Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Battles Toledo This Weekend For MAC West Title
May 13, 2009 | Baseball
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What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals close out the 2009 regular season at home this weekend as they host Mid-American Conference West Division leading Toledo for a three-game series ... The series runs Thursday-Saturday at Ball Diamond ... Ball State enters the weekend trailing Toledo for the top spot in the division ... The winner of the three-game series at Ball Diamond will be crowned MAC West Division champions and will be assured of a top two seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament ... Ball State has won a record six MAC West Division titles since divisional play began in 1998 while Toledo is vying for its first ever MAC West crown.
The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 24-23 overall record and a 12-10 mark in conference play ... Ball State has won three straight MAC games heading into the pivotal weekend series ... The Cardinals are led by seventh-year head coach Greg Beals ... Toledo enters the series with a 21-27 overall record and a 14-10 mark in MAC play ... The Rockets dropped two of three last weekend at home against Eastern Michigan before dropping a pair of midweek non-conference contests ... Toledo is led by sixth-year head coach Cory Mee.
This weekend's games will also mark the final home games for the Cardinals' seven seniors in Jay Broughton, Josh Vollmer, Eric Van Matre, Adam Quinn, Brenden Stines, Nate Fields and Tom Mueller ... Senior day festivities will be held prior to Saturday's series finale.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Toledo have met 102 times prior to this weekend's series with the Cardinals holding a 55-47 advantage all-time against the Rockets ... Toledo has won five out of the last six meetings against Ball State, including taking two of three last year ... The Rockets swept the Cardinals in a three-game series during the 2007 season.
Last season, Toledo picked up 6-5 and 4-3 victories over the Cardinals in the final series of the regular season ... Ball State fought back to claim an 11-8 victory in the series finale to secure a spot in the 2008 Mid-American Conference Tournament ... In the first game of the series, the Cardinals scored five first inning runs only to see Toledo rally to tie the game in the eighth before claiming the walk-off victory in the 11th inning ... Left fielder Kory Benbow paced the offense as he tallied two hits and drove in two runs in the loss ... In game two, the Cardinals once again opened to an early lead as they posted a 3-1 advantage after just two innings ... Toledo rallied once again to score one run in the fourth and a pair in the fifth to claim the victory ... Benbow led the offense for the second straight day as he tallied two of the Cardinals' eight hits ... Ball State battled back in the series finale to claim a tournament spot ... The Cardinals trailed 6-3 heading into the eighth inning before plating seven runs in the frame to take a 10-6 lead and hold on for an 11-8 victory ... Seven different Cardinals posted multiple hits in the victory with four driving in at least two runs ... Zach Dygert, Nate Fields, Justin Rogers and Benbow each picked up two RBI while left-hander Tom Mueller worked 3.0 scoreless innings of relief to notch the victory.
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.
The Cardinals have already earned a berth into the 2009 MAC Tournament with their three-game sweep of Northern Illinois ... Ball State can claim the MAC West title this weekend if it wins two out of three against MAC West leader Toledo ... If the season ended 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.) Bowling Green 2.) Toledo 3.) Kent State 4.) Ohio 5.) Miami 6.) Ball State 7.) Central Michigan/Eastern Michigan/Akron.
Ball State will be making its 12th appearance all-time in the MAC Tournament this season ... The Cardinals are 14-22 all-time in the tournament and won the tournament championship in 2006.
Stines Honored By MAC . . .
Senior right-handed pitcher Brenden Stines was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week Monday ... Stines becomes the 10th Cardinal to earn weekly honors this season from the MAC.
Stines helped the Cardinals to a three-game series sweep of MAC West rival Northern Illinois as he turned in his top performance of the season in Ball State's 9-1 victory Saturday afternoon. He tallied his third win of the season as he worked seven-strong innings, allowing only three hits. Stines struck out a career-high 11 batters and did not allow an earned run in the gem for the Cardinals. He improved to 3-4 on the year with the victory and owns a 5.14 ERA, which is eighth in the MAC this season, in 56.0 innings.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
The Cardinals will send three right-handers to the mound this weekend in senior Brenden Stines, junior Brad Piatt and sophomore Kolbrin Vitek ... Toledo will counter with right-handers Justin Collop, Matt Kuna and Mike Inselmann.
Stines, the reigning Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week, will be making his 16th appearance and 12th start of the season Thursday afternoon ... He has a 3-4 record with a 5.14 ERA on the year ... He has worked 56.0 innings and has struck out 38 batters while walking 28 ... He threw 7.0 strong innings at Northern Illinois last weekend as he struck out 11 batters.
