Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Bowling Green This Weekend In MAC Play
April 07, 2010 | Baseball
LIVE AUDIO via Bowling Green (Friday & Sunday ONLY)
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend for its second road series of conference play when the Cardinals travel to Bowling Green, Ohio for a three-game series against the defending MAC regular season champion Falcons ... The Cardinals enter the weekend with an 11-16 overall record and a 5-1 mark in MAC play as they have won four straight conference games heading into the weekend and six of their last nine games overall ... Ball State is led by eighth-year head coach Greg Beals ... Bowling Green enters the weekend with an 8-15-1 overall record and a 2-4 mark in MAC play ... The Falcons have opened league play dropping two out of three against Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan ... Bowling Green has dropped eight of its last 10 games, dating back to March 23rd ... The Falcons are led by 16th-year head coach Danny Schmitz.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Bowling Green have met 96 times prior to this weekend in series history with the Cardinals trailing the all-time series by a 52-42-2 mark ... Ball State will be making its second straight trip to Bowling Green this season where it owns just a 13-30-1 record all-time.
Last year, the Cardinals were swept by the Falcons in three tightly-contests games .... Bowling Green won the games by 3-2, 7-6 and 9-7 scores ... Zach Dygert led the Cardinals' attack in the series as he posted a .462 (6-of-13) average, including a home run, while Ian Nielsen tallied a .417 (5-of-12) average in the three games while driving in five runs ... Right-hander Perci Garner, this year's Friday starter, tossed 1.2 shutout innings of relief for BSU ... Bowling Green was paced by Mark Galvin who posted a .545 average (6-of-11) while Jon Berti and Tyler Elkins each drove in four runs ... On the mound, 2009 Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year Brennan Smith tossed 8.0 innings of four-hit baseball as he limited the Cardinals to just one run while striking out nine.
Vitek Making Noise In The MAC . . .
Junior second baseman/right-hander Kolbrin Vitek is already turning in one of the top seasons in the Mid-American Conference this year both at the plate and on the mound ... Vitek ranks second in the MAC with a .413 batting average and is sixth in the league with a 3.55 ERA ... The two-way standout ranks third in hits (45), second in runs (33), second in home runs (7), second in RBI (31), second in total bases (78), eighth in stolen bases (8), second in on-base percentage (.488) and second in slugging percentage (.692) ... On the mound, he leads the MAC in batting average against at .224.
Left-Handed Turnaround . . .
Junior left-hander Derek Grabner has been night and day on the mound in non-conference and Mid-American Conference play this season ... Grabner leads all pitchers in the MAC with five appearances and has a 0.00 ERA in 7.2 innings of work as he has allowed just three hits ... Opponents are batting just .130 against him in MAC play ... Conversely, he posted a 13.00 ERA in 9.0 innings of work during non-conference play while allowing 13 runs on 16 hits.
Last Weekend . . .
Ball State picked up its second straight Mid-American Conference series victory last weekend with a three-game sweep of rival Miami at Ball Diamond ... The Cardinals scored 34 runs in the three-game series and posted a .330 batting average ... Ball State's three starters allowed just eight runs in 17.2 innings against Miami.
Freshman third baseman Stephen Claypool posted a .556 batting average (5-of-9) in the series while posting two home runs and driving in five ... Junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek tallied a .500 (5-of-10) batting average while driving in seven runs ... Vitek recorded a 1.933 on-base plus slugging (OPS) on the weekend (1.333 slugging/.600 on-base) ... Senior catcher Zach Dygert drove in six runs and tallied two home runs while recording a 1.893 OPS (1.250 slugging/.643 on-base).
Did You Know? . . .
Head coach Greg Beals notched his 100th career Mid-American Conference victory March 27 with the Cardinals' 4-0 victory over Ohio ... Beals owns a 103-72 career record in league play.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
For the third straight weekend the Cardinals will send right-handers Perci Garner, Cal Bowling and Kolbrin Vitek to the hill as the weekend rotation ... Bowling Green will counter with right-handers Brennan Smith, Michael Frank and Kevin Leady on the weekend.
Garner will be making his third straight start and ninth appearance of the season ... Overall he owns a 3-0 record with a 4.34 ERA in 29.0 innings of work and leads the team with 35 strikeouts ... He leads the MAC in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.86 ... In Mid-American Conference play, he has a 2-0 record with a 1.64 ERA in 11.0 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .194 batting average.
