Ball State University
2-17
Indiana
13-7
Baseball Drops Home Opener To Indiana
March 24, 2011 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team opened the home portion of the 2011 schedule Wednesday afternoon with a 10-2 loss to Big Ten foe Indiana at Ball Diamond. The Hoosiers scored seven runs in the final three innings to improve to 13-7 on the year.
Freshman left-hander Nestor Bautista (New York, N.Y./George Washington) fell to 0-2 on the season despite working a career-high 4.2 innings in his second career start. Bautista allowed three runs on six hits while striking out four batters. Indiana left-hander Drew Leininger improved to 2-1 on the year after posting 7.0 shutout innings as he limited the Cardinals to three hits.
Indiana opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Dustin DeMuth led off with a single and was quickly sacrificed into scoring position. All-American Alex Dickerson drove in the game's first run as he ripped a single up the middle to give Indiana a 1-0 lead.
The Hoosiers extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs off of Bautista in the top of the fifth inning. Justin Cureton led off with a single and moved into scoring position as DeMuth posted a double down the left field line. Indiana got some assistance as Bautista was called for a balk scoring the first run and uncorked a wild pitch to make it a 3-0 contest.
The Hoosiers broke the game open in the top of the eighth inning against the Cardinals' bullpen as they plated five runs in the inning on five hits. The Cardinals broke through in the bottom of the eighth inning against reliever Eric Kartman.
Freshman Cody Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) and redshirt freshman Billy Wellman (Portland, Ind./Jay County) started the threat with back-to-back one out singles. They moved into scoring position on a passed ball and Campbell came home to score as Dominic Catanzarite (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) ripped a run-scoring single into left field.
The Hoosiers added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning to extend the lead to 10-1 before the Cardinals closed out the scoring in the bottom half of the inning. Ball State took advantage of two Indiana walks, including a free pass issued to Tim Issler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) with the bases loaded.
Ball State opens the 2011 Mid-American Conference schedule this weekend as the Cardinals host Ohio in a three-game series. First pitch Friday afternoon at Ball Diamond is set for 3 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leininger, Drew (2-1)
L: Bautista, Nestor (0-2)
Batting:
2B: DeMuth, Dustin 1 ; Dickerson, Alex 1 ; Johnson, Micah 2
RBI: DeMuth, Dustin 2 ; Dickerson, Alex 3 ; Wilson, Wes 1 ; Basil, Michael 1
SH: Knipp, T.C. 1 ; Serfling, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DeMuth, Dustin 3 ; Knipp, T.C. 1 ; Johnson, Micah 2 ; Sabourin, Jerrud 2 ; Basil, Michael 1 ; Cureton, Justin 1
SB: DeMuth, Dustin 1 ; Cureton, Justin 1
PO: Dickerson, Alex 1
Batting:
RBI: Issler, Tim 1 ; Catanzarite, Dominick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elliott, Cody 1 ; Campbell, Cody 1
SB: Elliott, Cody 1
HBP: Baumet, T.J. 1
PO: Winkle, Wes 1
