Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Kent State
Late Inning Rally Dooms Baseball Against Kent State
March 27, 2009 | Baseball
In the loss, junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) turned in a stellar performance as he went 4-for-5 on the afternoon and hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats. Hazelbaker becomes the first Cardinal to hit for the cycle since Ben Schroeder accomplished the feat April 20, 2003 in Ball State's 10-3 victory over Illinois State. Hazelbaker tallied a first inning double, a second inning home run, a fourth inning single and capped the cycle with a fifth inning triple.
Ball State struck first in the bottom of the first inning as Hazelbaker led off the inning with a hustling double into short left center field off of Kent State right-hander Brad Stillings. After a sacrifice bunt moved Hazelbaker to third, sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) doubled down the left field line to score Hazelbaker with the first run of the afternoon.
The Cardinals put two aboard as junior catcher Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) was hit by a pitch after working the count full. Stillings was able to get the second out of the inning before freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) placed a run scoring single over the second baseman's head to plate Vitek as the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead.
Kent State answered right back in the top of the second inning against junior right-hander Brad Piatt (Galveston, Ind./Lewis Cass). Piatt walked KSU right fielder Jason Patton to open the inning but the Cardinals committed a big error on the following batter to put runners at the corners. Brad Winter followed as he blooped a run-scoring single into left field to plate Patton with the Golden Flashes' first run. Piatt was able to work out of the inning as he induced bases loaded ground ball double play to end the inning.
Ball State got the run right back in the bottom of the second inning. Stillings was able to easily retire the first two batters of the inning but Hazelbaker made him pay for falling behind the in the count as he ripped his third home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.
The Golden Flashes tied the game at three apiece in the top of the third inning as Piatt allowed a one out walk to Ben Klafczynski and a single to Greg Rohan. After a Piatt balk put both runners in scoring position, Jason Patton brought home one run with a sacrifice fly and Anthony Gallas singled in Rohan to knot the game up at 3-3.
Ball State re-took the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Dygert ripped a one out double to the right center field. After the second out, Nielsen came through with his second two-out RBI as he crushed a run scoring double off of the left field wall to plate Dygert with the Cardinals' fourth run of the game.
After the Golden Flashes tied the game at four apiece, the Cardinals once again took the lead as freshman right fielder Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) started things off with a one out single. Hazelbaker followed with his third hit of the afternoon as he single through the left side to put two aboard. Stillings loaded the bases as he walked senior second baseman Nate Fields (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) and forced home the Cardinals' fifth run as he walked Vitek to score Elliott. Stillings was able to work out of the jam as he stranded all three runners on base.
Kent State took its first lead of the afternoon with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning as it took advantage of a BSU error. Patton led off the inning with a double to right field and moved to third on a Gallas single. Piatt allowed the tying to run score as he had a throwing error on a pick-off attempt as Patton scored the Gallas advanced to third base. The Golden Flashes took the 6-5 lead as Jared Humphreys grounded out to second base.
Ball State responded to the adversity as it once again re-took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth against KSU reliever Robert Sabo. Nielsen and Elliott both were hit by pitches to put two aboard with two outs. Hazelbaker quickly gave the Cardinals the lead back as he ripped a two-run triple off of the center field wall to claim the cycle.
The Cardinals added an insurance run in the seventh inning as the Kent State bullpen walked the first three batters of the inning to load the bases. Left-hander Jon Pokorny was able to get out of the inning with only one run scoring for the Cardinals on a Vitek sacrifice fly to give BSU an 8-6 lead.
Kent State battled back in the top of the eighth inning against junior right-hander Aaron Hammons (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central). KSU led off the inning with a single and put two aboard as Chris Tremblay singled. Hammons picked up a big strikeout for the second out of the inning but Greg Rohan, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, ripped a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for his team-leading seventh home run of the season.
The Golden Flashes added a big insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to take a 10-8 lead before the Cardinals came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Ball State made some noise in its last at bat as freshman Nathan Koontz (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf) led off the inning with a double. After two outs, Fields drove in Koontz with an opposite field single to bring the game-tying run to the plate. Kent State reliever Andrew Chafin was able to get out of the inning and end the game with a strikeout of Vitek to seal the victory.
Pokorny (1-2) picked up the victory as he worked 2.1 innings and allowed just one run on one hit. Chafin tallied his third save of the season as he got the last two outs of the ball game. Hammons (0-1) was charged with the loss as he allowed three runs in an inning of relief.
Ball State and Kent State will continue the series Saturday afternoon as game two is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch at Ball Diamond.
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