Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Eastern Michigan For Three-Game Series
April 30, 2009 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State hits the road for seven straight games beginning with a three-game Mid-American Conference series against MAC West rival Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti ... The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 20-19 overall record and have won five out of their last seven contests ... Ball State is 8-8 in MAC play as it sits alone in second place in the MAC West Division ... The Cardinals are led by seventh-year head coach Greg Beals ... Eastern Michigan enters the weekend with a 15-29 overall record as it has won seven out of its last 10 games ... The Eagles own a 7-11 mark in MAC play and currently sit in four place in the MAC West Division ... EMU is led by first-year head coach Jay Alexander.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Eastern Michigan have met 126 times prior to this weekend's three-game series ... The Cardinals narrowly trail the all-time series by a 66-59-2 mark ... Ball State won two out of three against the Eagles last season in Muncie ... The Cardinals claimed a 7-6 victory Friday afternoon before EMU took home a 16-7 victory Saturday afternoon ... BSU recorded the series victory with a 12-4 win Sunday afternoon at Ball Diamond.
In the three-game series, catcher Zach Dygert was the offensive catalyst as he notched four home runs and drove in eight runs ... Shortstop T.J. Baumet was six-of-10 in the series and tallied three doubles and a home run ... In the series opener, the Cardinals trailed 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth before Dygert led off with a game-tying solo home run ... Baumet drove in the game-winning run with a bases loaded single to center field to cap the comeback ... Eastern Michigan claimed victory Saturday as it exploded for 10 runs in its first three innings ... Ball State took home the series victory Sunday as Dygert drove in five runs and hit two home runs ... The Cardinals broke open the game with a six-run fourth inning to take the lead for good.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State returned to its winning ways Wednesday afternoon as the Cardinals downed instate foe IPFW 10-3 ... The Cardinals' freshmen paced the attack as Cody Elliott, Tim Issler and Nathan Koontz combined for five hits and six runs scored in the victory ... Elliott posted two hits, including his fourth double, while Issler tallied two hits and reached base three times ... Koontz gave the Cardinals' breathing room as he ripped his second career home run ... Redshirt freshman Perci Garner picked up his first career victory as he worked 3.0 innings of shutout baseball ... Garner posted five strikeouts and only allowed one hit against the Mastodons.
Vitek Honored By MAC . . .
Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Monday ... Vitek's honor marks the ninth time this season that a Cardinal has earned weekly honors from the MAC and he becomes the first player to in the league to earn both Player and Pitcher of the Week accolades this season.
Vitek used his dual-threat abilities to lead the Cardinals to a 3-1 week including an upset of No. 23 Ohio State and a series victory against preseason MAC West Division favorite Western Michigan ... He posted a .588 (10-of-17) average on the week and a 1.471 slugging percentage as he has 25 total bases in the four games. He also drove in 11 runs and scored seven runs on the week.
Vitek tallied six doubles to move his season total to 22 which leads the MAC and posted three home runs to raise his season total to a team-leading 10 long balls ... He also starred on the mound this weekend as he picked up the victory Sunday afternoon to improve to 3-2 on the year ... He worked 7.0 innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters.
MAC Tournament . . .
For the second straight year, the Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament will be held in Chillicothe, Ohio at VA Memorial Stadium ... Eight teams qualify for the tournament with the top three teams from each division automatically earning a bid ... The final two teams with the best overall MAC record remaining make the field ... If the season started today, the Cardinals would make the tournament as the second place team in the MAC West Division and would be the sixth seed overall ... The seeding would fall as follows if the season ended today: 1.) Kent State 2.) Ohio 3.) Toledo 4.) Miami 5.) Bowling Green 6.) Ball State 7.) Central Michigan 8.) Akron.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference this season in stolen bases ... Through 39 games, Ball State has recorded 94 stolen bases on 112 attempts ... The 94 stolen bases leads the MAC and is 32 more than second place Miami has with 62 swipes ... Ball State ranked eighth in NCAA Division I in stolen bases per game at 2.38 (as of 4/26) ... The Cardinals' 94 stolen bases this season are already tied for second all-time in a single season in BSU history with the 1984 season ... The team record is 121 stolen bases during the 1997 season.
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 54 bases in 61 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 28 steals in 30 attempts while Hazelbaker has converted 26-of-31 stolen base attempts ... The two are first and second in the MAC in stolen bases, respectively ... Fields ranks 14th in NCAA Division I while Hazelbaker is 17th.
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 66 bases this season.
Fab Freshman . . .
Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen enters the weekend third on the team in batting with a .360 average ... Nielsen leads all Mid-American Conference freshmen in batting average this year while also leading freshmen in hits (59) and RBI (42) ... 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 12th in NCAA Division I in doubles with 111 ... BSU is second in the nation in double per game at 2.89 ... Ball State is already just 22 doubles shy of the single season team record of 133 doubles (1999) ... The Cardinals have 14 more doubles than any other team in the MAC as Buffalo is second with 97.
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 22 doubles while junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker is second with 15 ... Nate Fields and Zach Dygert are tied for third with 13 doubles ... Last season, the Cardinals were second all-time in single season doubles with 130.
Vitek's 22 doubles are already tied for second in Ball State history in a single season with Shayne Ridley (1999) ... Brad Snyder holds the single season record for doubles with 25 in 2003 ... Vitek is second in the nation in both doubles and doubles per game.
Leading The Way . . .
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, the Cardinals' leadoff hitter, enters the weekend leading the Mid-American Conference in batting with a .429 average ... Hazelbaker leads the league in hits (67), runs (58), walks (32) and on-base percentage (.541) ... He is third in triples (4), second in stolen bases (26), fifth in total bases (108), fifth in doubles (15) and fourth in slugging percentage (.692).
