Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Indiana State Tuesday; Travels To Butler Wednesday
April 19, 2010 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State steps back out of Mid-American Conference play this week for a pair of contests against instate foes ... The Cardinals will host rival Indiana State Tuesday afternoon at Ball Diamond and will travel to Butler Wednesday afternoon ... Both game times are set for 3 p.m. ... The Cardinals enter the week with a 16-19 overall record, including a 9-3 mark in MAC play as they currently are in second in the MAC West Division ... BSU has won 10 of its last 15 games since MAC play began March 26 ... The Cardinals are led by eighth-year head coach Greg Beals ... Indiana State enters Tuesday's game with a 23-10 record on the year and a 5-4 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play ... The Sycamores are 8-6 on the road this season ... ISU has won five of its last six games and 10 of its last 13 contests heading into Tuesday's meeting with Ball State ... The Sycamores are led by first-year head coach Rick Heller ... Butler enters the week with an 11-21 overall record and a 3-9 mark in Horizon League action ... The Bulldogs have won three out of their last four contests, including a series victory over Milwaukee ... Prior to that, Butler had lost seven straight games ... The Bulldogs are led by 18th-year head coach Steve Farley.
Garner Honored By MAC . . .
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Perci Garner has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week ... Garner continued his strong play in MAC action as he improved to 4-0 in league contests by leading the Cardinals to victory over Buffalo Friday (April 16) ... He tossed 6.0 innings of four-hit baseball and did not allow an earned run, while striking out nine batters ... He has struck out 49 batters this season and leads the MAC in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.8.
With the victory, Garner improved his MAC ERA to 1.57 in 23.0 innings ... He is the only starter in the MAC this season to win all four of his starts and he is limiting opponents to just a .217 batting average against ... On the season, he leads the team and is tied for the overall league lead in wins as he is 5-0 with a 3.51 ERA in 41.0 innings.
Series History . . .
Tuesday's game marks the 135th meeting all-time between Ball State and Indiana State ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by an 84-50 margin since the first meeting May, 28, 1920 ... Last season, Ball State suffered a 14-6 setback in Terre Haute to the Sycamores ... In that game, the Cardinals fell behind 14-0 in the seventh inning of a wind-swept afternoon ... BSU rallied for six runs in the eighth inning before suffering the loss ... Ryan Chenoweth tallied three hits in the loss while T.J. Baumet drove in three runs for the Cardinals ... Indiana State last made the trip to Muncie April 15, 2008 and the Cardinals recorded a 14-13 victory ... Ball State has won six straight against ISU at Ball Diamond dating back to the 1997 season.
Wednesday's contest will mark the 110th meeting all-time between Ball State and Butler ... The Cardinals lead the all-time series by a 66-43 margin, including wins in 14 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams ... The teams last met April 26, 2006 when the Cardinals defeated the Bulldogs 8-3 in Muncie ... Ball State last travelled to Butler April 27, 2005 and took home a 10-3 victory.
Quick Start In The MAC . . .
Ball State has won all four of its Mid-American Conference weekend series so far this season with series victories at Ohio, vs. Miami, at Bowling Green and vs. Buffalo ... The Cardinals' 9-3 MAC record is second best in the league and trails Central Michigan by just one game in the league standings.
Ball State's 9-3 start to league play marks its best start to a MAC season since the 2005 season when the Cardinals posted a 10-2 record after four series ... That season, BSU won all eight weekend series in league play and finished 17-5 on the year.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Ball State opened the 2010 season with 23 straight games away from home ... The Cardinals have only played seven of their 35 games at Ball Diamond this season but own a 6-1 record in the friendly confines this year ... The Cardinals have out-scored their opponents 73-41 at home and are batting .349 (88-of-252) at Ball Diamond ... On the mound, BSU has a 4.85 ERA at home while the opposing team has a 10.07 ERA.
Senior Zach Dygert is batting .435 (10-of-23) at home this season and has driven in 16 runs in seven games ... Dygert is slugging 1.087 at home with four home runs ... Sophomore Ian Nielsen has a .414 batting average and 11 RBI at home while junior Kolbrin Vitek has also driven in 11 runs.
