Ball State University
Buffalo (DH)
Baseball Sweeps Sunday Doubleheader at Buffalo
April 05, 2009 | Baseball
Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) highlighted the offense as he posted a .667 (six-of-nine) batting average in the two games. Nielsen also drove in five runs on the afternoon with four of his RBI coming with two outs.
Game One ? Ball State 15, Buffalo 9
Ball State rallied from five runs down after the first inning to claim a 15-9 victory over hosting Buffalo in the first game of the doubleheader. Junior left fielder Ryan Chenoweth (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) drove in five runs for the Cardinals in the victory, including a bases loaded double in the second inning that gave BSU the lead back for good.
Ball State opened the scoring in the top of the first inning against UB starter Jessie Reinstien without the help of a base hit. The Cardinals induced two walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases and took advantage of a Bulls' error to plate the first run.
Buffalo battled back and scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning against junior right-hander Brad Piatt (Galveston, Ind./Lewis Cass). The Bulls scored five of the six runs in the inning after Piatt had recorded two outs in the inning.
Ball State answered right back in the top of the second inning as it chased Reinstien from the game with seven runs in the inning, all of which came with two outs. After two outs, junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) tallied a hustling double to right center field. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for junior catcher Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) who ripped a two-run single to left field to pull BSU within two runs.
The Cardinals took advantage of a Buffalo error to plate their third run of the inning and Nielsen pulled BSU within one with an RBI single. Chenoweth gave the Cardinals an 8-6 lead as he crushed a bases clearing double off of the center field wall to cap the scoring.
The two teams traded single runs and then started to settle in as both bullpens stepped up to the task. The Cardinals took an 11-7 lead in the sixth inning as Chenoweth once again came through with a double to center field to plate two runs. Ball State took its largest lead of the afternoon at 14-7 in the eighth inning as Nielsen doubled and sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) singled to put two aboard. Freshman designated hitter Nathan Koontz (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf) followed with his first career home run as he ripped a three-run home run over the left field wall.
Buffalo added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to narrow the gap to 14-9, but Ball State picked up another two out base hit from Nielsen in the ninth to end the scoring.
Freshman right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) picked up the victory in relief as he worked 4.2 innings of strong baseball to improve to 3-0 on the year. Bowling held the Bulls scoreless as he limited them to just three hits while striking out three batters. Reinstien (0-2) was charged with the loss as he only lasted two innings and allowed eight runs on four hits.
Game Two ? Ball State 3, Buffalo 2
Ball State claimed the doubleheader sweep in game two as it used timely hitting and strong pitching to take home a 3-2 victory over Buffalo. Five different Cardinal pitchers combined to hold the Bulls to just two runs on seven hits in the victory while Nielsen drove in two of the Cardinals' three runs on offense.
Senior Tom Mueller (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) and junior Aaron Hammons (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) added three innings of work while junior closer Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind./Lincoln Trail) tossed the final two innings to claim his third save of the year.
Ball State opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning against UB starter Pierre Miville-Deschenes. Hazelbaker led off the inning with a double and moved to third on Dygert's single. The Cardinals were able to plate Hazelbaker despite grounding into a double play as BSU took the early 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning as Hazelbaker and Vitek each drew walks to put two aboard. After a single by Dygert loaded the bases, Nielsen came through again as he dropped a single in front of the center fielder to plate two runs and give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
Buffalo added a run off of Mueller in the bottom of the sixth inning as it took advantage of a leadoff double. The Bulls made one final push in the bottom of the ninth inning against Coombs. The Bulls put runners on second and third with only one out but Coombs induced a ground ball that allowed one run to score to make the game 3-2. Buffalo drew a walk to put the potential game-winning run on first base and the game-tying run only 90 feet away, Coombs slammed the door shut as he got Eric Flynn to fly out to right field to end the game.
The victory improves to the Cardinals to 5-0 all-time against Buffalo as Ball State swept a three-game series from the Bulls last season in Muncie.
Ball State will return to action Tuesday afternoon as it travels to Purdue for a non-conference tilt. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
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