Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Heads To Notre Dame Tuesday Evening
March 16, 2009 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State hits the road Tuesday evening for its first midweek single game of the 2009 season as the Cardinals take on instate foe Notre Dame at Frank Eck Stadium on St. Patrick's Day ... Ball State enters the game with a 9-7 overall record after posting a 3-1 record last weekend against Chicago State ... The Cardinals are led by seventh-year head coach Greg Beals ... Notre Dame enters the contest with a 10-5 overall record after recording a 3-1 record in the Irish Baseball Classic in San Antonio, Texas ... The Fighting Irish are led by third-year head coach Dave Schrage.
Series History . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 30th meeting all-time between Ball State and Notre Dame ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 12-17 margin against the Irish ... Ball State has played on the road against Notre Dame 21 times in program history and the Cardinals are 10-11 all-time in those games ... This season marks the ninth straight year that the Cardinals and Irish have met dating back to the 2001 season.
Notre Dame has won three straight meetings against the Cardinals, including a 6-4 decision last year (March 25) ... Ball State rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning and brought the go-ahead run to the plate before the rally was cut short by the Irish bullpen ... Jeremy Hazelbaker led the 10-hit offensive attack as he tallied two hits and drove in two runs ... Notre Dame was led by right fielder Billy Boockford who notched two hits, including a home run in the victory.
Tuesday's Starters . . .
Ball State will send sophomore right-hander Kolbrin Vitek to the hill while Notre Dame will counter with freshman left-hander Dustin Ispas ... Vitek will be making his fourth start of the season and his first start in a midweek contest ... He brings a 1-1 record into the game with a 6.35 ERA ... He has worked 11.1 innings and has allowed eight earned runs ... He has struck out 11 batters while only walking three ... In his last outing, he recorded a no decision at Missouri as he worked 4.0 innings and was charged with three earned runs.
Ispas will be making his third appearance of the season and second start for the Irish ... He brings a 0-0 record into the game with a 0.00 ERA ... He has tallied 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball this season while walking four and striking out four ... He pitched last Tuesday against Grambling as he threw 6.0 innings and limited the Tigers to just two hits as the Irish went on to win the game 3-2.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Tuesday's game with a 9-7 overall record ... The Cardinals opened the home portion of the 2009 schedule this past weekend and posted a 3-1 record against Chicago State ... Ball State has scored 114 runs this season while posting a .322 batting average ... The Cardinals have tallied 38 doubles, seven triples and 19 home runs ... BSU owns a .512 slugging percentage and a .395 on-base percentage ... On the mound, the Cardinals own a 4.07 ERA and are holding opponents to a .264 batting average.
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the team offensively with a .463 batting average ... Hazelbaker also leads the team with 23 runs scored and is tied for fourth with 12 RBI ... Junior left fielder Kory Benbow is second on the team with a .364 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 19 RBI.
Out of the Cardinals' bullpen, right-hander Aaron Hammons has worked 9.0 innings of scoreless relief as he has made seven appearances ... Left-hander Tom Mueller has made nine appearances and has only allowed one run in 11.0 innings.
Scouting Notre Dame . . .
Notre Dame enters the game with a 10-5 overall record after posting a 3-1 record last weekend ... The Irish have scored 95 runs this season and own a .288 batting average ... Notre Dame has tallied 23 doubles, three triples and four home runs ... The Irish own a .372 slugging percentage and a .384 on-base percentage ... On the hill, Notre Dame owns a 4.50 ERA in 132.0 innings and is holding opponents to a .254 batting average.
Offensively, third baseman Greg Sherry leads the team with a .366 batting average ... Center fielder A.J. Pollack is second on the team with a .356 batting average and leads the team with 15 RBI and 21 hits.
In the bullpen, left-hander David Mills has made four appearances and has not allowed a run in 5.1 innings of work ... Right-handers Todd Miller and Steven Mazur lead the Irish with seven appearances each this season as Miller owns a 6.23 ERA and Mazur has a 7.45 ERA.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference this season in stolen bases ... Through 16 games, Ball State has recorded 39 stolen bases on 45 attempts ... In comparison, Miami is second in the MAC in steals with 23 ... Ball State also owns the top stolen base tandem in the conference this season in junior Jeremy Hazelbaker and senior Nate Fields ... The two have combined to steal 25 bases in 28 attempts at the top of the Cardinals' lineup ... Hazelbaker leads the team with 13 steals in 16 attempts while Fields is a perfect 12-of-12 in stolen base attempts ... The two are ranked first and second in the MAC in stolen bases, respectively.
Turning Up The Heat Late . . .
Ball State has been strong this season late in games as the Cardinals are out-scoring opponents 37-18 in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings ... Ball State out-scores opponents 17-7 in the seventh, 11-10 in the eighth and 9-1 in the ninth.
Using The Long Ball . . .
