Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Butler
Baseball Falters At Butler, 10-5
April 21, 2010 | Baseball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team suffered a 10-5 setback Wednesday afternoon to instate foe Butler at Bulldog Park. The Cardinals fall to 17-20 overall on the year with the loss while Butler improves to 12-21 as the Bulldogs out-scored BSU 8-1 in the final four innings of the game.
Ball State opened the scoring in the top of the first inning against Butler right-hander Dom Silvestri. Junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) and freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) led off the game with back-to-back singles. After junior Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) drew a walk to load the bases, Silvestri uncorked a wild pitch to score Baumet with the first run of the afternoon.
Senior Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) drew another walk to load the bases once again. Silvestri was able to work out of the inning with only one more run crossing the plate as he induced a couple of ground ball outs to limit the Cardinals to a 2-0 lead.
Butler came back in the bottom of the first inning against freshman right-hander Michael Sandman (Newark, Ohio/Utica). Sandman got the first two out of the inning quickly before Grant Fillipitch hit his team-leading sixth home run of the year over the left field wall to make it a 2-1 game.
The Cardinals added their third run in the top of the third inning as they took advantage of a Butler error. Ball State extended the lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth inning as Baumet doubled to center field and stole third base with one out. Vitek drove him in as he reached on a fielder's choice to make it a three-run contest.
Butler narrowed the gap to 4-2 with a run in the bottom half of the inning against reliever Scott Brothers Jr. (Fort Wayne, Ind./Gulf Coast CC). After two quick outs, Luke Duncan doubled to center field and moved to third on a wild pitch. He came home to score as Andrew Eckhardt grounded out to second base.
The Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as they took advantage of two BSU walks and a fielding error. Eckhardt knocked in the tying run with a two out single through the left side to knot the game at 4-4.
Butler took its first lead of the afternoon by scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take an 8-4 lead. The Bulldogs tallied four hits in the inning and took advantage of the BSU fielding error as they scored two of the four runs after two outs in the inning.
Ball State chipped away at the deficit with one run in the top of the eighth inning. Beemer reached on a leadoff walk and moved to second as Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) singled to center field. Benbow drove in Beemer with a single down the left field line to make it an 8-5 deficit. Butler answered back with two more runs in the eighth inning to take a 10-5 lead as Michael Letzter hit a two-run double to right center field.
Right-hander Seth Hobbs (Marseilles, Ill./Seneca) was charged with the loss as he went 1.2 innings and allowed four runs, only two earned. The Cardinals used six different pitchers in the loss while Butler used five pitchers total. Jared Wagoner (2-6) picked up the victory as he allowed one run on two hits in 2.0 innings of relief.
The Cardinals return to Mid-American Conference action this weekend as they travel to Central Michigan for a pivotal three-game series against the Chippewas. Ball State trails Central Michigan by one game in the MAC West Division heading into the weekend. First game of the series is set for 3 p.m. Friday afternoon.
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