Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Toledo For A Pivotal MAC Series
May 19, 2010 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State enters the final weekend of the 2010 regular season with a one-game lead for the top spot in the Mid-American Conference and travels to MAC West rival Toledo for a pivotal three-game series beginning Thursday afternoon ... The Cardinals own an 18-6 mark in MAC play and hold a one-game lead over both Toledo and Central Michigan ... Ball State has won all eight of its weekend league series this season and can clinch the MAC regular season with a series victory at Toledo ... The Cardinals won the MAC West Division last season and last won the overall MAC regular season title in 2001 ... BSU is led by eighth-year head coach Greg Beals ... Toledo enters the weekend with a 31-19 overall record and a 17-7 mark in MAC play ... The Rockets are coming off of a three-game sweep at Eastern Michigan last weekend and have won eight of their last 10 games ... Toledo is led by head coach Cory Mee.
Vitek Earns MAC Weekly Pitching Honor . . .
Junior Kolbrin Vitek was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week Monday for his effort against Northern Illinois ... Vitek tossed his first career complete game shutout as he worked 9.0 innings of four-hit baseball while striking out eight batters ... He became the first Cardinal to toss a complete game shutout since former Cardinal Ben Snyder accomplished the feat May 14, 2005 at Marshall.
This is Vitek's first MAC weekly pitching award this season and his fourth MAC weekly honor this season, after earning three MAC Player of the Week awards this year.
Series History With Toledo . . .
Ball State and Toledo have met 104 times prior to this weekend's pivotal three-game series ... The Cardinals own a 57-47 record all-time in the series against the Rockets, including three straight wins in the series ... Last season, Ball State won the first two game of the series to claim the Mid-American Conference West Division title as it won game one by a 15-6 margin before recording the tile with an 8-6 victory Saturday afternoon ... Sunday's game was cancelled in the second inning due to inclement weather.
Ball State won the first game to take over sole possession of first place in the division as it broke out for 15 runs on 16 hits in the victory. The Cardinals tallied nine extra-base hits on the afternoon including five home runs and four doubles ... Shortstop T.J. Baumet highlighted the attack as he drove in five runs on the strength of three hits, including a pair of home runs ... In game two, Cardinals rallied from a sixth inning deficit to score the final three runs of the afternoon to secure the victory ... Senior left-hander Tom Mueller and junior right-hander Aaron Hammons turned in a dominating performance out of the bullpen as they combined to toss four innings of one-hit relief ... Mueller tossed 2.2 innings of stellar relief and only allowed one unearned run while striking out four batters ... Hammons notched his first save of the season as he worked 1.1 innings of no-hit baseball and struck out two batters.
On the weekend, Kolbrin Vitek drove in five runs and tallied five hits in the two-game sweep ... Baumet also drove in five runs and had five hits ... For Toledo, Aaron Dudley tallied four hits and Jake Oester drove in three runs.
MAC Tournament Watch . . .
The 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament will be held May 26-29 in Chillicothe, Ohio with the top eight teams in the regular season qualifying ...The top three in each division will automatically make the tournament and then the next two teams in terms of winning percentage will be awarded wild card slots ... If the tournament started today, Ball State would be the one seed as MAC West leader with an 18-6 mark while Kent State would be the two seed as the MAC East leader with a 15-9 mark ... Central Michigan (17-7) would be the three seed, Toledo (17-7) the four seed, Bowling Green (15-9) the five seed, Eastern Michigan (13-11) the sixth seed, Ohio (13-11) would be the seven seed and Miami (10-14) the eight seed ... Buffalo (9-15) and Northern Illinois (9-15) are still alive for the final spot in the tournament while Western Michigan and Akron have been eliminated from contention.
Vitek Named To Watch Lists . . .
Junior second baseman/right-handed pitcher Kolbrin Vitek has been named to the watch list for the 2010 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award by the College Baseball Foundation and the Golden Spikes Award Watch List ... The Olerud Award, which recognizes a player who makes an impact both on the mound and at the plate, will be presented in Lubbock, Texas, July 2 as part of the College Baseball Awards Show ... The Golden Spikes Award identifies the top amateur baseball player in the country ... Sponsored by Major League Baseball, the 33rd annual Golden Spikes Award will be presented Tuesday, July 13, at the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest in Anaheim, Calif.
