Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts MAC Rival Western Michigan This Weekend
April 23, 2009 | Baseball
LIVE AUDIO (91.3 WCRD - Friday & Sunday)
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals return home to Ball Diamond this weekend as they begin a five-game homestand when they welcome in preseason Mid-American Conference West Division favorite Western Michigan for a three-game series ... Ball State enters the weekend with a 17-17 overall record and a 6-7 mark in MAC action ... The Cardinals sit in sole possession of third place in the MAC West Division behind first place Toledo (9-6) ... Ball State is coming off of a 20-8 victory over No. 23 Ohio State Wednesday night ... The Cardinals are led by seventh-year head coach Greg Beals ... Western Michigan enters the weekend with a 10-24 record on the year and a 5-10 mark in MAC play ... The Broncos are tied for fifth place in the MAC West Division with Eastern Michigan ... WMU had off during the midweek and is coming off of a 2-1 series loss against EMU last weekend ... The Broncos have dropped two-out-of-three in their last three MAC weekends ... Western Michigan is led by fifth-year head coach Randy Ford.
The Cardinals will have two games broadcasted this weekend as 91.3 WCRD FM will handle the broadcast duties Friday and Sunday ... The audio will be available online at www.ballstatesports.com.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Western Michigan have met 144 times prior to this weekend's three-game series ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by an 84-60 margin against the Broncos ... Ball State has won three out of the last four meetings and is 9-3 against Western Michigan in the last 12 outings ... In fact, head coach Greg Beals is 12-5 all-time against Western Michigan ... Western Michigan is the Cardinals' most common opponent in program history as the two teams have met 144 times prior to this weekend ... Indiana State is second all-time in games played with 134 while Eastern Michigan is third at 125 games.
Last season, the Cardinals took two out of three from the Broncos in Kalamazoo, Mich. ... Ball State claimed the first game of the series 11-4 before Western Michigan won game two 6-3 ... The Cardinals claimed the series victory with a 7-6 Sunday afternoon victory.
Ball State tallied seven home runs in the three-game series last season, including four in the series opener ... Zach Dygert and T.J. Baumet each belted home runs in the opener as Dygert finished with four hits in the series ... The Cardinals' bullpen was strong all weekend as it allowed just three runs in 10.1 innings and four pitchers combined to pitch 6.2 scoreless innings of relief in Tom Mueller, Aaron Hammons, Adam Quinn and Kyle Heyne.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2006 when the Cardinals stunned No. 23 Ohio State 20-8 Wednesday evening ... The victory was BSU's first over a ranked foe since the Cardinals defeated No. 8 Kentucky in the 2006 NCAA Regional.
Ball State pounded out 12 extra-base hits against Ohio State as it rallied from a 5-0 fifth inning deficit ... The Cardinals out-scored Ohio State 20-3 over the final four innings as they became the first team since 2002 to scored 20 runs against the Buckeyes ... The Cardinals' 12 extra-base hits are a season-high as they tallied eight doubles, three home runs and one triple.
Junior catcher Zach Dygert and sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek paced the attack as the Cardinals' three and four-hole hitters combined for six hits and 12 RBI ... Dygert finished the night with two home runs and a double while Vitek tallied two doubles and a home run ... The six RBI by both Dygert and Vitek are season-highs for the Cardinals while Dygert's 10 total bases are the most for a Cardinal this season.
Seven different Cardinals tallied hits in the victory with six different players having multiple hits ... Ball State saw 10 different players score runs in the victory, while seven different players drove in runs.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference this season in stolen bases ... Through 34 games, Ball State has recorded 86 stolen bases on 100 attempts ... The 86 stolen bases leads the MAC and is 33 more than second place Miami has with 53 swipes ... Ball State ranks third in NCAA Division I in stolen bases per game at 2.55.
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 50 bases in 56 attempts at the top of the Cardinals' lineup ... The tandem alone has stolen more bases than 10 MAC teams so far this season ... Fields leads the team with 26 steals in 28 attempts while Hazelbaker has converted 24-of-28 stolen base attempts ... The two are first and second in the MAC in stolen bases, respectively ... Fields ranks ninth in NCAA Division I while Hazelbaker is 16th.
Also, sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek is third on the team with 12 stolen bases ... The Cardinals' first three batters in the lineup have swiped 62 bases this season ... In the Cardinals three-game series against Central Michigan, they stole 10 bases on 11 attempts including executing stealing home twice on double steals in one game.