This Week's Starters . . .
Ball State will send a pair of right-handers to the mound this week as senior Brad Piatt will face Indiana State and freshman Michael Sandman will start against Butler ... Indiana State will counter with right-hander JT Stenftenagel while Butler will send right-hander Dom Silvestri.
Piatt will be making his 10th appearance and seventh start of the season ... He has an 0-3 record with a 9.39 ERA in 23.0 innings of work ... He tossed 2.0 innings of relief Friday against Buffalo and allowed three runs on five hits.
Sandman will be making his 10th appearance and first career start Wednesday ... He has an 0-1 record with an 8.38 ERA in 9.2 innings of work ... He tallied 2.0 innings of relief last week against Indiana Tech and allowed one run on three hits.
Stenftenagel will be making his 12th appearance and sixth start Tuesday ... He has a 2-0 record with a 4.08 ERA in 17.2 innings as he has struck out 11 batters ... Silvestri will be making his seventh appearance and third start of the year Wednesday ... He has a 1-1 record with a 7.71 ERA in 16.1 innings of work.
Left-Hander On A Roll . . .
Junior left-hander Derek Grabner has appeared in 12 games this season and has a 5.18 ERA in 24.1 innings ... Grabner has been one of the best relievers in the Mid-American Conference this season in league play as he has allowed just one earned run in eight appearances ... He has a 0.59 ERA in 15.1 innings of work and owns a 2-0 record in league play ... Last weekend, he tossed 4.1-shutout innings against Buffalo (April 17) and limited the BUlls to just one hit while striking out four.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the week with a 16-19 overall record and a 9-3 mark in Mid-American Conference action ... The Cardinals have won three out of their last four, including a series victory over Buffalo ... Ball State has scored 255 runs this season (7.3 runs/game) and is batting .301 as a team ... On the mound, the Cardinals own a 5.38 ERA and are holding opponents to a .295 batting average ... BSU has tallied 221 strike outs while walking 137.
Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with a .403 batting average ... Vitek also leads the team in hits (56), runs (46), RBI (41), doubles (13), home runs (10), slugging percentage (.741) and on-base percentage (.488) ... Freshman Stephen Claypool is second on the team with a .351 batting average while classmate Blake Beemer is third with .344 ... Senior Zach Dygert is second on the team with 42 RBI and tied for second in home runs with seven.
In the bullpen, right-hander Heath Riley leads the team with 16 appearances and has a 5.02 ERA in 14.1 innings ... Right-hander Seth Hobbs has appeared in 15 games and owns a 5.09 ERA in 17.2 innings ... Left-handers Derek Grabner and Jon Cisna have both appeared in 12 games this season ... Grabner has a 5.18 ERA in 24.1 innings while Cisna has a 4.19 ERA in 19.1 innings ... Closer Aaron Hammons has three saves and a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings of work.
Scouting The Sycamores . . .
Indiana State enters the week with a 23-10 overall record and a 5-4 mark in Missouri Valley action ... The Sycamores are coming off a weekend in which they won a series against Wichita State ... Indiana State has scored 238 runs (7.2 runs/game) this season and are batting .315 on the year ... On the mound, ISU has a 4.40 ERA and is limiting opponents to a .249 batting average ... The Sycamores have struck out 242 batters while walking 138.
Robby Ort leads the team with a .368 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 31 RBI ... Ryan Strausborger is second on the team with a .362 average and leads the team in hits (54), runs (39), doubles (14), triples (7) and stolen bases (27) ... Luke Fieser is also tied for the team lead with 31 RBI.
In the bullpen, Scott Harlan is tied for the team lead with 19 appearances ... Harlan has a 1.53 ERA in 17.2 innings of work ... Tyler Browning also has appeared in 19 games and has a 4.29 ERA in 21.0 innings ... Browning leads the team with seven saves.
Scouting The Bulldogs . . .