Vitek leads the Cardinals with a .361 batting average while also owning a team-low 3.39 ERA as a weekend starter ... He also leads the team in hits (75), runs (67), RBI (60), home runs (15), slugging percentage (.688) and on-base percentage (.447) ... His 67 runs lead the MAC by six over his closest competitor while he is second in the league with 15 home runs ...His 3.39 ERA ranks third in the MAC this season in a team-high 69.0 innings of work ... He has a 3-4 record and has tallied one save.
Nielsen Earns Academic Honor . . .
Sophomore first baseman Ian Nielsen has been named ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District V by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) ... Nielsen becomes the first Cardinal to be honored in the district since Kyle Dygert received accolades in the 2005 season ... He will now appear on the national ballot and is eligible for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team, which will be announced May 25.
Nielsen, a Freshman All-America selection last year, owns a 3.83 grade-point average in health education ... He owns a .332 batting average and has played in all 52 games this season at first base ... He is third on the team with 10 home runs and 54 RBI.
Bowling For Victories . . .
Sophomore right-hander Cal Bowling has been one of the most consistent starters in the Mid-American Conference this season ... Bowling leads the MAC with a 6-0 record in league play in eight starts ... He is the only pitcher in the league with six starts and the only undefeated starter with at least eight starts on the year ... He has a 4.78 ERA in 43.1 innings of work in league play while striking out 25 batters and only walking 10.
Five-Finger Discount . . .
Junior shortstop T.J. Baumet leads the Cardinals with 24 stolen bases and is currently second in the Mid-American Conference ... He trails Miami's Adam Eaton for the top spot as Eaton has swiped 28 ... In league play, Baumet has stolen a league-best 14 bases, three ahead of Eaton (11).
Last season, the Cardinals have two of the top three stolen base leaders in the MAC with Nate Fields (32) and Jeremy Hazelbaker (29).
Quick Start In The MAC . . .
Ball State has won all eight of its Mid-American Conference weekend series so far this season with series victories at Ohio, vs. Miami, at Bowling Green, vs. Buffalo, at Central Michigan, vs. Eastern Michigan, at Western Michigan and vs. Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals' 18-6 MAC record is the top mark in the MAC this season ... Ball State is the only team in the MAC to win all eight of its weekend series so far this year.
Ball State's 18-6 start to league play marks its best start to a MAC season since the 2005 season ... That season, BSU won all eight weekend series in league play and finished 17-5 on the year.
Also, the Cardinals' 18 MAC wins so far this season are their most in the conference since 2001 when Ball State finished with a 21-5 record.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
Ball State will send the same rotation to the hill this weekend that it has used each of the previous eight Mid-American Conference weekends in right-handers Perci Garner Thursday, Cal Bowling Friday and Kolbrin Vitek Saturday ... Toledo will counter with three right-handers as well in Matt Suchak Thursday, Mike Hamann Friday and Lincoln Rassi Saturday.
Garner will be making his 15th appearance and 10th start of the year Thursday ... He has a 5-2 record with a 4.28 ERA in 61.0 innings of work ... He has struck out 74 batters while walking 32 ... In MAC play, he has a 4-2 record with a 3.56 ERA in nine starts.
Bowling will be making his 15th appearance and 14th start of the year Friday ... He has a 6-3 record with a 5.37 ERA in 63.2 innings of work ... He has struck out 38 batters while walking 24 ... In league action, he leads the MAC with a 6-0 record and has a 4.78 ERA in 43.1 innings of work.
Vitek lead the Ball State starters with a 3.39 ERA and a 3-4 record in a team-high 69.0 innings ... He has struck out 50 batters while walking 18 ... Against MAC foes, he has a 2.83 ERA in 47.2 innings of work and is coming off of a complete game shutout of Northern Illinois Sunday .
Suschak will be making his 20th appearance and fifth start of the year Thursday ... He has a 4-1 record with a 3.59 ERA in 47.2 innings of work ... He has struck out 50 batters while walking 17 and opponents are batting .171 against.
Hamann will be making his 13th start of the year and has a 3.95 ERA and a 6-3 record ... He has tossed a team-high 70.2 innings of work and has struck out 52 batters while walking 22.