Fab Freshman . . .
Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen enters the weekend third on the team in batting with a .357 average ... Nielsen leads all Mid-American Conference freshmen in batting average this year while also leading freshmen in hits with 51 ... He has already earned MAC West Player of the Week honors twice this season and is the only true freshman to earn Player of the Week honors this year.
Double Trouble . . .
Ball State leads the Mid-American Conference and is 28th in NCAA Division I in doubles with 97 ... BSU is sixth in the nation in double per game at 2.85 ... Ball State is already just 36 doubles shy of the single season team record of 133 doubles (1999).
The Cardinals have 11 players who have notched doubles this season with eight of those players with at least five doubles ... Also, six different Cardinals have reached double figures in doubles this season ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with 18 doubles while junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker is second with 13 and junior right fielder Ryan Chenoweth is third with 12 doubles ... Last season, the Cardinals were second all-time in single season doubles with 130.
Vitek's 18 doubles are also just two away from being the fourth most in a single season ... Brad Snyder holds the single season record for doubles with 25 in 2003.
Leading The Way . . .
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, the Cardinals' leadoff hitter, enters the weekend leading the Mid-American Conference in batting with a .442 average ... Hazelbaker leads the league in hits (61), runs (53) and on-base percentage (.552) ... He is second in triples (4), second in stolen bases (24), third in total bases (97), third in walks (29) and third in slugging percentage (.703).
Hazelbaker ranks fourth in the nation in on-base percentage, eighth in runs per game, 17th in batting average, 35th in triples, 46th in walks per game, 65th in hits and 70th in slugging percentage.
Turning Up The Heat . . .
Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek has turned up his play at the plate over the past four games as he is 12-of-19 (.632) since last weekend ... Vitek has driven in 12 runs and scored 10 runs over the past four games ... He owns a 1.263 slugging percentage during that stretch with six doubles and two home runs.
Also, junior catcher Zach Dygert has tallied seven hits over the past two games ... Dygert has driven in nine runs in the last two games and scored four runs.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
Ball State will send three right-handers to the mound again this weekend in Brad Piatt, Brenden Stines and Kolbrin Vitek ... Western Michigan will counter with right-handers Billy Morrison, Brian Stroud and Eric Heckaman.
Piatt will be making his team-leading 10th start of the season as he owns a 4-1 record and has a 3.95 ERA ... He has worked 43.1 innings this spring and has tallied 26 strikeouts while walking 15 ... Last week, he picked up his first loss as he allowed two runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings against Central Michigan.
Stines gets the nod Saturday and will be making his ninth start of the year ... He has a 2-3 record and a 4.28 ERA in 40.0 innings ... He has tallied 23 strikeouts while walking 17 ... He threw seven strong innings against Central Michigan last weekend as he allowed just one run on two hits.
Vitek takes the hill Sunday afternoon with a 4.05 ERA and a 2-2 record on the year ... He has worked 33.1 innings this spring and has struck out 34 batters while walking six ... He picked up the loss last weekend as he allowed six runs on nine hits in 5.0 innings.
Morrison enters the weekend with a 2-6 record and a 7.51 ERA ... He will be making his 10th start and has tossed 44.1 innings this season ... He allowed 10 runs on 10 hits last weekend in 2.0 innings against Eastern Michigan.
Stroud will be making his 10th start of the season Saturday ... He has a 1-7 record on the year with a 6.18 ERA ... He has worked 51.0 innings and has struck out 42 batters ... He tallied the win last weekend against the Eagles as he worked 6.1 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits.
Heckaman gets the Sunday nod and has a 2-3 record on the year with a 6.15 ERA ... He has worked 41.0 innings this year and has struck out 23 ... He threw 5.1 innings against EMU last weekend and allowed five runs.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 17-17 overall record and a 6-7 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have scored 253 runs this season (7.4 runs/game) while posting a .312 batting average ... Ball State owns a .503 slugging percentage on the strength of 97 doubles, 12 triples and 38 home runs ... On the mound, Ball State owns a 4.53 ERA while holding opponents to a .290 average ... The Cardinals have tallied 217 strikeouts while walking 139 batters.
