Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Baseball Drops Series Finale At Eastern Michigan In Extra Innings
May 03, 2009 | Baseball
YPSILANTI, Mich. ? The Ball State baseball team suffered a walk-off 14-13 loss to Mid-American Conference rival Eastern Michigan in 10 innings Sunday afternoon at Oestrike Stadium. The loss drops the Cardinals to 21-21 overall on the season and 9-10 in MAC play. Ball State remains in sole possession of second place in the MAC West Division behind leader Toledo (13-8).
The back-and-forth contest saw both teams squander leads of four or more runs with the Cardinals rallying to tie the game with six unanswered in the eighth and ninth innings. Ball State forced extra innings with two in the top of the ninth before Eastern Michigan won the game in the bottom of the 10th inning as Zach Leonard led off the inning with a solo home run over the center field wall.
Ball State freshman third baseman Tim Issler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) and freshman right fielder Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) combined for six hits and four runs scored in the loss. Issler tied his career-high with three hits as he was three-of-four with a sacrifice bunt. Elliott finished the game three-of-five as he tallied his second career home run while also posting his sixth double of the year.
Senior second basemen Nate Fields (Cincinnati, Oho/Anderson) kept the inning going as he singled up the middle. Fields quickly stole second base to reach 30 steals for the season and raise the Cardinals season total to 100 stolen bases. After a ground ball moved him to third, junior catcher Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Fields and give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Eastern Michigan (17-30, 9-12 MAC) answered right back in the bottom half of the first inning against sophomore right-hander Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan). Kyle Rhoad led off the inning with a single and Matt Skirving followed with a two-run home run over the right center field to tie the game at 2-2.
Ball State responded with four more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 6-2 lead. Junior left fielder Kory Benbow (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) led off the inning with a single up the middle. Sophomore shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) continued his strong play as he ripped his 10th home run of the season over the right field wall. The home run was Baumet's seventh in the past eight games dating back to last weekend.
Elliott kept the inning going as he ripped a double to left field. Hazelbaker drove in Elliott as he doubled off of the center field wall for his second hit in as many innings. Fields capped the scoring in the inning as he singled down the left field line to plate Hazelbaker with the fourth run of the inning.
Eastern Michigan responded with six runs in the bottom of the third inning to take its first lead of the afternoon at 8-6. The Eagles took advantage of a walk and a hit by pitch surrounded by four hits, two of which were home runs, to take the lead against Vitek.
The Cardinals narrowed the gap to 8-7 with a run in the top of the fourth inning against reliever Bobby Henderson. Elliott led off the inning with his second career home run to right center field. The Cardinals put two more aboard before Fields was robbed of a three-run home run by Rhoad in center field. EMU reliever Jordan Goldschmidt came on and got the final out of the inning to strand two Cardinals.
After Eastern Michigan added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Eagles scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 13-7 lead. The Eagles continued to use the long ball as Zack Leonard hit a grand slam with two outs in the seventh against right-hander Aaron Hammons (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central).
The Cardinals answered back in the top of the eighth inning with four runs to pull within two at 13-11. Issler started things off with his third straight single. After a walk to Hazelbaker, Fields doubled down the left field line to plate Issler with the first run of the inning. Vitek drew another walk to load the bases for freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte). Nielsen worked the count full before ripping a bases-clearing double down the right field line to narrow the margin to 13-11.
Hammons held the Eagles scoreless in the bottom of the eight before Ball State came out in the top of the ninth inning against EMU closer Kevin Wammes. The Cardinals quickly got things started as Baumet walked and Elliott reached on an infield single. Issler laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.
Hazelbaker was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out in the inning. Fields reached base on an infield single that scored Baumet and Wammes committed an error that allowed Elliott to score the game-tying run. Eastern Michigan elected to intentionally walk Vitek to load the bases and the move paid off as Wammes induced a ground ball double play to get out of the inning.
The Cardinals retired the Eagles in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the game into extra frames. After EMU worked around a Benbow walk in the 10th inning, the Eagles ended the game on the first pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning as Leonard hit his second home run of the afternoon to end the contest.
Junior right-hander Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind./Lincoln Trail) was charged with the loss as he allowed one run on one hit in a third of an inning. Vitek worked six innings and was charged with nine runs on eight hits. Kendall Lewis (3-4) picked up the victory as he threw a scoreless 10th inning. Hoffman only lasted two innings in the start for the Eagles as he was charged with six runs on seven hits.
The Cardinals will be off during the midweek for final exams and will return to action next weekend when they travel to Northern Illinois for a three-game series. The MAC series will open Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. (ET).
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