Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Indiana State Wednesday
March 24, 2009 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State steps out of Mid-American conference action for its second of four straight midweek non-conference road games as the Cardinals take on Indiana State Wednesday afternoon ... The Cardinals enter the contest at ISU with an 11-9 overall record after taking two out of three from visiting Akron this past weekend ... Ball State is led by seventh-year head coach Greg Beals ... Indiana State enters the contest with a 13-9 overall record after dropping two out of three from visiting Creighton over the weekend ... The Sycamores are led by third-year head coach Lindsay Meggs.
Series History . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 134th meeting all-time between Ball State and Indiana State dating back to the teams' first meeting May 28, 1920 (ISU 4, BSU 3) ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by an 83-50 margin to the Sycamores ... Ball State has won four out of the last five meetings against Indiana State, including a 14-13 victory in 10 innings last season in Muncie (April 15) ... Head coach Greg Beals is 4-2 all-time against Indiana State dating back to his inaugural season in 2003.
Last year, right fielder Ryan Chenoweth hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to propel the Ball State baseball team to a 14-13 victory versus Indiana State ... Chenoweth went 3-for-5 at the plate, while recording four runs and one RBI ... Shortstop Dean Anna was impressive as well, hitting three timely home runs and collecting six RBI ... The two teams combined for just six runs through six innings before an offensive shootout began in the top of the seventh as the Sycamores score seven runs in the seventh while Ball State added five runs in the bottom half of the inning ... The two teams combined for 30 hits, including six doubles and eight home runs.
Closing In On A Milestone . . .
Seventh-year head coach Greg Beals is closing in on some elite company in Ball State baseball history as he is just one victory away from becoming the fifth coach in BSU history to reach 200 career victories ... Beals enters Wednesday's game with a 199-157 record ... With his next victory he would join former Cardinal coaches Pat Quinn (323 wins), Rich Maloney (256), Paul Williams (209) and Bob Rickel (209) ... In fact, Beals would be the second-fastest coach to reach 200 victories as he has reached his 199 victories in 356 games ... Maloney was the fastest to reach 200 wins as he did it in 312 games, followed by Rickel (398 games), Williams (409) and Quinn (427).
Vitek Earns MAC Honors . . .
Sophomore right-hander Kolbrin Vitek has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week ... This is the first weekly honor for Vitek this season and the second honor of his career (March 19, 2008) ... Ball State has now received a weekly honor from the MAC all five weeks of the 2009 season, having picked up four MAC West Player of the Week honors and two Pitcher of the Week accolades.
Vitek was dominant on the mound last week in two starts against Notre Dame and Akron as he posted a 1-0 record with a 0.82 ERA ... He only allowed one earned run in 11.0 innings of work in his two starts ... He struck out 15 batters on the week while only walking one batter ... He also was strong at the plate as he posted a .471 (eight-of-17) average over the four games last week.
Wednesday's Starters . . .
Ball State will send senior right-hander Adam Quinn to the mound Wednesday afternoon while Indiana State will counter with freshman right-hander Cordell Greene ... Quinn enters the contest with a 1-1 overall record and a 5.68 ERA on the year ... He has worked 12.2 innings this season and has struck out 11 batters while walking five ... He will be making his fourth start of the season but first since March 14 against Chicago State ... In that outing, he notched his first win of the season as he tossed five strong innings and only allowed one earned run on seven hits while striking out a career-high seven batters.
Greene enters the game with a 1-1 record and a 5.87 ERA ... He is making his six appearance and fourth start of the season as he has worked 15.1 innings ... He has struck out 12 batters while walking five ... He picked up his first victory last Wednesday as he threw six innings and held Butler to just three runs on seven hits.
Setting The Table . . .
