Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Central Michigan (No. 8 seed)
Baseball Survives, Advances With Win Over Central Michigan
May 22, 2008 | Baseball
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- The Ball State baseball team fought off elimination Thursday with a 7-5 victory over Central Michigan on the second day of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The Cardinals led early, trailed through the middle innings and came back to take the lead late.
The game was tied at 5-5 through six and a half innings, but Ball State pulled ahead in the bottom of the seventh. Center fielder Wayne Bond Jr. was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and catcher Zach Dygert belted a two-run shot to put the Cardinals ahead 7-5. The home run was Dygert's 13th of the season.
Those two runs provided all the support Ball State reliever Kyle Heyne would need. The Cardinals' fifth-year senior closer pitched the final three scoreless innings to earn the win.
Fifth-seeded Ball State (28-24) advances to play Friday at 12:30 p.m. in another elimination game against No. 4 seed Northern Illinois, which lost Thursday night to top-seeded Kent State. Ball State lost to Northern Illinois 13-7 in Wednesday's opening round. The winner of the Ball State/Northern Illinois match-up will advance to play Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against Kent State.
Central Michigan (29-27-1), with the loss, is now eliminated from the tournament.
Fans can follow Friday's game and the entire tournament live at MAC Tournament Central on www.mac-sports.com. The site features live stats and streaming video for every game.
In Thursday's game, Dygert and third baseman Matt Stoeklen led Ball State with two hits each. Dygert, Stoeklen and left fielder Kory Benbow each homered for the second straight day at the MAC Tournament as the Cardinals scored all their runs via the home run for the second straight game.
Ball State got off to a quick start with three runs in the first inning. After a walk and a hit batter put two runners on, Benbow sent a pitch deep over the left center field fence for his eighth home run of the season, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, Central Michigan evened the score with three runs in the third. The Chippewas recorded four hits and had the aid of one Ball State error in the inning. A two-RBI single from center fielder Matt Faiman put Central Michigan on the scoreboard, and a run-scoring single from first baseman Sean Hoorelbeke knotted the game 3-3.
Central Michigan then took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI triple from shortstop Jeff Helps. In the top of the sixth inning, another Ball State error opened the door for another RBI single from Faiman that extended the Chippewa lead to 5-3.
Ball State, though, answered back in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game. After a leadoff walk to right fielder Ryan Chenoweth, Stoeklen blasted his ninth home run of the season to even the score at 5-5.
Dygert's seventh-inning homer then put the Cardinals ahead for good. Central Michigan threatened in the top of the ninth. The Chippewas put runners on second and third base with one out before lining into a double play to end the game.
Central Michigan's Eric Lawrence took the loss. Ball State got to Chippewa starter Jesse Hernandez for three runs and forced him from the game in the first inning. Lawrence then entered the game and held Ball State without another run until the Cardinals broke through for two runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the win, Bond posted an 0-for-3 effort at the plate to end his school record 28-game hitting streak. He did reach base when he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning and scored on Dygert's home run.
