Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Indiana Wednesday In Home Opener
March 22, 2011 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State finally opens the home portion of the 2011 schedule Wednesday afternoon after playing 18 straight games on the road ... The Cardinals welcome in Big Ten foe Indiana Wednesday to Ball Diamond for the home opener at 3 p.m. ... Wednesday's game will be broadcast by Sports Link Radio on 91.3 WCRD FM and online at www.ballstatesports.com with Adam Fox and Paul Brown providing the call ... Live stats will also be available at www.ballstatesports.com.
Home Openers . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 91st home opener in Ball State baseball history, dating back to 1920 ... The Cardinals are 63-27 all-time in home openers, including victories in 14 straight ... Last year, Ball State opened the home schedule with a 6-3 victory over Mid-American Conference foe Miami ... Four Cardinal pitchers combined to limit the RedHawks to just four hits with Perci Garner posting 6.0 innings of four-hit baseball as he allowed two earned runs.
Series History . . .
Wednesday's game marks the 49th meeting all-time between Ball State and Indiana ... The Cardinals hold a 25-23 record all-time against the Hoosiers, including a 13-12 all-time in Muncie ... Ball State has won five out of the last six meetings with wins in 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005 and 1998 ... Indiana will be making its first trip to Muncie since April 19, 2005 when the Cardinals posted a 17-4 victory.
The Cardinals dropped their first contest to the Hoosiers since 1998 last season with a 12-6 loss in Bloomington ... On a wind swept afternoon, the two teams combined for six home runs and 22 total hits ... Indiana was led by Jerrud Sabourin who drove in three runs on four hits, including a home run ... Ball State picked up home runs from T.J. Baumet, Kolbrin Vitek and Ryan Chenoweth in the loss.
Wednesday's Starters . . .
Ball State heads into its first home game of the season Wednesday and will send freshman left-hander Nestor Bautista to the hill ... Indiana will counter with junior left-hander Drew Leininger ... Both teams are expected to use multiple pitchers in the midweek contest.
Bautista will be making his sixth career appearance and second career start Wednesday ... He has an 0-1 record with an 11.17 ERA in 9.2 innings of work this season as he has struck out seven batters and walked six ... He appeared in Sunday's loss at Belmont and retired the only batter he faced in the ninth inning ... He made his first career start at the College of Charleston (March 9) and allowed seven runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings against the 21st ranked Cougars.
Leininger will be making his sixth appearance and fourth start of the season for Indiana ... He has a 1-1 record with a 6.11 ERA in 17.2 innings of work as he has struck out seven and walked eight batters ... He last appeared March 16 against Massachusetts with 5.1 innings of relief ... He allowed four runs on nine hits while walking three batters.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Wednesday's game with a 2-16 overall record, with all 18 games coming away from Ball Diamond ... The Cardinals have scored 82 runs (4.55 runs/game) this season while opponents have scored 156 8 (8.66 runs/game) ... The Cardinals own a .238 batting average and a 6.92 team ERA.
Junior second baseman Mitch Widau leads the team with a .370 batting average ... Widau has posted 20 hits and driven in a team-high 13 runs ... Junior center fielder Cody Elliott owns a .280 batting average with a team-high 21 hits ... Senior shortstop T.J. Baumet is third on the team with a .274 batting average ... Sophomore Kirby Campbell leads the team with 14 runs scored and seven stolen bases.
In the bullpen, left-hander Justin Warrington leads the team with nine appearances ... Warrington has worked 3.2 innings of spot work ... Right-handers Seth Hobbs and Scott Brothers Jr. have each appeared in seven games ... Hobbs has a 4.91 ERA in 11.0 innings while Brothers has an 8.10 ERA in 10.0 innings ... Left-hander Jon Cisna has a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 innings of relief.
Scouting The Hoosiers . . .
Indiana enters Wednesday's game with a 12-7 overall record ... The Hoosiers have scored 109 runs (5.74 runs/game) while opponents have scored 92 runs (4.84) ... Indiana has a team batting average of .279 and a team ERA of 3.70.
Alex Dickerson, a potential first round draft pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, leads the team with a .351 batting average ... Dickerson has a team-high four home runs and 15 RBI ... He posted a .415 batting average with 25 home runs last year as a sophomore ... Micah Johnson is second on the team with a .342 batting average and leads the team with eight stolen bases.
In the bullpen, Matt Carr leads the team with 10 appearances ... Carr has a 4.37 ERA in 22.2 innings of work as he has struck out 21 batters ... Ryan Halstead has appeared in nine games and has a team-high four saves ... Halstead has a 2.70 ERA in 13.1 innings of work.
Young Cardinals . . .
Ball State has had seven different freshmen or redshirt freshmen start in the field this season for a combined 39 starts and has had eight different freshmen make appearances on the mound for 30 total appearances.
T.J. Weir leads all freshmen with 15 games played and 10 starts in the field ... Weir has a .170 batting average with eight hits and six RBI ... He has also made five appearances on the mound for the Cardinals ... Kenny Mahala has played in 11 games with nine starts and has a .242 batting average ... Additionally, Devin Wilburn has appeared in six games on the mound with a start as he has a 6.75 ERA in 12.0 innings.
The Cardinals also have five sophomores that have started in the field this season, accounting for 69 total starts.
BSU Picked Fourth In West . . .
Ball State was selected to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the preseason poll ... The Cardinals finished last season with a 29-29 overall record and a 19-8 mark in MAC play as they finished tied for second place in the MAC West Division ... Ball State will have numerous spots to fill on the roster this season as it lost its 3-4-5-6 hole hitters as well as its Friday and Sunday starters to graduation and the Major League Baseball Draft.
Defending MAC Tournament champion Kent State was selected to finish first in the MAC East Division while defending regular season champion Central Michigan was tabbed for the top spot in the MAC West Division ... Additionally, Kent State was selected as the favorite for the 2011 MAC Tournament.
West Division
1. Central Michigan (69)
2. Toledo (60)
3. Eastern Michigan (46)
4. Ball State (37)
5. Northern Illinois (26)
6. Western Michigan (12)
East Division
1. Kent State (72)
2. Miami (53)
3. Bowling Green (50)
4. Ohio (35)
5. Akron (24)
6. Buffalo (16)
MAC Tournament: Kent State (5), Central Michigan (3), Toledo (2), Miami (1), Eastern Michigan (1).
Top Rated Arms . . .
The Cardinals received some preseason honors from the CollegeBaseballInsider.com in its annual Mid-American Conference preview ... Senior shortstop T.J. Baumet was chosen by the league's head coaches to have the best infield arm in the MAC ... Also, junior outfielder Cody Elliott was tabbed with the best outfield arm in the MAC.
Cardinals Name Captains . . .
First-year head coach Alex Marconi has named three team captains for the 2011 season in senior shortstop T.J. Baumet and sophomore right fielder Blake Beemer ... Baumet has been the team's starting shortstop since his freshman season ... He posted a .337 batting average last spring while leading the team with 26 stolen bases ... Beemer claimed control of the right field starting position last year and recorded a .328 batting average in 45 starts as a true freshman.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State opens the 2011 Mid-American Conference season this weekend as it hosts Ohio in a three-game series at Ball Diamond.
