Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Takes Part In Caravelle Resort Classic This Weekend
March 11, 2010 | Baseball
LIVE STATS (Courtesy of Coastal Carolina)
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State wraps up its 2010 spring break trip this weekend as it returns to Coastal Carolina for the Caravelle Resort Classic ... The Cardinals will face Michigan Friday at BB&T Coastal Field, Lipscomb Saturday at BB&T Coastal Field and Illinois Sunday at Watson Stadium ... Game time Friday has been changed to 3 p.m. ... Ball State enters the weekend with a 4-9 overall record and a 2-4 mark on the trip ... The Cardinals are in the midst of a stretch of games in which they play nine games in 10 days ... BSU had its first off day of the trip Thursday afternoon ... The Cardinals are led by eighth-year head coach Greg Beals.
Michigan enters the weekend with a 4-7 overall record and were swept last weekend at No. 12 North Carolina ... The Wolverines are coached by former Ball State head coach Rich Maloney ... Lipscomb enters the weekend with a 4-8 overall record but just a 1-3 mark away from home ... The Bisons split a midweek doubleheader with Youngstown State Wednesday ... Lipscomb is led by head coach Jeff Forehand ... Illinois enters the weekend with a 1-5 overall record and have dropped five straight since opening the season with a victory over Notre Dame ... The Fighting Illini dropped three games in Greenville, N.C., last weekend with losses to East Carolina, Western Carolina and West Virginia ... Illinois is led by head coach Dan Hartleb.
Series History . . .
Friday's meeting between Ball State and Michigan will mark the 18th meeting all-time between the teams with the Cardinals trailing the all-time series by a 1-16 mark ... The Wolverines have won four straight against the Cardinals, including a doubleheader sweep last season in Ann Arbor by 5-2 and 8-5 scores (May 12, 2009) ... Tim Issler posted a .714 batting average (5-of-7) in the doubleheader while Kolbrin Vitek posted a .517 average (4-of-7) ... Ball State's lone victory over the Wolverines came with a 6-5 victory May 4, 1999.
Saturday's game marks the second meeting all-time between Ball State and Lipscomb ... The Cardinals won the previous meeting between the two teams with a 1-0 victory February 23, 2007 .... In that game, Ryan Chenoweth posted two hits and drove in the game's only run.
Sunday's game marks the seventh meeting all-time between Ball State and Illinois ... The Cardinals are 1-5 all-time against the Fighting Illini ... The two teams last met March 29, 2000 with Illinois claiming a 3-0 victory ... Ball State's lone victory in the series came May, 15, 1962 with a 2-1 win in Muncie.
Last Time Out . . .
Ball State dropped a 7-4 contest at the College of Charleston Wednesday afternoon in its last action ... The Cardinals rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to pull within one run in the seventh inning but the Cougars added two insurance runs in the eighth inning to claim the victory.
Senior left fielder Kory Benbow tallied a double and a triple in the loss as he scored two of the Cardinals' four runs ... Freshman Blake Beemer added a pair of hits while classmate Wes Winkle tallied a hit and a sacrifice fly off the bench.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
Ball State will send three right-handers to the mound in the Caravelle Resort Classic this weekend ... The Cardinals will send Cal Bowling Friday against Michigan, Morgan Coombs Saturday against Lipscomb and Kolbrin Vitek Sunday against Illinois.
Bowling will be making his fourth start of the season Friday as he owns an 0-2 record with a 5.27 ERA in 13.2 innings ... He has tallied nine strikeouts while walking seven batters .... Last time out, he allowed five runs in 5.0 innings in the loss to Pittsburgh.
Coombs gets the call Saturday and will be making his fifth appearance and second start of the season ... He owns a 1-1 record with a 0.55 ERA in a team-high 16.1 innings ... He has also tallied one save this season ... He has allowed only one earned run while striking out 15 batters ... Last time out, he worked 7.1 stellar innings against No. 8 Coastal Carolina and did not allow an earned run while limiting the Chanticleers to just four hits.
Vitek will make his fourth start of the season Sunday afternoon ... He brings an 0-1 record with a 4.15 ERA in 13.0 innings pitched ... He worked 4.0 innings against Coastal Carolina last Monday and allowed one run on four hits.
