Ball State University
2-16
Belmont
11-10
Baseball Drops Series Finale At Belmont, 8-4
March 21, 2011 | Baseball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Ball State baseball team suffered a weekend series sweep to Belmont as the Cardinals dropped the series finale, 8-4, at Shelby Park Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals open the home portion of the 2011 schedule after 18 straight on the road Wednesday afternoon when they host rival Indiana at Ball Diamond at 3 p.m.
Ball State (2-16) fell behind early as Belmont scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning against senior right-hander Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind./Lincoln Trail). The Bruins took advantage of a leadoff hit by pitch and quickly followed with three straight hits to take a 3-0 lead.
Belmont (11-10) ran its lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the third inning as Derek Hamblin led off with a double. Hamblin stole third base and came home to score as Coombs uncorked a wild pitch for the 4-0 lead.
Ball State got on the board in the top of the fourth inning against left-hander James Buckelew. Junior centerfielder Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) led off the inning with a walk and moved into scoring position after a single by freshman third baseman T.J. Weir (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo). Elliott scored the Cardinals' first run as he was driven in by a RBI groundout from freshman first baseman Cody Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan).
Ball State was in position for a big inning in the top of the sixth inning after loading the bases with nobody out, but only managed to score one run as Belmont worked out of the jam. The inning began with three consecutive singles by freshman right fielder Sean Godfrey (New Albany, Ind./New Albany), junior second baseman Mitch Widau (Richmond Ind./Richmond) and Elliott. The Cardinals were only able to bring one run across the base on a ground out before Buckelew worked out of the inning maintain the lead at 4-2.
Belmont added a single run in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh inning against the Cardinals' bullpen to raise its lead to 8-2. The Bruins' three runs in the seventh were all unearned after a pivotal Ball State fielding error.
Ball State would cut the deficit to 8-4 with a pair of runs in the final two innings. The Cardinals plated their third run in the eighth inning as Weir scored on a sacrifice fly from senior shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg). The Cardinals posted their last run of the series in the ninth inning as Kirby Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) drew a walk and quickly stole two bases to move into scoring position before coming home on a Belmont fielding error.
Coombs (0-3) was charged with the loss as he allowed four runs on five hits in 3.0 innings of work as he was one of six Cardinals to pitch in the loss. Buckelew (1-4) picked up his first victory of the season as he allowed two runs on five hits in 6.0 innings of work.
Ball State returns to action Wednesday afternoon as it hosts Big Ten foe Indiana in the home opener. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Ball Diamond.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BUCKELEW (1-4)
L: COOMBS, Morgan (0-3)
S: SWINEHART (1)
Batting:
RBI: Weir, T.J. 2 ; Campbell, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baumet, T.J. 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Elliott, Cody 1 ; Campbell, Kirby 1
SB: Elliott, Cody 1 ; Weir, T.J. 1 ; Campbell, Kirby 2
CS: Widau, Mitch 1
HBP: Baumet, T.J. 1
Batting:
2B: HAMBLEN 1 ; WOODS 1 ; EGERTON 1 ; BRODY 1
RBI: MITCHELL 1 ; CRAIG 1 ; EGERTON 1 ; AKERS 1 ; CASHA 1 ; BRODY 2
Base Running:
RUNS: MITCHELL 1 ; HAMBLEN 1 ; CRAIG 1 ; DODD 1 ; EGERTON 2 ; DAVIS 1 ; BRODY 1
SB: MITCHELL 2 ; HAMBLEN 1
CS: CRAIG 1
HBP: MITCHELL 1 ; CRAIG 1 ; WOODS 1 ; TURNER 1