Last season, Ball State tied a single season record for home runs with 95 long balls on the year ... The Cardinals prepared for a downturn in the power department this season after losing 46 home runs to either the Major League Baseball Draft or graduation ... Through the first 16 games though, Ball State has pounded out 19 home runs to lead the Mid-American Conference in that category ... Eight different players have hit the long ball this season with freshman Ian Nielsen, sophomore Kolbrin Vitek and senior Nate Fields have each have tallied four home runs this season to lead the team.
Gridiron To The Diamond . . .
Ball State received an addition to the pitching staff this spring from an unlikely source, the Mid-American Conference West Division champion Cardinal football team ... Redshirt freshman Perci Garner joined the Ball State baseball program in January after serving as the Cardinals' third string quarterback this fall ... Garner has already appeared in five games this spring, working 4.0 innings and allowing one run ... He has tallied 10 strikeouts this season, including a three-strikeout, one inning performance Sunday against Chicago State.
Garner was a two-sport star at Dover High School in Ohio ... He was named the East Central Ohio League Pitcher of the Year as a senior as he posted a 5-3 record with a stellar 0.83 ERA.
Cardinals Take Honors . . .
Ball State has earned Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week the first three weeks of the season as freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen earned the honor the first week, junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker earned the honor the second week and junior left fielder Kory Benbow earned the accolade the third week of the season.
Nielsen posted a .588 batting average (10-of-17) in the four games and recorded a .650 on-base percentage as he reached base 13 times ... He tallied two home runs on the weekend, including a solo shot in his first career collegiate at bat. Nielsen drove in six runs and scored four times while posting a 1.000 slugging percentage ... He reached base at least four times in three of the games on the weekend, including a four-hit output in the Cardinals' victory in game one of the doubleheader.
Hazelbaker led the Cardinals to a 2-0 weekend and the top spot at the 2009 Austin Peay Baseball Invitational as he posted a .600 batting average (six-of-10) for the weekend ... He drove in six runs, scored four runs and posted a 1.200 slugging percentage in the two victories.
Against Big Ten foe Indiana, he tallied his first home run of the season as he recorded a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Cardinals a heart stopping 5-4 victory ... He followed that up with a four-hit performance against Austin Peay as he drove in a career-high five runs in the victory.
Benbow posted a .600 batting average (nine-of-15) in the Cardinals' four-game series against Big 12 power Missouri ... He tallied a series-best nine hits in the four games as he drove in five runs and scored four runs ... He tallied 17 total bases on the weekend for a 1.133 slugging percentage while notching two doubles and two home runs.
In the second game of the series, Benbow tied his career-high with five hits and reached base a career-high six times in the Cardinals' victory ... With the weekend, he raised his batting average 159 points to .359 on the year.
Vitek Named To Watch List . . .
Sophomore pitcher/third baseman Kolbrin Vitek has been named to the 2009 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List, The College Baseball Foundation announced ... The Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. ... The award is named after former Texas Tech star Brooks Wallace ... Vitek is one of five players from the Mid-American Conference on the watch list.
Vitek made an impact on the Cardinals both on the mound and at the plate last season as a true freshman ... He spent the entire season in the Cardinals' weekend rotation and served as Ball State's usual designated hitter in the games he did not pitch ... He was named to Collegiate Baseball's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team as a “multiple position athlete.”
As the Cardinals' Sunday starter for most of the season, Vitek posted a team-best 6-1 record with a 5.65 ERA ... He led Ball State with 69 strikeouts while walking just 19, and he ranked second in the Mid-American Conference with 9.51 strikeouts per nine innings ... Ball State won 11 of the 13 games he started.
In addition to his 13 starts on the mound, Vitek started 31 games as Ball State's designated hitter and three games as the Cardinals' first baseman ... At the plate, he logged a .305 batting average with five home runs and 24 RBI ... He also added four doubles and three triples.
Cardinals Picked Second . . .
Ball State was picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the preseason coaches' poll.
Ball State returns 16 letterwinners from last season's 28-25 team that posted a 12-11 mark in MAC play ... The Cardinals are led by second team All-MAC catcher Zach Dygert who posted a .293 batting average last season which included 13 home runs and 38 RBI ... Also, senior second baseman Nate Fields returns to the club after leading the team last season with a .331 batting average with nine home runs and 11 doubles.
Sophomore pitcher/third baseman Kolbrin Vitek returns after earning Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball ... Vitek was named to the Wallace Award Player of the Year Watch List this season as he is coming off a dual threat freshman campaign ... He posted a .305 batting average in 34 games in the field while turning in a 6-1 record with 69 strikeouts to just 19 walks on the mound for the Cardinals.
Mueller Named Captain . . .
Senior left-hander Tom Mueller has been named the Cardinals' 2009 team captain ... Mueller, a native of Westfield, Ind., tied a Ball State single season record last year with 30 appearances on the mound ... He made 29 relief appearances and one start ... He posted a 5-0 record on the season with a 4.37 ERA ... He worked 35.0 innings and tallied 25 strikeouts compared to just 11 walks.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State opens Mid-American Conference play this weekend as the Cardinals host the Akron Zips in a three-game series at Ball Diamond.
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