Bowling will be making his eighth start of the season and has a 1-3 record with a 5.12 ERA in 31.2 innings of work ... He is coming off of a career-high 7.0 innings against Miami as he allowed three runs on four hits ... In league play he has a 3.86 ERA in two starts.
Vitek will also be making his eighth start and owns a 3.55 ERA and a 1-2 record in a team-high 33.0 innings of work ... He has struck out 25 batters while walking eight ... Opponents are batting just .224 against, which leads all MAC pitchers ... In league play this season, he has a 1.54 ERA in 11.2 innings as he has struck out 12 and walked just two batters.
Smith, the reigning MAC Pitcher of the Year, has a 1-3 overall record and a 6.96 ERA in 32.1 innings of work ... He has tallied 28 strike outs while walking 23 ... Last weekend, he suffered a loss to Eastern Michigan despite allowed just two runs on 7.2 innings of work.
Frank will be making his seventh start and eighth appearance of the season ... He has a 1-1 record with a 4.41 ERA in 32.2 innings while posting 21 strikeouts ... Last weekend, he had a no decision against EMU as he allowed three runs on 10 hits.
Leady will be making his seventh start of the season as he has a 4.34 ERA and a 3-1 record in 37.1 innings of work ... He has struck out a team-high 33 batters this season ... Last week he was named the MAC East Division Pitcher of the Week after tossing 7.1 innings against EMU and allowing three runs while striking out a career-high 10 batters.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with an 11-16 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have won five straight MAC games and six of their last nine games overall ... Ball State has scored 164 runs in 27 games (6.1 per game) and owns a .280 team batting average ... On the mound, the Cardinals have a 5.42 ERA and is holding opponents to a .284 batting average ... BSU has posted 169 strikeouts this season while walking 110 batters.
Offensively, junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with a .413 batting average ... Vitek also leads the team in hits (45), runs (33), RBI (31), doubles (10), stolen bases (8) and home runs (7) ... Freshman third baseman Stephen Claypool is second on the team with a .316 batting average while classmate Blake Beemer is third on the team with a .310 batting average ... Senior catcher Zach Dygert is second on the team with 26 RBI while junior T.J. Baumet is second with 33 hits.
In the bullpen, right-hander Seth Hobbs leads the team with 12 appearances as he has a 4.97 ERA in 12.2 innings ... Right-hander Heath Riley has appeared in 11 games and has a 5.56 ERA in 11.1 innings ... Left-hander Derek Grabner leads the team in MAC play with five appearances and has not allowed a run in 7.2 innings of work ... Closer Aaron Hammons has a 4.05 ERA in 6.2 innings of work while posting two saves.
Scouting The Falcons . . .
Bowling Green enters the weekend series with an 8-15-1 overall record and 2-4 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Falcons are the reigning MAC regular season champions but have dropped eight out of their last 10 games, including series losses to Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan ... Bowling Green has scored 153 runs in 26 games (5.88 per game) and owns a .297 batting average ... On the mound, the Falcons have a 5.87 ERA and opponents are batting .309 against ... BGSU has tallied 142 strikeouts while walking 92.
T.J. Blanton leads the Falcons offensively with a .434 batting average, which leads the MAC ... Blanton also leads the team in hits (36), runs (26), RBI (23) and home runs (7) ... Jon Berti is second on the team with a .364 batting average and is tied for the team-lead with 36 hits ... Dennis Vaughn is second on the team with 19 RBI while Derek Spencer is second on the team in home runs with two.
In the bullpen, Ross Gerdeman leads the team with 12 appearances and has a 2.16 ERA in 25.0 innings pitched ... Gerdeman is one of three Falcons with a save as he has a pair while Charles Wooten also has two saves ... Wooten has appeared in 11 games and has a 7.94 ERA in 17.0 innings ... Patrick O'Brien has appeared in 10 games and has a 7.24 ERA in 13.2 innings.
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 26 RBI and five home runs during the first 27 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 nationally ranked 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 ... This is the fourth MAC weekly honor of 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 will have a pair of non-conference games this weekend as it travels to Purdue Tuesday before hosting Indiana Tech Wednesday ... The Cardinals return to Mid-American Conference play next weekend when they host Buffalo for a three-game series.
