Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Heads To Toledo To Close Out Regular Season
May 14, 2008 | Baseball
Ball St. (26-21, 11-9 MAC)
at Toledo (16-30, 8-12 MAC)
Thurs., May 15 @ 3 p.m.
Fri,. May 16 @ 3 p.m.
Sat., May 17 @ 1 p.m.
Scott Park
Toledo, Ohio
BSU PROBABLE ROTATION
Thurs. -- RHP Tyler Pritchard
Fri. -- RHP Kolbrin Vitek
Sat. -- TBA
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats for each game available online at www.utrockets.com.
THE SERIES
Ball State leads 54-45 in the all-time series with Toledo, dating back to 1965 . . . The teams have split six meetings over the past two seasons with each team sweeping a series at its home facility . . . Ball State took three games at Ball Diamond in 2007, but Toledo answered by sweeping a three-game series last season at Scott Park.
SCOUTING BALL STATE
The Cardinals enter the series in third place in the MAC West after dropping both games of a rain-shortened, two-game series last weekend against Northern Illinois . . . Ball State then fell 9-3 Tuesday at Louisville in its final non-conference game of the regular season.
BALL STATE AT THE PLATE
The Cardinals enter the series with a team batting average of .297 . . . 1B Justin Rogers leads the way with a .353 batting average and is one of five Ball State regulars hitting better than .300 . . . The Cardinals have tallied 81 home runs as a team, led by CF Wayne Bond Jr. with 12 . . . Bond tops the MAC with 52 RBI and also leads the Cardinals in stolen bases with 14 . . . Shortstop Dean Anna owns team bests of 16 doubles and 58 runs . . . Anna is second on the team in home runs with 11, while catcher Zach Dygert is third on the team with 10.
BALL STATE ON THE MOUND
The Ball State pitching staff owns a team ERA of 6.35 with 329 strikeouts and 175 walks on the season . . . RHP Kolbrin Vitek leads the starting rotation with a 6-1 record and a 5.08 ERA . . . He ranks third in the MAC with 63 strikeouts . . . Fellow starter Tyler Pritchard is 3-2 in conference play with a 4.17 ERA . . . Closer Kyle Heyne anchors the Cardinal bullpen with eight saves and a team-best 1.16 ERA . . . Fellow reliever Tom Mueller has appeared in a team-high 25 contests.
SCOUTING TOLEDO
The Rockets enter the series in sixth place in the MAC West after dropping both games of a rain-shortened series last weekend against Eastern Michigan . . . Toledo is 1-4 in its past five conference games . . . The Rockets did not play any midweek games this week.
TOLEDO AT THE PLATE
The Rockets are hitting .275 as a team entering the series . . . Jake Oester lead's Toledo's everyday players with a .303 batting average . . . Jared Hoying tops the Rockets with nine home runs, while Aaron Dudley has posted a team-high 40 RBI . . . Three other Rockets have totaled at least 30 RBI so far in 2008 . . . On the base paths, Drew Hoisington leads Toledo with nine stolen bases, while Jake Swint is second with six.
TOLEDO ON THE MOUND
The Toledo pitching staff owns a team ERA of 6.71 to go along with 224 strikeouts and 200 walks . . . Justin Collop leads the starting rotation with a 5.66 ERA, while fellow starter Ryan France has posted a team-high four wins . . . Collop's 44 strikeouts are also a team-high . . . Out of the bullpen, Chris Fields leads the Rockets in appearances with 19.
THE COACHES
Ball State head coach Greg Beals (Kent State, 1995) is in his sixth year with the Cardinals . . . Beals has posted an overall record of 186-144 and a mark of 83-60 in MAC play . . . Toledo coach Cory Mee (Notre Dame, 1992) is in his fifth year with the Rockets . . . He has posted a record 103-158 at Toledo.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
3B Matt Stoeklen was named the MAC West Player of the Week Monday after hitting .583 with a 1.583 slugging percentage in three games last week . . . Stoeklen blasted three home runs and three doubles to go along with six RBI and 19 total bases . . . Ball State has had six different players earn a weekly award from the MAC office so far in 2008 . . . In addition to Stoeklen, OF Kory Benbow (April 14), C Zach Dygert (March 19), OF Ryan Chenoweth (March 31) and SS Dean Anna (April 7) have all earned Player of the Week honors once, while RHP Kolbrin Vitek was named the league's Pitcher of the Week on March 19.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Through last weekend's games, Ball State ranked in the top 15 in the nation in several statistical categories . . . The Cardinals ranked fourth in the country in home runs per game with 1.74 . . . Also in the extra-base category, Ball State ranked eighth nationally with 1.74 doubles per game . . . The Cardinals' 8.9 runs per game and .536 team slugging percentage both came in 10th in the rankings . . . Additionally, the team's 257 walks ranked 11th in the nation.
