Ball State University
Furman
Baseball Drops Series Finale At Furman, 14-7
February 22, 2009 | Baseball
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) paced the Cardinals' attack as he tallied three hits. Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) continued his torrid start to his career as he tallied three hits in the loss. Nielsen reached base at least three times in all four games of the series as he was 10-of-17 (.588) for the weekend and posted a .650 on-base percentage.
Furman (2-2) struck first against sophomore right-hander Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) in the bottom of the first inning as the Paladins produced a two out run. Back-to-back singles put two aboard for Furman before Reese Wade pushed a single up the middle to score Conor Lind from second base to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead.
Freshman right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) came on in relief of Vitek with two aboard and quickly allowed a run scoring double by Campbell Lewis and run scoring groundout before getting out of the inning with Furman leading 5-0.
Ball State started to climb back into the game in the top of the first inning as Nielsen got things going with a two out single up the middle against Furman starter J.P. Goldsberry. Junior right fielder Ryan Chenoweth (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) got the Cardinals on the board as he lifted the first pitch he saw over the center field wall for his first home run of the season to narrow the deficit to 5-2.
Furman came right back out and broke the game back open as it took advantage of some wildness from the Cardinals' pitchers as the Paladins scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take an 11-2 lead. Furman used three Ball State wild pitches, two walks, two hit batters and a field error to take the nine-run lead.
Ball State made one final push in the top of the eighth inning as it plated five runs to narrow the gap to 14-7. Junior Kory Benbow (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) and Nielsen led off the inning with back-to-back home runs, marking the first back-to-back long balls this season for the Cardinals. Senior second baseman Nate Fields (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) also added a two-run double down the right field line to cap Ball State's scoring.
Vitek (0-1) was charged with five runs in just 2.1 innings as he allowed six hits, struck out three and walked one in his first appearance of the season on the mound. Goldsberry (1-0) picked up the victory as he worked five innings and allowed just two runs as he limited the Cardinals to five hits.
Ball State returns to action next weekend as it takes part in the Austin Peay Baseball Invitational in Clarksville, Tenn. The Cardinals will play three games on the weekend against Indiana, Cleveland State and host Austin Peay. Ball State's first game will be Friday afternoon against the Hoosiers at 11 a.m.
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