Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Buffalo
Baseball Downs Buffalo 11-5 In Series Opener
April 17, 2010 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team improved to 8-2 in Mid-American Conference play Friday afternoon as the Cardinals defeated MAC East Division foe Buffalo 11-5 in the series opener at Ball Diamond after a 90-minute rain delay. The Cardinals ran out to an 11-2 lead after six innings to improve to 6-0 all-time against Buffalo.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Perci Garner (Dover, Ohio/Dover) continued his dominance in MAC play as he improved to 5-0 on the year and 4-0 in MAC play this season. Garner worked 6.0 strong innings and only allowed one unearned run on four hits while striking out nine batters. He is the conference's only 4-0 Friday starter in the MAC this season and has won his first four career starts.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning against Buffalo left-hander Chaz Mye. Junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) led off the inning with his third home run as he hit a 0-2 pitch over the right center field for the early lead. Junior Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) continued the inning as he ripped a double down the left field line. Vitek stole third base for his 10th steal of the year and sophomore Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) put the Cardinals in front 2-0 as he singled through the right side.
Buffalo narrowed the BSU lead to 2-1 with a single run in the top of the third inning against Garner. The Bulls took advantage of a walk and a two-base throwing error by Garner to move a runner into scoring position. Charlie Karstedt lined a run-scoring single into right field to plate the UB unearned run.
Ball State answered right back in the bottom half of the inning as freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) notched a hustling double with one out. Vitek ripped a run-scoring triple into the right center field gap to plate Beemer and senior Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) tallied a single into left field to put the Cardinals in front 4-1. Senior Kory Benbow (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) capped the inning as he hit his sixth home run of the year over the left field wall to stretch the BSU lead to 6-1.
The Cardinals broke open the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as they plated five more runs to take an 11-1 lead. Benbow opened the inning with a double off the center field wall before Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) and Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) drew walks to load the bases. Sophomore Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) extended his hitting streak to 11 straight as he reached on an infield single to plate the Cardinals' first run of the frame.
Beemer drove in Ball State second run of the inning as he singled through the left side to keep the bases loaded. Dygert quickly cleared the bases as he ripped a three-run double into the left center field gap to put the Cardinals ahead 11-2.
Buffalo added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings before scoring two in the ninth against the BSU bullpen. Mye (3-4) was charged with the loss for the Bulls as he allowed eight runs on nine hits in 5.0 innings of work.
Dygert finished the afternoon with four RBI and was one of five Cardinals with two hits in the victory. Vitek finished with a pair of hits to raise hit batting average to .420 overall on the season and .500 in MAC play.
Ball State and Buffalo will continue its three-game series Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Ball Diamond. Sophomore right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) will take the hill for the Cardinals.
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