Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Indiana
Baseball Falls At Indiana, 12-6
April 06, 2010 | Baseball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team suffered a 12-6 defeat Tuesday afternoon to Big Ten foe Indiana at a wind-swept Sembower Field. The loss snaps the Cardinals' five-game winning streak on the season and is Ball State's first loss against the Hoosiers since February 28, 1998.
The two teams combined for eight home runs on the afternoon as the wind was blowing out to left field. Ball State tallied three home runs in the loss as junior Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan), senior Ryan Chenoweth (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) each hit a long ball.
Ball State (11-16) opened the scoring quickly in the top of the first inning against Indiana starter Jerrud Sabourin. Freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) started things off as he was hit by a two-strike pitch. Vitek put the Cardinals in front 2-0 as he crushed his team-leading seventh home run of the season over the left field wall to raise his RBI total to 31.
Indiana (14-13) answered right back in the bottom of the first inning as it took advantage of a strong wind blowing out of the ballpark against right-hander Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood). Sabourin reached on a two-out walk before Alex Dickerson hit his team-leading 12th home run of the season to tie the game. The Hoosiers continued to swing the bat as Michael Earley reached on an infield single and Josh Lyon hit a two-run home run over the center field wall to give Indiana a 4-2 lead.
The Cardinals narrowed the gap to 4-3 with another long ball in the top of the second inning. Chenoweth led off the inning as he crushed a solo home run over the right field wall for his first home run of the season. The Hoosiers tallied their third home run of the game in the bottom of the third inning as Sabourin hit a two-run home run to give Indiana a 6-3 lead.
Ball State manufactured a run in the top of the fourth inning to slim the deficit to 6-4. Chenoweth worked a nine-pitch at-bat into a walk to open the inning and moved to third as he stole second and advanced on a throwing error. Sophomore Tim Issler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) drove in Chenoweth as he ripped a run-scoring single into left field.
Indiana continued its power surge in the bottom of the fourth inning against right-hander Michael Sandman (Newark, Ohio/Utica). Sandman walked the first two batters and faced before the Hoosiers notched their fourth home run of the game as Ethan Wilson hit a three-run home run down the left field line to take a 9-4 lead.
Ball State started to chip away at the five-run deficit in the top of the seventh inning against the Indiana bullpen. Freshman center fielder Wes Winkle (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) led off the inning with a single into left field. Baumet pulled the Cardinals within three at 9-6 as he hit his second home run of the season high over the center field wall.
Indiana ended any threat of a Cardinal comeback by scoring one run in the bottom of the seventh and two in the bottom of the eighth to take a 12-6 lead. Sabourin led the Indiana attack as he tallied four hits to raise his batting average to a Big Ten best .480 on the season.
Elliott (0-2) was charged with the loss as he allowed six runs in 3.0 innings of work as he was one of seven BSU pitchers to take the hill. Sabourin went 2.0 innings and allowed three runs while Dylan Swift (1-0) earned the victory in relief as he allowed three runs on five hits in 4.0 innings of work.
The Cardinals return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend for a three-game series at Bowling Green. First pitch Friday afternoon is set for 3 p.m.
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