Ball State University
Indiana State
Baseball Falls At Indiana State, 14-6
March 25, 2009 | Baseball
Indiana State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning against senior right-hander Adam Quinn (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point). Ryan Strausborger led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Quinn almost got out of the inning before allowing a run-scoring bloop single to Nick Ciolli to put the Sycamores ahead 1-0.
The Cardinals fell behind 4-0 in the bottom of the second inning as Indiana State plated three runs in the inning courtesy of the long ball. Tyler Graham notched his first home run of the season as he ripped a two-run home run to left field while Brian Jett recorded a solo home run to right center field to give ISU the four-run lead.
Ball State put pressure on Sycamore starter Cordell Greene in the top of the third inning as freshman third baseman Tim Issler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) led off the inning with a single. Senior second baseman Nate Fields (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) and junior catcher Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) each followed with singles to load the bases with two outs. Greene was able to get out of the inning though as he induced a bases loaded ground ball to third base.
Indiana State broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the third inning, three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and three runs in the seventh to take an 14-0 lead.
Ball State broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning against ISU reliever Brendon Smith. Fields led off the inning with a double off of the left field wall and came home to score as redshirt freshman Aaron Etchison (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) ripped a double down the left field line.
After Nathan Koontz (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf) reached on an error, freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./la Porte) and Chenoweth followed with back-to-back run scoring singles. Sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) capped the inning with as he crushed a three-run home run off of the scoreboard to narrow the gap to 14-6.
Greene (2-1) picked up the victory as he tossed six innings of shutout baseball as he allowed just seven hits to the Cardinals while striking out three batters. Quinn (1-2) was charged with the loss as he gave up four runs in two innings of work as he allowed four hits and walked one batter.
The Cardinals return to Mid-American Conference action this weekend as they host preseason favorite and nationally ranked Kent State in a three-game series. First pitch Friday afternoon is set for 3 p.m. at Ball Diamond.
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