As of April 24, Hazelbaker ranks sixth in the nation in on-base percentage, fourth in runs per game, 26th in batting average, 62nd in triples per game, 30th in walks per game, 63rd in hits and 80th in slugging percentage.
Turning Up The Heat . . .
Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek has turned up his play at the plate over the past nine games as he is 21-of-39 (.638) ... Vitek has driven in 19 runs and scored 16 runs over the past two weeks ... He owns a 1.154 slugging percentage during that stretch with 10 doubles and four home runs ... He leads the Mid-American Conference in batting in league play with a .500 average (33-of-66) ... He has tallied 12 doubles, five home runs and 20 RBI in 16 league games.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
Ball State will have the same rotation slated for the weekend with right-handers Brad Piatt, Brenden Stines and Kolbrin Vitek ... Eastern Michigan will counter with right-handers Corey Chaffins and Jordan Glover ... EMU has not named a starter for Sunday.
Piatt will be making his team-leading 11th start of the season Friday night ... He owns a 4-1 record with a 4.21 ERA on the year which is third in the Mid-American Conference ... Piatt only worked 2.2 innings last Friday because of the hour-long lightening delay but did throw an inning against Purdue during the midweek ... He has worked a team-high 47.0 innings.
Stines gets the nod Saturday afternoon as he will be making his 14th appearance and 10th start of the year ... He has a 2-4 record with a 5.52 ERA in 44.0 innings ... He hast struck out 25 batters while walking 22 ... He only lasted three innings last Saturday against Western Michigan in the wind-swept afternoon but worked one scoreless inning against IPFW Wednesday.
Vitek gets the ball Sunday afternoon as he will be making his ninth start of the year ... He owns a 3-2 record with a 4.91 ERA in 40.1 innings ... He has struck out a team-high 45 batters while only walking seven ... He tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts in the victory over WMU last weekend.
Chaffins will take the hill for EMU Friday night as he will be making his eighth start of the year ... He has a 2-3 record with a 7.63 ERA in 43.2 innings ... He has struck out 40 batters while walking 11 ... He worked seven innings last weekend against Northern Illinois and allowed five runs on seven hits.
Glover gets the call Saturday and will be making his eighth start of the season ... He has a 2-3 record with a 6.34 ERA in 32.2 innings ... He has struck out 25 while walking 22 ... He worked 4.1 innings against NIU and allowed three runs on six hits.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 20-19 overall record and an 8-8 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have scored 298 runs in 39 games (7.64 runs/game) while posting a .316 batting average ... Ball State is slugging .522 on the year on the strength of 111 doubles, 13 triples and 51 home runs ... On the mound, the Cardinals have a 4.98 ERA as opponents are hitting .297 ... BSU has struck out 256 batters while walking 155.
Offensively, junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the team with a .429 batting average and a .541 on-base percentage ... Hazelbaker also leads the team with 67 hits and 58 runs scored ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek is second on the team with a .392 average ... Vitek leads the team with 10 home runs, 50 RBI, 22 doubles and a .759 slugging percentage.
Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen is third in batting at .360 and has driven in 42 runs ... Junior catcher Zach Dygert adds a .345 batting average and is tied for second with 42 RBI.
In the bullpen, left-hander Tom Mueller is tied for the team-lead with 22 appearances ... Mueller has a 1.67 ERA in 27.0 innings pitched ... Right-hander Aaron Hammons also has appeared in 22 games and has a 4.44 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched ... Hammons has struck out 29 batters this season ... Junior closer Morgan Coombs has tallied a 2.39 ERA in 18.0 innings as he has five saves.
Scouting Eastern Michigan . . .
Eastern Michigan enters the weekend with a 15-29 overall record and a 7-11 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Eagles have scored 271 runs in 44 games (6.16 runs/game) while posting a .282 batting average ... EMU is slugging .461 on the season on the strength of 71 doubles, 11 triples and 59 home runs ... On the mound, Eastern Michigan has a 6.96 ERA and opponents are batting .315 ... The Eagles have struck out 258 batters while walking 202.
Offensively, Kyle Rhoad leads the team with a .361 batting average as he has tallied 61 hits ... Andrew Marshall leads the team with 12 home runs and is second with 38 RBI ... Matt Skirving leads the team with 40 RBI and is second in home runs in 11.
In the bullpen, Kevin Wammes leads the team with 17 appearances and has a 0-3 record with a 5.00 ERA in 18.0 innings ... Sean Hoffman has also appeared in 17 games, 14 of which came in relief ... Hoffman has a 6.79 ERA in 53.0 innings pitched.
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 (208-167) 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).
Beals needs just one victory to tie both Williams and Rickel for third all-time in victories at Ball State ... He has 208 wins entering the weekend and can move into third all-time alone this weekend with two wins.
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 39 games though, Ball State has pounded out 51 home runs ... Nine different players have hit the long ball this season ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with 10 home runs while sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet is second with eight home runs ... In fact, Baumet has hit five home runs in his last five games as he entered the Western Michigan series with only three home runs on the year ... Freshman Ian Nielsen and junior left fielder Kory Benbow are tied for third with seven home runs apiece.
Cardinals Rack Up Honors . . .
Ball State garnered a weekly Mid-American Conference honor in the first seven weeks of the season and the Cardinals have tallied a total of seven 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 ... Vitek also earned Player of the Week honors this past 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 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.
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 on the mound for the Cardinals.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals will be off during the midweek due to finals week ... Ball State returns to action next weekend when it travels to Dekalb, Ill. for a three-game series at Northern Illinois.
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