Piatt will be making his team-leading 13th start of the season Friday afternoon as he has a 5-2 record and a 5.02 ERA ... He has worked a team-high 57.1 innings this year and has struck out 34 batters while walking 22 ... Last weekend, he worked 5.1 innings at NIU and allowed four earned runs while striking out five batters in the victory.
Vitek is slated to start the regular season finale Saturday afternoon as he has a 4-2 record with a 5.96 ERA ... He has tossed 51.1 innings this year and has struck out 51 batters while only walking nine ... He tallied the win last Sunday at NIU as he went 5.0 innings and allowed three runs while notching five strikeouts.
Collop gets the nod for the Rockets Thursday afternoon as he will be making his team-leading 12th start of the season ... He has a 3-6 record on the year with a 5.54 ERA in 65.0 innings ... He has tallied 58 strikeouts while walking 15 ... He allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings last weekend against Eastern Michigan, despite striking out eight batters.
Kuna takes the hill Friday afternoon and will be making his 11th start of the season ... He has a 4-1 record with a team-best 3.75 ERA in 50.1 innings pitched ... He has struck out 33 batters while walking 13 ... Last weekend, he picked up the win against EMU as he worked 7.1 innings and allowed five runs.
Inselmann will make his 11th start of the year Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale ... He has a 2-7 record on the year with a 8.45 ERA in 49.0 innings pitched ... He has struck out 31 batters while walking 17 ... He was charged with the loss last weekend as he allowed six runs on six hits in 6.0 innings.
Scouting Ball State . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 24-23 overall record and a 12-10 mark in Mid-American Conference play as it sits in second place in the MAC West Division ... The Cardinals have scored 362 runs (7.7 runs/game) this season while boasting a .317 batting average ... BSU is slugging .521 on the year courtesy of 125 doubles, 18 triples and 62 home runs ... On the mound, Ball State has a 5.25 ERA, which leads the MAC, and is holding opponents to .292 batting ... The Cardinals have recorded 309 strikeouts this season while walking 183.
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the Cardinals in batting at .420 ... Hazelbaker also leads the team with 68 runs scored, 79 hits, six triples, 42 walks and a .540 on-base percentage ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek is second on the team in batting at .386 and leads the team with 11 home runs and 55 RBI ... Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen is third in batting at .362, in hits with 72 and in RBI with 52.
In the bullpen, senior left-hander Tom Mueller is tied for the team-lead with 26 appearances ... Mueller has a 1.41 ERA on the year in 32.0 innings of work as opponents are batting .248 against him ... Right-hander Aaron Hammons also has appeared in 26 games and has a 4.03 ERA in 29.0 innings ... Hammons has tallied 37 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .220 batting average ... Junior closer Morgan Coombs has appeared in 23 games and has a team-high six saves ... Coombs has a 3.62 ERA in 32.1 innings pitched.
Scouting Toledo . . .
Toledo enters the weekend with a 21-27 overall record and a 14-10 mark in Mid-American Conference play as it sits alone in first place in the MAC West Division ... The Rockets have scored 322 runs (6.7 runs/game) this season while batting .294 ... Toledo is slugging .447 on the year on the strength of 106 doubles, 15 triples and 40 home runs ... On the mound, the Rockets have a 7.04 ERA and opponents are batting .304 ... Toledo has strick out 298 batters while walking 180.
Chris Dudics leads the Rockets offensively as he has a .376 batting average in 30 games ... Jared Hoying is tied for the team lead with 10 home runs and leads the club with 48 RBI ... Dan Sherwood also has 10 home runs as he owns a .260 batting average.
In the bullpen, Jeff Cinadr leads the team with 26 appearances as he has a 3.93 ERA in 36.2 innings ... Cinadr has two saves and has struck out 30 while walking seven ... Matt Zahel has appeared in 18 games has has a 5.23 ERA in 20.2 innings as he leads the team with eight saves.
Touching Home Plate . . .
Junior center fielder and leadoff hitter Jeremy Hazelbaker is closing in on the Ball State single season runs record ... Hazelbaker enters the weekend with 68 runs scored to lead the Mid-American Conference ... His 68 runs scored is already third all-time in Ball State history ... He only trails former Ball State greats Larry Bigbie and Thomas Howard ... Bigbie holds the record with 71 runs scored in 1999 while Howard is second with 70 runs scored in 1986.