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the Cardinals and the Mid-American Conference with 36 hits this season ... Hazelbaker is fifth in the conference with a .429 batting average ... He also leads the league in runs scored (27) and stolen bases (13) ... He is fourth in the MAC in on-base percentage at .515
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters Wednesday's game with an 11-9 overall record after taking two out of three from Akron over the weekend ... The Cardinals are batting .310 this season while scoring 134 runs in 20 games ... BSU has posted a .494 slugging percentage on the strength of 46 doubles, nine triples and 22 home runs ... On the mound, the Cardinals have a 3.71 ERA on the year and opponents are batting .268 ... Ball State has struck out 134 batters while walking 72.
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the team offensively with a .429 batting average ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek is second on the team with a .372 batting average and leads the team with a .679 slugging percentage ... Junior left fielder Kory Benbow leads the team with five home runs and 23 RBI.
In the bullpen, right-hander Aaron Hammons has made 10 appearances without allowing an earned run ... Hammons has struck out 17 batters in 11.1 innings ... Left-hander Tom Mueller has made a team-high 12 appearances and owns a 0.68 ERA in 13.1 innings ... Right-handed closer Morgan Coombs has appeared in six games and owns a 2-1 record with a 0.68 ERA as he earned his first save of the season Friday afternoon against Akron.
Scouting Indiana State . . .
Indiana State enters Wednesday's game with a 13-9 overall record and a 5-2 mark at home in Terre Haute ... The Sycamores are batting .304 on the season with 172 runs scored this year ... ISU has a .455 slugging percentage with 45 doubles, eight triples and 20 home runs ... On the mound, the Sycamores own a 5.99 ERA and opponents are batting .306.
Third baseman Luke Fieser leads the team with a .388 batting average as he has driven in 14 runs and scored 20 runs ... Center fielder Nick Ciolli leads the team with 30 RBI as he has seven doubles, two triples and four home runs.
In the bullpen, Matt Shelton has appeared in 10 games and owns a 3-1 record with a 4.50 ERA ... Shelton has worked 16.0 innings and struck out 19 batters ... Brendon Smith also has made 10 appearances with a 7.62 ERA in 13.0 innings of work.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference this season in stolen bases ... Through 20 games, Ball State has recorded 45 stolen bases on 54 attempts ... In comparison, Miami is second in the MAC in steals with 28 ... 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 26 bases in 29 attempts at the top of the Cardinals' lineup ... Hazelbaker leads the team with 13 steals in 16 attempts while Fields is a perfect 13-of-13 in stolen base attempts ... The two are both tied for first in the MAC in stolen bases.
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 20 games though, Ball State has pounded out 22 home runs, which is second in the Mid-American Conference ... Eight different players have hit the long ball this season ... Junior left fielder Kory Benbow leads the team with five home runs while freshman Ian Nielsen and sophomore Kolbrin Vitek have each have tallied four home runs.
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 six games this spring, working 5.1 innings and allowing one run ... He has tallied nine strikeouts this season while only walking three batters.
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 he posted a 5-3 record with a stellar 0.83 ERA.
Cardinals Rack Up Honors . . .
Ball State has earned Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week the first four 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, junior left fielder Kory Benbow earned the accolade the third week while Hazelbaker picked up his second honor last week ... Also, junior right-hander Brad Piatt was named the MAC West Pitcher of the Week last week.
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.
Hazelbaker earned his second MAC West weekly honor this season after as he led the Cardinals to a 4-2 record last week against Southern Illinois and Chicago State ... He posted a .500 batting average (10-of-20) and tallied a .630 on-base percentage for the week as he reached base 17 times in the six games ... Hazelbaker also recorded seven stolen bases on eight attempts for the week ... He scored nine runs in the six games and posted four multiple-hit games on the week.
Piatt earns his first MAC West weekly honor of his career after he improved to 3-0 on the season as he worked seven shutout innings in the Cardinals' victory over Chicago State ... He limited the Cougars to just one hit over seven innings as he struck out a career-high eight batters ... He only walked one batter in the victory as the Cougars didn't have a base runner past second base and only had one base runner reach second base.
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.
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 . . .
The Cardinals return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend as they host MAC preseason favorite and nationally ranked Kent State in a three-game series.
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