Butler enters the week with an 11-21 overall record and a 3-9 mark in Horizon League action ... The Bulldogs won a weekend series against Milwaukee last time out ... Butler has scored 228 runs this season (7.1 runs/game) and is batting .312 as a team ... On the mound, the Bulldogs own a 7.66 ERA and opponents are batting .339 against ... Butler has posted 189 strikeouts while walking 126.
Grant Fillipitch leads Butler with a .346 batting average ... Fillipitch also leads the team in hits (46), runs (30), RBI (31) and home runs (5) ... Corey Moylan is second on the team with a .342 average and leads the team with 11 doubles.
In the bullpen, Jamie Feldheiser leads the team with 15 appearances and has a 6.41 ERA in 19.2 innings ... Tyler Szymczak has appeared in 14 games and has a 4.98 ERA in 21.2 innings ... Billy Laing leads the team with two saves.
Last Weekend . . .
Ball State is coming off of a weekend series victory over Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo ... The Cardinals won Friday 11-5 and Saturday 6-5 before falling in the series finale 11-7 in 11 innings ... Junior T.J. Baumet led the Cardinals with six hits in the series while senior Zach Dygert posted five hits and drove in nine runs in the three games ... Dygert tallied two doubles and had a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday.
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.
Dygert Named To Watch List . . .
Senior catcher Zach Dygert has been named to the 2010 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award delivered by Papa John's Pizza ... The Johnny Bench Award is awarded awarded annually to the nation's top collegiate catcher based on athletic ability, sportsmanship, team leadership and character.
Dygert, a 48th round draft pick by the Washington Nationals last season, is a two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection ... He finished last season fourth on the team with a .350 batting average as he tallied 69 hits ... He was second on the team with 58 RBI and also scored 42 runs ... This season, he is second on the team with 42 RBI and seven home runs during the first 35 games of the year ... He recorded a big eighth inning home run this season to lead the Cardinals to an upset victory over No. 15 Arkansas in the first weekend of the year.
Dygert is one of four catchers from the MAC on the 2010 Johnny Bench Watch List. He is joined by Toledo's Aaron Dudley, Bowling Green's Tyler Elkins and Akron's John Turk.
Vitek Earns National Honor . . .
Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek was named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (March 29) as he was dominant at the plate and on the mound in the Cardinals' series victory at Ohio ... He posted a .500 batting average (6-of-12) in the three-game series and a .571 on-base percentage ... He was equally dominant on the mound as he tossed 7.0 shutout innings of two-hit baseball in the Cardinals' 4-0 victory at Ohio ... He limited the Bobcats to only three base runners and none of the three base runners advanced past first base ... He struck out five batters and only faced 23 batters in 7.0 innings
Tough Schedule . . .
The Cardinals have played one of the toughest schedules prior to Mid-American Conference play, according to Boydsworld.com in its Iterative Strength Ratings (ISR) ... Ball State had the 27th toughest schedule in the nation (as of March 25) ... The Cardinals have the highest rated schedule of any team in the Mid-American Conference and is the only MAC team rated in the top 50.
Below is a list of non-conference strength of schedules for MAC teams prior to league play:
27. Ball State
70. Miami
77. Northern Illinois
92. Bowling Green
108. Eastern Michigan
120. Kent State
151. Western Michigan
159. Toledo
175. Ohio
189. Akron
192. Central Michigan
245. Buffalo
Weekly Honors . . .
Right-hander Perci Garner was named to the Collegebaseball360.com Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll (March 22) ... Garner led the Cardinals to an upset victory over No. 7 Louisville as he worked 4.0 innings of two-hit relief to give Louisville just its second loss of the season (17-2) ... He allowed one run on two hits while striking out six batters, including all three in the seventh inning ... He combined with two other BSU pitchers to limit U of L to its lowest run and hit total of the season.
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.
Senior right-hander Morgan Coombs was named the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Week and the inaugural 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 and 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 the victory.
Vitek was also 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 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 ... He has won four weekly honors in 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 Mid-American Conference play this weekend for a pivotal three-games series at MAC West leader Central Michigan ... The Cardinals enter the week trailing CMU by one game in the league standings.
