Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Toledo
Baseball Drops Series Opener At Toledo, 8-7
May 20, 2010 | Baseball
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Ball State baseball team suffered a hard fought Mid-American Conference loss Thursday afternoon as the Cardinals dropped an 8-7 contest to the Toledo Rockets on a walk-off solo home run by Joe Corfman in the bottom of the ninth inning at Scott Park.
The loss drops the Cardinals to 18-7 in MAC play and into a three-way tie for the top spot in the conference with Toledo and Central Michigan which won 6-0 against Eastern Michigan. Ball State and Toledo will continue its series Friday afternoon with first pitch being moved up to 1 p.m. due to forecasted inclement weather in the Toledo area.
Toledo (32-19, 18-7 MAC) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning against redshirt sophomore right-hander Perci Garner (Dover, Ohio/Dover). Joe Corfman and Aaron Dudley led off the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Matt Delewski drove both of them in as he doubled into left center field on a full count pitch to give Toledo a 2-0 lead. Garner settled in and quickly got three straight outs to strand Delewski at second base.
Ball State (27-26, 18-7 MAC) answered back in the top of the third inning against Toledo right-hander Matt Suschak. Sophomore Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) doubled down the left field line to open the inning and junior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) drew a walk to put two aboard. After a sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position, junior Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) narrowed the gap to 2-1 as he drove in Elliott with a ground ball to the shortstop.
The Rockets retook a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as they scratched across a run to make it a 3-1 contest. Dudley led off the inning with a walk and moved to second as Dan Sherwood drew a walk to put two aboard. With two outs, Josh Wierzba singled up the middle to plate Dudley with Toledo's third run of the afternoon.
Toledo threatened in the bottom of the fifth inning as Tim Krofcheck drew a leadoff walk and Corfman singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. Garner buckled down and induced a ground ball double play off the bat of Dudley to thwart the threat and keep it a 3-1 contest.
Ball State manufactured a run with speed in the top of the sixth inning to narrow the deficit to 3-2. Vitek led off the inning and was hit by a pitch to start things off. He quickly stole second and third base to move into scoring position. Sophomore Ian Nielsen (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) drove him home as he lifted a sacrifice fly to center field pull BSU within a run.
The Rockets responded right back in the bottom half of the inning to move the lead back to two. Sherwood give Toledo a 4-2 lead as he hit his team-leading 14th home run of the season over the left center field wall.
Ball State broke open for four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take its first lead of the afternoon at 6-4. Sophomore Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) starting things off with a one out single up the middle and moved into scoring position as Suschak uncorked a wild pitch. Elliott pulled the Cardinals within one as he singled to center field and moved all the way to third base as the UT center fielder misplayed the ball for a two-base error.
After the second out of the inning, the Cardinals tied the game for the first time all day as freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) singled down the left field line to plate Elliott with the tying run. Vitek came up and worked the count full before doubling off the right field line to plate Beemer all the way from first base. The Cardinals added an insurance run as senior Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) ripped a run-scoring double down the left field line to make it a 6-4 game.
Toledo came right back in the bottom of the seventh inning against left-handed reliever Derek Grabner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Lincoln Trail). Grabner got the first two out of the inning quickly before surrendering six straight singles, including the go ahead single by Sherwood that squirted through the right side to give Toledo a 7-6 lead.
Ball State was down to its final three outs against Toledo left-handed reliever Kyle Shaw in the top of the ninth inning. Elliott led off the inning and quickly tied the game as he hit his sixth home run of the season over the right center field wall to knot the game at 7-7. The Cardinals continued to threaten as Baumet singled before Toledo intentionally walked Vitek to put two aboard. Shaw worked out of the inning as he induced a foul pop fly and a ground ball out to get out of the inning.
Toledo came up in the bottom of the ninth inning and quickly ended the contest as Corfman led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season over the left field wall for the walk-off victory.
Grabner (3-2) picked up the loss as he allowed a season-high four runs on seven hits and 2.0 innings of work. Garner got the no decision after working 6.0 innings of four-run baseball while allowing nine hits. Shaw (5-3) was awarded the victory as he pitched the final 2.0 innings and allowed one run on two this. Suschak also got a no decision as he allowed six runs on eight hits in 7.0 innings of work.
Ball State and Toledo will continue its three-game series Friday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Scott Park and sophomore right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) is set to take the hill for the Cardinals.
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