Rassi will also be making his 13th start of the year ... He has a 5-3 record with a 4.87 ERA in 57.1 innings of work ... He has struck out 33 batters while walking 29.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 27-25 overall record and an 18-6 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Cardinals have won all eight of their weekend MAC series, including a three-game sweep of Northern Illinois last weekend ... Ball State has scored 383 runs (7.4 runs/game) and is batting .298 on the year ... On the mound, the Cardinals own a 5.19 ERA and opponents are batting .299 ... BSU has struck out 323 batters while walking 189.
Junior Kolbrin Vitek leads the team with a .361 batting average ... Vitek also leads the team in hits (75), runs (67), RBI (60), doubles (17), home runs (15), triples (3), slugging percentage (.688) and on-base percentage (.447) ... Junior T.J. Baumet is second on the team with a .342 batting average and leads the team with 24 stolen bases ... Senior Zach Dygert is second on the team with 11 home runs and has driven in 53 runs ... Sophomore Ian Nielsen is second on the team with 54 RBI and is third with 10 home runs.
In the bullpen, right-hander Heath Riley leads the team with 22 appearances ... Riley has a 5.06 ERA in 21.1 innings of work ... Left-hander Derek Grabner has appeared in 20 games and has a 4.44 ERA in 46.2 innings ... He has struck out 33 batters and has a 3-1 record with one save ... Senior closer Aaron Hammons has appeared in 18 games and has a 3.71 ERA in 17.0 innings ... Hammons has tallied a team-high five saves while striking out 14 batters.
Scouting The Rockets . . .
Toledo enters the weekend with a 31-19 overall record and a 17-7 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Rockets are coming off of a three-game sweep at Eastern Michigan last weekend and owns a 12-0 road record in league play ... Toledo has scored 392 runs (7.8 runs/game) and is batting .325 as a team ... On the mound, the Rockets own a 4.59 ERA and opponents are batting .269 against ... Toledo has struck out 315 batters while walking 185.
Chris Dudics leads the team with a .396 batting average ... Dudics leads the team with 90 hits and 14 stolen bases ... Matt Delewski is second on the team with a .385 batting average ... Jared Hoying is tied for the team-lead with 13 home runs and has drive in 51 runs ... Dan Sherwood also has 13 home runs while Joe Corfman leads the team with 54 RBI.
In the bullpen, Mike Inselmann leads the team with 17 appearances ... Inselmann has a 7.12 ERA in 24.0 innings .. Matt Kune has appeared in 14 games and has a 4.41 ERA in 34.2 innings while being tied for the team lead with three saves ... Matt Zahel has also notched three saves as he has a 3.91 ERA in 35.1 innings of work.
Last Weekend . . .
Ball State claimed its eighth straight Mid-American Conference series victory with a three-game sweep of Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals won game one by a 7-6 score as sophomore Ian Nielsen hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning ... BSU claimed the series Saturday with an 8-2 victory before recording the sweep with a 2-0 complete game shutout by Kolbrin Vitek ... The Cardinals' pitchers allowed just six earned runs on the weekend (2.00 ERA) and struck out 28 batters while walking just eight.
Offensively, sophomore Mitch Widau posted a .444 (4-of-9) average in the three games ... Junior T.J. Baumet tallied five hits and stole three bases from his leadoff position ... Freshman Blake Beemer and Nielsen each drove in four runs on the weekend.
Home Sweet Home . . .
Ball State opened the 2010 season with 23 straight games away from home ... The Cardinals have only played 15 of their 51 games at Ball Diamond this season but own an 13-2 record in the friendly confines this year ... The Cardinals have out-scored their opponents 156-88 at home and are batting .341 (156-of-542) at Ball Diamond ... On the mound, BSU has a 4.73 ERA at home while the opposing team has a 10.22ERA.
Sophomore Ian Nielsen leads the team at home with a .404 batting average (23-of-57) and has driven in 22 runs ... Junior T.J. Baumet is second on the team at Ball Diamond with a .397 batting average (25-of-63) and has scored 22 runs ... Senior Zach Dygert has driven in 25 runs and notched six home runs at home ... Junior Kolbrin Vitek has also driven in 24 runs and scored 25 runs in 15 home games.
