Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Dygert Belts Two Homers As Baseball Defeats EMU, 12-4
May 04, 2008 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Designated hitter Zach Dygert homered twice and collected five RBI Sunday as the Ball State baseball team closed its weekend series against Eastern Michigan with a 12-4 win.
Dygert and third baseman Matt Stoeklen each recorded two hits in the game, while first baseman Justin Rogers and catcher Alex Schmid led the Cardinals with three hits apiece.
With the win, Ball State (26-17, 11-7 MAC) moves within one game of Eastern Michigan (17-29, 12-6 MAC) for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division. The Cardinals took two out of three games from the Eagles in the weekend series at Ball Diamond.
Ball State took command of Sunday's game with a six-run fourth inning that turned a three-run deficit into a three-run lead. Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals quickly cut into the Eastern Michigan lead on a two-run home run from left fielder Nate Fields. After and RBI fielder's choice from center fielder Wayne Bond Jr. and an RBI double from Rogers gave the Cardinals a 5-4 lead, Dygert put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run blast to extend the Ball State advantage to 7-4.
Following a scoreless fifth inning, the Cardinals then opened things up with three more runs in the sixth. Back-to-back singles from Bond and Rogers to lead off the inning put two runners on for Dygert. The sophomore then belted his second homer of the game to put the Cardinals ahead 10-4.
Dygert's two home runs Sunday give him 10 for the season, the second-most of any Cardinal. Fields' fourth-inning home run was his seventh of the year.
The Ball State pitching staff shut Eastern Michigan out over the last five innings, and the Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the eighth for the final eight-run margin.
Ball State starting pitcher Kolbrin Vitek improved his record to 6-1 on the mound with Sunday's win. The freshman right-hander allowed four runs on four hits in five innings of work. He struck out six batters and walked just one.
Vitek turned the ball over to the bullpen in the sixth inning, and the Cardinals' relievers allowed only two base runners the rest of the way. Heath Riley pitched 2.1 scoreless innings before giving way to Tom Mueller and Kyle Heyne, who closed out the final 1.2 frames.
Eastern Michigan starter Jake Stapf took the loss. At the plate, second baseman Josh Ivan led the Eagles with three hits and a pair of RBI.
After Ball State scored in the first inning, Eastern Michigan plated four unanswered runs to grab that early 4-1 lead. The Eagles evened the score in the second inning and then scored three runs in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer from Ivan and an RBI single from shortstop Jim Gulliver.
Those were all the runs Eastern Michigan could manage, however, and Ball State never trailed again after grabbing the lead in the bottom of the fourth.
Offensively, the Cardinals managed three doubles in the game in addition to their three home runs. The two teams combined for eight stolen bases in the contest, including five by Ball State.
The Cardinals were scheduled to play Monday at home against Huntington, but that game has been cancelled because Huntington is preparing for next week's NAIA Region VIII Tournament. Instead, Ball State will play only one midweek game -- Wednesday's contest at Michigan. The Cardinals and the Wolverines are slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch in Ann Arbor, Mich.
