Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Baseball Drops Series Finale To Eastern Michigan, 10-5
May 02, 2010 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end Sunday afternoon as the Cardinals dropped a 10-5 decision to Mid-American Conference rival Eastern Michigan at Ball Diamond. Despite the loss, the Cardinals remain in first place in the MAC West Division with a 13-5 league record as they are now tied with Toledo, while Eastern Michigan sits in fourth place in the division with an 11-7 record.
Ball State (22-22, 13-5 MAC) was limited to just four hits in the loss by EMU pitchers Kendall Lewis and Steve Weber. Lewis (6-2) picked up the victory as he allowed five runs on four hits in 6.0 innings of work while Weber earned his first save as he tossed 3.0 shutout innings of no-hit relief.
Eastern Michigan (22-23, 11-7 MAC) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning against junior right-hander Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan). The Eagles scored both of their runs after two outs as Matt Skirving and Todd Graves posted singles and EMU took advantage of two BSU fielding errors to take a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals answered back in the bottom of the first inning against Kendall Lewis as they scored two runs without recording a hit. Lewis recorded five walks in the inning, including bases loaded walks to Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) and Kory Benbow (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) to tie the game at 2-2.
Eastern Michigan retook the lead with two more runs in the top of the second inning as Bo Kinder tallied a two-run home run. The Cardinals narrowed the gap to 4-3 with a single run in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) started things off with a double down the right field line. Junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners. Freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) drove in Widau with a ground ball to the shortstop to make it a one-run game.
After the Eagles took a 5-3 lead with one unearned run in the third, the Cardinals tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) doubled down the left field line with one out and came home to score as Widau doubled off the right field wall. After a deep fly ball moved Widau to third, Beemer reached on a fielding error by the EMU first baseman that allowed the Cardinals to tie the game at 5-5.
Eastern Michigan took the lead back in the top of the sixth inning to chase Vitek from the game. Brent Ohrman started the rally with a one-out single for his second hit of the game. Ken Battiston put the Eagles in front 7-5 as he hit his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall. The Eagles tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning to round out the scoring.
Vitek (2-4) picked up the loss as he was charged with five earned runs in 5.1 innings of work while allowing seven hits. Left-hander Derek Grabner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Lincoln Trail) tossed 2.2 innings of shutout relief for the Cardinals.
Widau paced the attack with two doubles from his nine-hole position in the lineup. Baumet reached base three times and stole four bases in the loss for the Cardinals. Five different Eagles posted two hits with Kinder and Battiston notching two RBI apiece.
Ball State will be off during the midweek for final exams and will return to action next weekend as it travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a three-game series at Western Michigan.
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