Michigan will send right-hander Matt Miller to the hill Friday against the Cardinals for his fourth start of the year ... Miller owns an 0-2 record with a 4.80 ERA in 15.0 innings pitched ... He has struck 12 batters while walking six ... Last time out, he pitched 3.0 innings and was charged with six runs on 10 hits against No. 12 North Carolina.
Lipscomb will counter with right-hander Davey Hackett Saturday ... Hackett will be making his fourth start of the season as he has a 1-1 record with a 5.29 ERA in 17.0 innings pitched ... Last time out, he earned the victory over Canisius as he went 7.0 innings as he allowed four runs on six hits.
Illinois has not named a starter for Sunday's contest.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the Caravelle Resort Classic with a 4-9 overall record ... The Cardinals have scored 63 runs through 13 games this season and are batting .262 on the year ... On the mound, Ball State owns a 5.31 ERA as a team and opponents are batting .269 against.
Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team offensively as he is batting .364 on the year ... Vitek leads the team with 20 hits, 15 runs scored, four home runs, five stolen bases and 11 RBI ... Senior left fielder Kory Benbow is second in batting with a .310 average while junior shortstop T.J. Baumet is third with a .302 batting average ... Senior catcher Zach Dygert is tied for the team lead with 11 RBI and is second with three home runs.
In the bullpen, right-hander Seth Hobbs leads the team with six appearances and has a 5.40 ERA in 6.2 innings pitched ... Ball State saw its closer Aaron Hammons make his first appearance of the season against UNC Wilmington after returning from injury ... Hammons earned a save as he got the final two outs of the game in the 11th inning ... Right-hander Heath Riley has appeared in five games and has a 5.06 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched.
Scouting The Wolverines . . .
Michigan enters the weekend with a 4-7 overall record ... The Wolverines have scored 67 runs in 11 games this season and are batting .271 ... On the mound, Michigan owns a 6.03 ERA and opponents are batting .297 against.
Patrick Biondi leads the team offensively with a .378 batting average ... Biondi leads the team with 17 hits, 11 runs scored, 10 RBI and five stolen bases ... Coley Crank and Mike Dufek lead the team with nine RBI apiece, while Crank leads the team with four home runs.
In the bullpen, Brandon Sinnery leads the team with five appearances and one save. He owns a 2.61 ERA in 10.1 innings pitched as he has struck out 10 batters and only walked one ... Kolby Wood also has appeared in five games and has a 6.75 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched.
Scouting The Bisons . . .
Lipscomb enters the weekend with a 4-8 overall record ... The Bisons have scored 61 runs through 12 games and are batting .269 on the year ... On the mound, Lipscomb has a 6.33 ERA and opponents are batting .295 against.
Lee Wilson leads the team in batting with a .440 average in eight games ... Tyler Wilson is second with a .404 batting average and leads the team in hits (21), runs (12) and stolen bases (13) ... Zach Messer leads the team with nine RBI.
In the bullpen, Chad Fromm leads the team with five appearances and one save ... Fromm owns a 4.05 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched ... Alex Ross has appeared in four games with one start and has a 3.38 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched.
Scouting The Fighting Illini . . .
Illinois enters the weekend with a 1-5 overall record ... The Illini are batting .286 on the season and have scored 33 runs in six games ... On the mound, Illinois owns a 6.18 ERA and opponents are batting .308 against.
Matt Dottman leads the team with a .526 batting average as he has tallied a team-high 10 hits ... Brandon Hohl leads the team with six RBI and is second on the team with a .409 batting average.
In the bullpen, Mike Sterk has one save ash he has a 4.50 ERA in 4.0 innings pitched ... Lee Zerrusen has appeared in three games and has a 2.70 ERA in 3.1 innings pitched ... John Anderson has also appeared in three games out of the pen and has a 6.00 ERA in 3.0 innings.
Cardinals Tabbed Favorites . . .
