Ball State University
Missouri
Baseball Falls At Missouri, 4-1
March 07, 2009 | Baseball
Ball State opened the scoring in the top of the third inning as it tallied a run off of Missouri's preseason All-American right-hander Kyle Gibson. Sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) started things off with a one out double to center field. Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) picked up a two-out RBI as he drove a single to right field to plate Baumet with the first run of the game.
Missouri, which was nationally ranked the first two weeks of the season, struck back in the bottom of the fourth inning against senior right-hander Brenden Stines (Granger, Ind./Penn). The Tigers took advantage of some wildness from Stines who walked two batters and hit a third to load the bases with nobody out.
Missouri freshman Ryan Gebhart gave the Tigers the lead for good with a two-run single and Michael Liberto chased Stines from the game with a run scoring single. Stines (0-1) last just 3.1 innings in the loss as he was charged with three runs on four hits. Freshman Justin Warrington (Granville, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) came on in relief and got the Cardinals out of the inning as he induced a double play.
Ball State put runners in scoring position in both the seventh and eighth inning but was unable to narrow the deficit. In the seventh inning, Baumet recorded his second hit of the game as he single up the middle and stole second. Gibson was able to record two quick outs to strand Baumet at second. Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) singled in the eighth and also stole second, but Gibson once again got out of the inning unscathed.
Gibson (2-1) picked up the victory as he held the Cardinals to just one run on six hits as he struck out 13 batters while only walking one in eight innings. He has only allowed three runs in the last 15 innings while striking out 21 batters. Missouri closer Scooter Hicks worked a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his second save of the season.
Warrington worked 2.2 innings of scoreless relief as he allowed three hits while striking out two batters. Right-hander Scott Brothers Jr. (Monticello, Ind./Gulf Coast CC) was charged with an unearned run in 1.2 innings and redshirt freshman Perci Garner (Dover, Ohio/Dover) worked a perfect third of an inning.
Ball State will continue its four-game series at Missouri Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals face the Tigers in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. (CT). Junior right-hander Brad Piatt (Galveston, Ind./Lewis Cass) will get the ball to start game one while redshirt senior Adam Quinn (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) will start the second game of the double-dip.
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