Did You Know? . . .
Junior second baseman/right-hander Kolbrin Vitek was named Midseason All-America by Baseball America as a utility player ... Vitek is of just 15 players in the nation to be honored with a midseason award and the only player from the Mid-American Conference to earn accolades.
Left-Hander On A Roll . . .
Junior left-hander Derek Grabner has been one of the top relievers in Mid-American Conference play this season ... Grabner has appeared in 14 MAC games and leads the team with a 2.36 ERA in 4.1 innings of work ... His 2.36 ERA in league play ranks third in the league as he has allowed just nine earned runs while his 14 appearances are tied for the league lead ... He has a 3-0 record with one save against MAC foes this year while striking out 29 and walking just nine.
Walk This Way . . .
Senior catcher Zach Dygert leads the team with 38 walks this year ... His 38 walks are second in the Mid-American Conference behind Travis Shaw of Kent State (39) .. He has earned 19 walks in MAC play this season and while teammate Kolbrin Vitek has tallied 18 walks ... Both players from Shaw and Eastern Michigan's Todd Graves for the top spot with 20.
Tough Schedule . . .
The Cardinals have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation, according the NCAA ... Ball State has the third toughest schedule in the nation in terms of opponent winning percentage ... The Cardinals' opponents own a .622 winning percentage to rank third out of 301 NCAA Division I teams (as of April 25).
Below is the top 10 list of non-conference strength of schedules in the nation:
1. Cal St. Fullerton 13-11 .632
2. San Diego 13-15 .625
3. Ball State 7-17 .622
4. Miami (FL) 14-5 .613
5. Florida 16-5 .605
6. Rice 14-12 .604
7. Mississippi St. 15-6 .601
8. Fla. Atlantic 10-8 .597
9. New Mexico 17-10 .595
10. Citadel 12-12 .593
Offensive Explosion . . .
Ball State had one of its best offensive games in program earlier this season when the Cardinals defeated Mid-American Conference East Division leader Bowling Green 32-10 ... The Cardinals set BSU single game records for runs (32), hits (29), RBI (29) and at-bats (58), while also scoring the most runs against Bowling Green in Falcons' history ... Twelve different Cardinals recorded a hit Saturday, including eight different players notching multiple hits ... The Cardinals notched six home runs and five doubles to finish the game with 52 total bases.
Head Coach Greg Beals . . .
Head coach Greg Beals is in his eighth season at the helm of the Cardinals ... Beals brings a 241-198 record into the weekend and he is third all-time in Ball State history in career wins ... He became the second-fastest coach to reach 200 career victories when he accomplished the feat against his alma mater Kent State last spring ... He is 15 wins shy of second all-time in Ball State history for career victories ... Rich Maloney is currently second all-time with 256 wins, while Pat Quinn holds the BSU record with 323 victories
Career Record Watches . . .
Senior catcher Zach Dygert and junior second baseman Kolbrin Vitek are already in the top five all-time in a few career statistical categories ... Dygert is fifth all-time in BSU history in RBI, fifth in walks and tied for second in hit by pitch ... Vitek is third all-time in career slugging percentage and sixth in career batting average. Below is a list of the career marks:
Runs Batted In
1.) Brad Miller - 228
2.) Matt Wood - 221
3.) Mark Davis - 190
4.) Jeremy Ridley - 166
5.) Zach Dygert - 164
Walks
1.) Scott French - 139
2.) Mike Sullivan - 120
3.) Brad Miller - 117
4.) Demetrius Sanders - 113
5.) Zach Dygert - 111
Hit By Pitch
1.) Ryan Read - 40
2.) Zach Dygert - 31
2.) Marc Franz - 31
2.) Brian Dorrmann - 31
Slugging Percentage
1.) Thomas Howard - .700
2.) Brad Snyder - .688
3.) Kolbrin Vitek - .665
Batting Average
1.) Larry Bigbie - .386
2.) Brad Snyder - .378
2.) Mark Davis - .378
4.) Jason Meier - .367
5.) Kolbrin Vitek - .359
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 53 RBI and 11 home runs during the first 51 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
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 head into the 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament next week in Chillicothe, Ohio.