No To Free Passes . . .
Sophomore right-hander Kolbrin Vitek has shown great control during his first two seasons on the mound for the Cardinals ... Vitek leads the team and the Mid-American Conference with only nine walks in 51.1 innings as he is allowing 1.58 walks per nine innings ... He would currently rank second all-time in Ball State single season history at 1.58 ... He is tied with former Cardinal Tom Sharon (1974) for second place and trails only former No. 1 draft pick Bryan Bullington, who had a 1.55 walks per nine innings in 2002.
In his two seasons, he has tallied 2.08 walks per nine innings which would be the top mark in Ball State history for a career ... Tom Overstreet (1971-73) holds the career mark at 2.42 walks per nine innings.
Yes To Free Passes . . .
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker leads the team and the Mid-American Conference in walks earned at 42 ... He is already sixth all-time in Ball State single season history for free passes, just seven shy of the record ... Brad Snyder holds the record of 49 walks during the 2003 season while Dean Anna recorded 46 walks last season.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
The Cardinals lead the Mid-American Conference this season in stolen bases ... Through 46 games, Ball State has recorded 112 stolen bases on 135 attempts ... The 112 stolen bases leads the MAC and is 41 more than second place Miami has with 71 swipes ... Ball State ranks eighth in NCAA Division I in stolen bases per game at 2.4 (as of 5/10) ... The Cardinals' 112 stolen bases this season second most all-time in a single 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 61 bases in 70 attempts at the top of the Cardinals' lineup ... The tandem alone has stolen more bases than eight MAC teams so far this season ... Fields leads the team with 32 steals in 35 attempts while Hazelbaker has converted 29-of-35 stolen base attempts ... The two are first and third in the MAC in stolen bases, respectively ... Fields ranks 11th in NCAA Division I while Hazelbaker is 16th.
Also, sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek is third on the team with 17 stolen bases ... The Cardinals' first three batters in the lineup have swiped 78 bases this season.
Fab Freshman . . .
Freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen enters the weekend third on the team in batting with a .362 average ... Nielsen leads all Mid-American Conference freshmen in batting average this year while also leading freshmen in hits (72) and RBI (52) ... 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 18th in NCAA Division I in doubles with 124 ... BSU is fourth in the nation in double per game at 2.76 ... Ball State is just nine doubles shy of the single season team record of 133 doubles (1999).
The Cardinals have 12 players who have notched doubles this season with eight of those players with at least five doubles ... Also, seven different Cardinals have reached double figures in doubles this season ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with 23 doubles while junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker is second with 16 ... Nate Fields is third with 15 and Zach Dygert is fourth with 14 doubles ... Last season, the Cardinals were second all-time in single season doubles with 130.
Vitek's 23 doubles are 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 fifth in the nation in doubles and third in the nation in doubles per game (0.54).
Leading The Way . . .
Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, the Cardinals' leadoff hitter, enters the weekend leading the Mid-American Conference in batting with a .420 average ... Hazelbaker leads the league in hits (79), runs (68), walks (42), triples (6) and on-base percentage (.540) ... He third in stolen bases (29), fifth in total bases (128), sixth in doubles (16) and third in slugging percentage (.681).
As of May 10, Hazelbaker ranks second in the nation in on-base percentage, third in runs per game, 11th in batting average, 19th in triples per game, 20th in walks per game, 60th in hits and 46th in slugging percentage.
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 earlier this season ... Beals (212-170) 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 moved into third all-time in Ball State history in wins over the weekend with the three victories at Northern Illinois ... He moved past both Williams and Rickel for second all-time in wins at 212 ... He only trails Maloney (256) and Quinn (323).
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 47 games though, Ball State has pounded out 62 home runs ... 12 different players have hit the long ball this season ... Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with 11 home runs while sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet is second with 10 home runs ... Freshman Ian Nielsen is third on the team with eight home runs while junior left fielder Kory Benbow is fourth with seven home runs.
Last weekend, senior second baseman Nate Fields and freshman third baseman Tim Issler both tallied their first home runs of the year.
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 eight 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 and sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek have earned Player of the Week honors, while junior right-hander Brad Piatt and 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 earned player of the week honors and was named College Baseball Hall Of Fame National All-Star Lineup April 27 ...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.
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 head to the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament May 20-23 in Chillicothe, Ohio ... All games of the tournament will be broadcast online at www.mac-sports.com.
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