Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Miami
Baseball Completes Sweep Of Miami Sunday
April 04, 2010 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team secured its fourth straight Mid-American Conference victory Sunday afternoon as the Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of rival Miami with a 17-8 victory over the RedHawks at Ball Diamond. The victory improves the Cardinals to a MAC-best 5-1 on the season and 11-15 overall, while Miami falls to 1-5 in MAC play and 11-15 overall.
The Cardinals pounded out 14 hits and scored a season-high 17 runs in the victory as they took advantage of Miami's erratic behavior on the mound as the RedHawks tallied 10 walks, hit five batters and uncorked four wild pitches. The 17 runs are the most runs scored by Ball State since the Cardinals tallied 20 runs at No. 23 Ohio State (4/22/09) and it is the most runs Miami has allowed since Ohio scored 19 runs against the RedHawks (5/9/09).
Freshman Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) paced the attack with a game-high three hits as he drove in two runs and scored three runs. Sophomore Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) also drove in two runs while junior Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) reached base four times in the victory.
Miami threatened in the top of the first inning against Vitek as Jon Edgington led off with an opposite field double. Vitek settled in and quickly recorded three straight outs, including a strike out of cleanup hitter Jordan Jankowski to end the inning and strand Edgington at third base.
Ball State opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning against Miami right-hander Mac Thoreson. Sophomore Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) started things off as he was hit by a pitch. Widau moved to third base after a sacrifice fly and a deep fly ball. The RedHawks elected to intentionally walk Vitek with two outs, but the move back-fired as senior Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) ripped a run-scoring double off the left field wall to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Ball State extended its lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning courtesy of the long ball. Claypool led off the inning with his second home run of the weekend and Elliott followed with his second home run of the year, marking the Cardinals' first back-to-back home runs of the season. After an out, Ball State continued its power surge as junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) hit his first home run over the left field wall for his first home run of the year and 4-0 BSU lead.
Miami answered back in the top of the fifth inning to chase Vitek from the game. Zak Hatfield led off with a single to right field and stole second to more into scoring position. Ryan Curl reached a bunt single to put runners at the corners and Edgington executed a perfect hit-and-run to score Hatfield and leave runners at the corners.
Vitek started to tire as he hit Brad Gschwind with a pitch to load the bases and walked in a run by issuing a free pass to Adam Eaton. Vitek was able to get the second out of the inning as he struck out Jankowski and left-hander Derek Grabner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Lincoln Trail) came on in relief and retired Kyle Weldon on a fly ball to strand the bases loaded with the Cardinals leading 4-2.
Ball State broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning as it plated seven runs to take an 11-2 lead. The Cardinals sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning and were aided by Miami's wildness as the RedHawks issued six walks, one wild pitch and one hit by pitch. Ball State tallied two hits in the inning with Vitek earning the big hit as he ripped a two-run single with the bases loaded to raise his team-leading RBI total to 29.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 15-2 with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Claypool led off with a single and Elliot doubled into the left field corner to put two in scoring position. Widau drove in one run with a single and Elliott came home to score as Miami uncorked a wild pitch. Freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) and sophomore Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) tallied run-scoring singles to round out the four-run inning.
Ball State added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings while Miami scored six runs in the final two frames for the 17-8 final score.
Grabner (1-1) earned the victory as he appeared in his third game of the series and tossed 1.1 shutout innings while allowing one hit. Thoreson (1-3) was charged with the loss for Miami as he allowed five runs on four hits in 4.0 innings of work as he walked four batters.
The Cardinals step out of MAC play Tuesday afternoon as they travel to Bloomington, Ind., to battle the Indiana Hoosiers at 3 p.m. Ball State returns to MAC play next weekend with a three-game series at Bowling Green.
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