Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan Hands Loss To Cardinals In Series Opener
April 20, 2007 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team struggled to produce runs Friday at Ball Diamond against one of the top pitchers in the Mid-American Conference.
Eastern Michigan's Jeff Fischer, the reigning MAC Pitcher of the Year, turned in a strong performance as his Eagles handed Ball State an 8-3 loss in the opening game of this weekend's three-game conference series.
Game two of the series between the Cardinals (15-22, 4-9 MAC) and Eagles (14-15, 10-1 MAC) is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
In Friday's game, Fischer allowed one run on five hits in 7.0 innings while striking out nine batters.
Trailing 8-1 through seven and a half innings, the Cardinals tried to claw back with a run in the eighth and one in the ninth, but they could not get come any closer than the game's final deficit.
Nate Fields and Matt Gard led Ball State at the plate with two hits each. Fields has now led the Cardinals in hits three games in a row, recording two hits in each contest.
Fields singled to bring home Ball State's eighth-inning run, and Ryan Chenoweth plated the run in the ninth inning on an RBI groundout. The Cardinals had scored their first run in the fourth inning on a Zach Dygert sacrifice fly that scored Chenoweth, who led off the inning with a double.
After Eastern Michigan scored a run in the second inning, the Eagles took control of the game with a three-run third. Eastern Michigan pounded out 18 hits as a team, led by Derek Lehrman with four. Patrick Dean and Kyle Rhoad each had two RBI for the Eagles, who went on to add a run in the sixth inning, two in the seventh and one more in the top of the eighth.
Aaron Hammons came out of the bullpen to pitch two scoreless innings for Ball State. Hammons has now thrown 8.2 innings this season without allowing an earned run.
Both teams finished Friday's game with 12 runners left on base.
