Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts MAC East Leader Kent State This Weekend
March 26, 2009 | Baseball
LIVE AUDIO (Friday & Sunday Only)
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State returns home to Ball Diamond for its second straight Mid-American Conference home weekend as the Cardinals host preseason favorite Kent State in a three-game series ... The Cardinals enter the weekend with an 11-10 overall record after dropping a 14-6 contest at Indiana State Wednesday afternoon ... Ball State owns a 2-1 record in MAC play this season after winning the series against Akron last weekend ... The Cardinals are led by seventh-year head coach Greg Beals ... Kent State enters the weekend with a 15-5 overall record as it is coming off of a doubleheader swept of Niagara Wednesday ... The Golden Flashes, who opened the season nationally ranked, are 3-0 in MAC play this season after sweeping Eastern Michigan last weekend ... Kent State is led by fifth-year head coach Scott Stricklin.
Both Friday's game and Sunday's game will be broadcast by 91.3 WCRD FM and online at www.ballstatesports.com.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Kent State have met on the diamond 98 times prior to this weekend's series with the Cardinals trailing the all-time series 44-54 ... Ball State has won six out of the last eight meetings against the Golden Flashes, including a three-game series sweep last year in Kent, Ohio ... This season marks just the second visit for Kent State to Muncie since the 2003 season.
Last season, the Cardinals claimed a 10-2 victory Friday and a pair of 6-5 victories both Saturday and Sunday ... Ball State's pitching staff turned in a strong performance as it posted a 2.00 ERA in the three games against Kent State ... In the first game of the series, senior Tyler Pritchard threw 7.0 scoreless innings and held KSU to just five hits ... Senior center fielder Wayne Bond Jr. drove in five runs in the victory ... The Cardinals claimed the second game of the series in large part to right-hander Brad Piatt who came on and tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief ... Bond drove in three runs in the victory while catcher Zach Dygert tallied a pair of hits.
Ball State claimed the series sweep in thrilling fashion Sunday afternoon as shortstop T.J. Baumet tallied his first career home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to break a 5-5 tie ... Right-hander Kolbrin Vitek turned in a strong start as he worked 7.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs while striking out six batters.
Closing In On A Milestone . . .
Seventh-year head coach Greg Beals, a Kent State alum, 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 the weekend with a 199-158 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 357 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.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
Ball State will send three right-handers to the mound this weekend in junior Brad Piatt, senior Brenden Stines and sophomore Kolbrin Vitek ... Kent State will counter with right-hander Brad Stillings Friday and right-hander Kyle Smith Saturday ... The Golden Flashes have not named a starter for Sunday.
Piatt gets the Friday nod for the third straight weekend as he brings a 4-0 record into the series with a 1.69 ERA ... He has worked 26.2 innings this season and has struck out 17 while walking eight ... He is coming off of 5.2 innings of work last weekend against Akron as he allowed just one earned run while striking out four batters.
Stines takes the mound Saturday for his fifth start and eight appearance of the season ... He owns a 0-3 record with a 4.82 ERA as he has worked 18.2 innings while striking out 14 batters.
Vitek once again gets the ball Sunday afternoon as he is making his sixth start of the year ... He owns a 2-1 record and a 3.63 ERA ... He has worked 22.1 innings this season while striking out 26 batters and only walking four ... He is coming off of a six-inning performance against Akron as he has only allowed one unearned runs while striking out eight batters.
Stillings gets the ball for Kent State Friday afternoon as he owns a 3-0 record with a 2.19 ERA ... He has worked 24.2 innings this year with 26 strikeouts ... He is coming off of seven strong innings against Eastern Michigan as he allowed two earned runs and struck out 13 batters.
Smith goes to the hill Saturday with a 2-0 record and a 1.89 ERA as he has worked 19.0 innings and struck out 18 batters ... He is coming off of a six-inning outing against EMU last weekend as he allowed one run on two hits while striking out eight batters.
Did You Know? . . .
The Cardinals are 10-2 this season in games in which they score first while they are 1-8 when the opposing team scores first ... Additionally, Ball State is strong in the bullpen as it is 9-1 this season when it has the lead after six innings and 6-0 when leading after seven innings.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with an 11-10 overall record and a 2-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals are batting .314 on the season as they have scored 140 runs in 21 games ... Ball State owns a .495 slugging percentage on the strength of 48 doubles, nine triples and 23 home runs ... On the mound, the Cardinals have a 4.04 ERA while holding opponents to a .275 batting average ... BSU has struck out 140 batters while walking 79.
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the team with a .416 batting average has he has tallied team-highs in hits (37), runs (27) and stolen bases (13) ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek owns a .349 batting average as he has driven in 20 runs and owns a team-high .639 slugging percentage ... Junior left fielder Kory Benbow leads the team with 23 RBI and five home runs.
In the bullpen, senior left-hander Tom Mueller owns a 0.68 ERA on the year as he has made a team-high 12 appearances ... Senior right-hander Aaron Hammons has made 11 appearances and owns a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings ... Hammons allowed his first earned runs of the season Wednesday at Indiana State ... Junior closer Morgan Coombs has a 2-1 record with one save as he has posted a 0.77 ERA in 11.2 innings of work.
Scouting Kent State . . .
Kent State enters the weekend with a .305 batting average as it has scored 182 runs in 20 games ... The Golden Flashes have a .461 slugging percentage on the strength of 33 doubles, nine triples and 20 home runs ... KSU owns a 4.33 ERA on the season while opponents are batting .262 ... The Golden Flashes have struck out 161 batters while walking 84.
Greg Rohan leads the team as he has a .380 batting average ... Rohan has tallied a team-high 30 hits, driven in 23 runs, six home runs and scored 27 runs ... Brad Winter has a .386 batting average in 15 starts this season ... Ben Klafczynski leads the team with 10 doubles.
In the bullpen, Jon Pokorny leads the team with nine appearances as he owns a 4.05 ERA in 13.1 innings ... Pokorny has two saves and is one of five KSU pitchers with a save this season ... Andrew Chafin has made six appearances and has a 1.72 ERA in 15.2 innings with two saves.
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 55 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 has converted 13-of-14 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 21 games though, Ball State has pounded out 23 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 seven games this spring, working 6.1 innings and allowing one run ... He has tallied 11 strikeouts this season while only walking four 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.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State hits the road Wednesday evening for a midweek contest at Louisville ... The game will be the first of five straight road games for the Cardinals and the start of a stretch in which eight of their next nine games are on the road.
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