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the team with a .442 batting average ... Hazelbaker also leads the team with a .552 on-base percentage and is second with a .703 slugging percentage ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek is second in batting with a .384 average and leads the team with a .717 slugging percentage ... He leads the Cardinals in doubles (18), home runs (8) and RBI (43).
Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen is third in batting at .357 and is third on the team in RBI with 37 ... Junior catcher Zach Dygert is fourth in batting at .346 and second in RBI at 41.
In the bullpen, senior left-hander Tom Mueller leads the team with 20 appearances and owns a 1.78 ERA in 25.1 innings ... Right-hander Aaron Hammons is second on the team with 19 appearances and has a 4.64 ERA in 21.1 innings ... Junior closer Morgan Coombs has appeared in 15 games and has a 2.84 ERA in 23.0 innings.
Scouting Western Michigan . . .
Western Michigan enters the weekend with a 10-24 overall record and a 5-10 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Broncos have scored 170 runs this season (5.0 runs/game) while posting a .265 batting average ... Western Michigan owns a .396 slugging percentage on the strength of 62 doubles, nine triples and 25 home runs ... On the mound, the Broncos have a 6.50 ERA and opponents are batting .312 ... WMU has struck out 222 batters while walking 132.
Offensively, Chris Lewis leads the team with a .336 average as he has tallied a team-high 49 hits ... Kyle Galbraith leads the team with seven home runs and 24 RBI while Nathan Marquardt also has driven in 24 runs.
In the bullpen, Tim Mowry leads the team with 13 appearances and has a 2.50 ERA in 18.0 innings while tallying a team-high three saves ... Troy Forton also has appeared in 13 games and has a 6.67 ERA in 28.1 innings ... Kevan Hess has a 11.12 ERA in 17.0 innings as he has made 12 appearances.
On The Air . . .
The Cardinals will have selected games on 91.3 WCRD FM and www.ballstatesports.com this season, including Friday and Sunday's games this weekend against Western Michigan ... Also, “The Greg Beals Show” airs each Monday night from 7-8 p.m. on www.ballstatesports.com and 91.3 WCRD FM.
200 Victories . . .
Seventh-year head coach Greg Beals joined some elite company in Ball State baseball history as he became the fifth coach to reach 200 career victories with the Cardinals' 4-2 win over Kent State ... Beals (204-165) joins former Cardinal coaches Pat Quinn (323 wins), Rich Maloney (256), Paul Williams (209) and Bob Rickel (209) ... Beals is the second-fastest coach to reach 200 victories as he reached his milestone in 359 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).
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 33 games though, Ball State has pounded out 35 home runs ... Nine different players have hit the long ball this season ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with seven home runs while freshman Ian Nielsen and junior left fielder Kory Benbow are tied for second with six home runs apiece.
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 appeared in 12 games this spring, working 12.1 innings and allowing four runs ... He has tallied 17 strikeouts this season while only walking nine batters as he owns a 3.65 ERA.
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 garnered a weekly Mid-American Conference honor in the first seven weeks of the season as the Cardinals have tallied six Player of the Week honors and two Pitcher of the Week accolades ... Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen (two), junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (three), junior left fielder Kory Benbow have earned Player of the Week honors, while junior right-hander Brad Piatt and sophomore right-hander Kolbrin Vitek earned Pitcher of the Week accolades.
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 picked up his first weekly honor for Vitek this season and the second honor of his career (March 19, 2008) ... 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.
Hazelbaker led the Cardinals to a series split against preseason MAC favorite Kent State has he posted a .750 batting average (six-of-eight) in the two games ... He became 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 ... He accomplished the feat Friday afternoon in his first four at-bats of the game as he tallied a first inning double, a second inning home run, a fourth inning single and a fifth inning triple as he reached base five times against the Golden Flashes ... He posted a 1.625 slugging percentage in the series as he reached base eight times in the two games and hit two doubles, a triple and a home run.
Nielsen earned his second honor as he led the Cardinals into sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division with a doubleheader sweep at Buffalo this past weekend ... He was six-of-nine (.667) in the two games against the Bulls and drove in five runs ... Four out of his five RBI came with two outs in the twin bill as he led the Cardinals to a 5-2 conference start.
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 will be home durin the midweek as it hosts IPFW Tuesday and Purdue Wednesday ... The Cardinals hit the road next weekend as they travel to Eastern Michigan for a three-game series.
####
