Earnhart and Bond have all raised their batting averages during the stretch, and all three are now hitting better than .290 for the season - Stoeklen (.317), Earnhart (.303) and Bond (.293).
Freshmen Playing Long Ball
Three freshmen are leading Ball State in the home run category . . . Freshman outfielder Kory Benbow tops the Cardinals after blasting his MAC-leading eighth home run Wednesday at Ohio State . . . Fellow freshmen Ryan Chenoweth and Jeremy Hazelbaker are tied for second on the team with four homers each . . . Joe Mack, another freshman, has also homered once - a grand slam March 27 against Indianapolis - giving Cardinal freshmen 17 of the team's 25 home runs so far.
Stines' Strong Starts
Brenden Stines, Ball State's probable Saturday starter, has allowed just one earned run in 14.0 innings over his past two starts . . . In his start April 10 against Indiana Tech, Stines threw 6.0 shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out a career-high 12 batters . . . In his next start Sunday against Kent State, the sophomore allowed five runs - but only one earned run - in 8.0 innings, scattering seven hits . . . Despite the strong efforts, Stines took a no-decision in both starts.
Free Baseball
Two of Ball State's past three victories have come in extra innings . . . The Cardinals defeated Indiana Tech 2-1 April 10 on a Wayne Bond 10th-inning single . . . Ball State then came from behind to earn a 7-6 win in 10 innings Sunday against Kent State on a Tyler Rogers single . . . The Cardinals have now played three extra inning games - all of them 10-inning contests - and won all three . . . The first extra-inning win came March 17, when Ball State handed Le Moyne a 6-5 defeat in 10 innings.
The Friendly Confines
For this weekend's series with Eastern Michigan, Ball State returns home to Ball Diamond, where the Cardinals own a 7-5 record on the season . . . In comparison, Ball State is 7-12 on the road and 1-4 in games played at neutral sites . . . Over the past three seasons, the Cardinals have compiled a 39-11 record at Ball Diamond.
Up Next
Following this weekend's series with Eastern Michigan, Ball State travels to Notre Dame Tuesday for a 5:05 p.m. first pitch . . . The Cardinals are then on the road next weekend for a three-game conference series at Western Michigan.
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 . . . The Cardinals will play five of their MAC series at home this year (15 games) compared to four home series (12 games) during the 2006 campaign.