Ball State earned their Mid-American Conference record seventh MAC West Division title in 2009 after closing the year with five straight wins to chase down Toledo for the division title ... The Cardinals have now won seven of the 13 MAC West Division titles since divisional play began in 1998 ... Only Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan have won MAC West titles with both teams claiming three each.
Ball State enters the 2010 season as the preseason favorite to claim the MAC West Division and MAC Tournament titles, as chosen by the league's head coaches in the preseason poll ... The Cardinals received a league-high 72 points to claim the MAC West Division's top spot and were chosen by five coaches to claim their second MAC Tournament title in program history.
Road Warriors . . .
Ball State opens the 2010 season with 23 straight games away from home, including all of its games in the months of February and March ... The Cardinals will play 18 true road games and five games in neutral sites to open the season ... Ball State will not open the home portion of the 2010 schedule until April 2 when it hosts Miami in its second Mid-American Conference series of the year ... The Cardinals will play a total of 40 road games this season, while only playing 16 games at Ball Diamond.
Vitek Honored By MAC . . .
Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week (March 1), marking his second straight weekly honor from the league to open the season ... Vitek, a preseason All-America selection, paced the Cardinals' attack at UAB as he posted a .389 batting average (7-of-18) and a .944 slugging percentage in the four-game series ... He tallied three home runs on the weekend while scoring a team-high six runs and driving in four runs ... On the season, he is leading the team and fourth in the MAC with a .438 batting average as he leads the conference with 14 hits in his first seven games ... He also tossed 5.0 innings of one-run baseball Sunday as he limited the Blazers to just five hits.
Coombs & Vitek Honored . . .
Senior right-hander Morgan Coombs was named the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Week and the CollegeBaseball360.com National Primetime Pitcher of the week (Feb. 22) after leading the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over nationally ranked Arkansas ... Coombs tossed 5.0 strong innings of relief Saturday afternoon ... He did not allow an earned run during the outing as he limited Arkansas to just four hits ... He struck out a career-high eight batters in his first stint as a middle reliever after leading the Cardinals with six saves last year.
Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek was named the MAC West Player of the Week for his performance against No. 15 Arkansas ... Vitek, a preseason All-America selection, posted a .500 batting average (7-of-14) in the three-game series against the nationally ranked Razorbacks ... He tallied a season-high four hits in the Cardinals' 5-2 victory over Arkansas as he scored three runs and drove in a run ... This is the fourth MAC weekly honor of his career.
Vitek Earns Preseason Honors . . .
Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek has been tabbed as one of the top players in not only the Mid-American Conference but in the country as he has received preseason All-America honors by three different publications ... Vitek was named Second Team All-America by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger and Ping! Baseball.
Vitek earned First Team All-MAC honors at the utility position last season as he played third base and was one of the Cardinals' weekend starters ... He finished second on the team and sixth in the MAC with a .389 batting average ... He also led the MAC in doubles (25), was second in RBI (67), third in slugging percentage (.736), third in total bases (153) and was fourth on the mound in opponent batting average (.268).
Vitek led the conference in MAC games with a .455 average and a .828 slugging percentage against conference foes as he drove in 30 runs ... He also posted a 4-3 record with a 5.65 ERA in 11 starts this season as part of the weekend rotation ... He set the Ball State single-season record for walks per nine innings at 1.41 as he only allowed nine free passes in 57.1 innings.
Vitek continued his strong play over the summer as he was picked as Baseball America's top prospect in the Great Lakes League (GLSCL) ... He won the league's first Triple Crown in 23 years as he hit .400, tallied six home runs and drove in 38 runs ... He also stole 10 bases and was named the GLSCL All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
Dygert Named Team Captain . . .
Senior catcher Zach Dygert has been named the 2010 team captain by head coach Greg Beals ... Dygert posted a .350 batting average last spring and was second on the team with 58 RBI when he earned First Team All-Mid-American Conference accolades ... He was selected in the 48th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals ... Collegebaseballinsider.com rated Dygert as the best fielding catcher in the MAC for the third straight season in its preseason publication.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State returns to Muncie after this weekend's Caravelle Resort Classic ... The Cardinals will travel down to Louisville for a three-game series in a battle of Cardinals next weekend.
