Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
UAB
Baseball Defeats UAB 15-8 To Close Weekend Series
February 24, 2008 | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Ball State baseball team earned a 15-8 victory Sunday to close out its season-opening four-game series at UAB.
The Cardinals (2-2) scored in the first inning and never trailed on the way to improving their record to .500 after their first road trip.
First baseman Matt Stoeklen went 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run and four RBI to lead Ball State offensively. Shortstop Dean Anna also recorded three hits, while right fielder Kory Benbow and left fielder Nate Fields logged two hits and two RBI each.
After leading Ball State in hitting as the designated hitter through the first three games of the weekend, Kolbrin Vitek took the mound for his first collegiate start Sunday. The freshman allowed just one run on one hit over five strong innings. He struck out six batters on his way to earning the win.
Ball State scored in the top of the first inning on a two-run homer from Stoeklen, giving the Cardinals an early 2-0 edge.
UAB (2-2) got one run back in the bottom of the third, but Vitek pitched out of a jam to keep the Blazers from a bigger inning. UAB put runners on second and third with no outs, but Vitek struck out the next batter, induced an RBI groundout from UAB first baseman Ryan Keedy and then picked up another strikeout to get out of the inning with the Cardinals still leading 2-1.
After missing out on an opportunity for more runs in the fourth inning, Ball State found itself with another opportunity in the fifth and made the most of it. The Cardinals batted around and scored four runs in the inning to extend their lead to 6-1. Stoeklen and Benbow recorded RBI singles in the inning, and Ball State added two more runs on a UAB error and a hit batter with the bases loaded.
The Cardinals added three more runs in the sixth inning with the assistance of three walks, a hit batter and another UAB error, pushing their advantage to 9-1. They also tacked on one run in the seventh inning on an RBI double from Anna.
UAB managed two runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh. The Blazers then added three runs in the eighth on an RBI single from shortstop Jonathan Merritt and a two-RBI double from pinch hitter Phil Bell.
With its lead cut to two runs at 10-8, Ball State responded with five runs in the top of the ninth inning to put the game away.
The win earned the Cardinals a split of the weekend series. Ball State won the last two games after dropping the first two.
Ball State returns to action next weekend when the Cardinals travel to Las Cruces, N.M., for a four-game weekend series with New Mexico State.