ONE-TWO PUNCH
Ball State's one- and two-hole hitters have set the tone for the Cardinals' offensive output this season . . . Dean Anna -- the leadoff batter -- leads the Cardinals in doubles (16), triples (7) and runs scored (58) . . . Wayne Bond Jr. -- the number two batter -- has racked up a team-high 52 RBI, 12 home runs and 14 stolen bases . . . Bond and Anna also rank second and third on the team in batting average at .337 and .326, respectively.
DOUBLING UP
With three regular-season games remaining, Ball State is closing in on one of the highest single-season doubles totals in school history . . . The Cardinals have logged 119 doubles as a team through 47 games and are on pace for 126 by the end of the regular season . . . The current school record for doubles in a season is 133, set in 1999.
MORE EXTRA BASES
In addition to Ball State's 119 doubles, the Cardinals have also tallied 19 triples and 81 home runs for a total of 219 extra-base hits . . . SS Dean Anna leads the team with 34 extra-base hits on 16 doubles, seven triples and 11 homers . . . Ball State has surpassed its extra-base hit total for the entire 2007 season . . . Last year, the Cardinals recorded 135 extra-base hits on 85 doubles, seven triples and 43 homers.
WALK HARD
Through 47 games, Ball State has drawn 259 walks as a team to lead the MAC . . . Three Cardinals -- SS Dean Anna, 1B Justin Rogers and C Zach Dygert -- have drawn at least 25 . . . Anna leads all players in the MAC with 40 walks, and Rogers is close behind with 37 . . . For the entire 2007 season, Ball State drew a total of 211 walks, and the individual leader was 1B Matt Stoeklen with 24.
DEFENSIVE SWITCH
Starting with Ball State's April 22 game versus Xavier, the Cardinals made a change to their infield . . . Ball State moved T.J. Baumet from second base to third base, Matt Stoeklen from first base to third base and made Justin Rogers the team's everyday first baseman . . . In the 35 games before those changes, the Cardinals fielded .947 as a team . . . In the 12 games since the switch, Ball State is fielding .965.
VITEK THE DUAL THREAT
Freshman DH/RHP Kolbrin Vitek has been one of Ball State's top hitters so far, and he is also 6-1 on the mound in 11 starts . . . Vitek hit safely in his first seven collegiate games as a designated hitter and is among Ball State's leaders with a .316 batting average . . . On the mound, he owns wins over UAB, Charleston Southern, Presbyterian College, Buffalo, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan . . . Ball State is 9-2 in games Vitek has started this season . . . The freshman also ranks third among all MAC pitchers with 63 strikeouts.
THE SAVES KING
Ball State closer Kyle Heyne broke the school saves record in the second game of a Feb. 24 doubleheader at UAB, earning the 25th of his career . . . The fifth-year senior moved past former Cardinal Ron Schrock (1983-85), who held the record at 24 for 22 years . . . Heyne has since added seven more saves to bring his career total to 32. . . He already owns two of the top five single-season saves totals in BSU history after notching 12 saves in 2006 and 10 more in 2007.
MORE RECORDS FOR HEYNE
With 23 relief appearances this season, Kyle Heyne has also set the school record for career games pitched with 96 . . . He moved ahead of former Cardinal Matt Speicher (1996-99), who held the record at 93 . . . Heyne has also moved past Speicher this season for first place on the career relief appearances list at 96.
THE JUCO DUO . . . MAKE THAT TRIO
Ball State's lineup features three former junior college players in CF Wayne Bond Jr., 3B Matt Stoeklen and SS Dean Anna . . . Bond Jr. and Stoeklen joined the Cardinals in 2007 and immediately made an impact . . . Stoeklen led last year's team with a .311 batting average, eight home runs and 39 RBI . . . Bond Jr. hit .309 and swiped a team-best 15 bases . . . Anna is in his first season at Ball State after two years at John A. Logan College in Illinois . . . He has started all but one game at shortstop and is hitting .326 with 16 doubles, seven triples and 39 RBI . . . He is also second on the team with 11 home runs, and he leads the MAC with 40 walks.
BOND . . . WAYNE BOND
With three regular-season games to play, CF Wayne Bond Jr. has blown past most of his 2007 statistical marks . . . Bond leads the Cardinals with 52 RBI and 12 home runs . . . He also owns 13 doubles on the season . . . In 52 games last season, Bond tallied five home runs, eight doubles and 23 RBI.
PRESEASON PICKS
Ball State has been picked to finish third in the MAC West Division by both Rivals.com and Baseball America . . . Rivals.com has the Cardinals finishing behind Western Michigan and Central Michigan, while Baseball America projects Central Michigan and Northern Illinois to finish in the top two spots . . . Baseball America, in its college baseball preview, named Ball State SS Dean Anna the top newcomer in the MAC.
COMING UP
Ball State is fighting this weekend to solidify a position in next week's MAC Tournament . . . Eight teams make the league tournament, which will be staged at a neutral site this season in Chillicothe, Ohio . . . The event starts Wednesday and runs through Saturday with the champion earning an a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
