Ball State University
1-7
Marshall
5-5
Baseball Drops A Pair At Caravelle Resort Invitational
March 07, 2011 | Baseball
CONWAY, S.C. - The Ball State baseball team dropped two games Saturday evening at the Caravelle Resort Invitational on the campus of Coastal Carolina. The Cardinals suffered a 12-8 setback against Marshall in the first game of the afternoon before dropping a hard fought 5-4 decision to Quinnipiac in the nightcap at Watson Stadium.
Game One - Marshall 12, Ball State 8
The Cardinals dropped a 12-8 decision to Conference USA foe Marshall in their first game Saturday as they allowed eight runs in the final four innings after owning an 8-4 lead. Three different Cardinals drove in multiple runs in the loss, including a career- high two RBI for freshman Sean Godfrey (New Albany, Ind./New Albany).
Marshall (5-5) jumped out to the early lead as it scored four runs in the top of the second inning against senior left-hander Derek Grabner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Lincoln Trail). The Thundering Herd scored the four runs as they took advantage of two crucial walks after Marshall posted three straight hits to open the inning.
Ball State came right back in the bottom half of the inning and posted three runs against Ryan Butler. The Cardinals scored the runs on just one hit as they took advantage of one crucial Marshall error and an interference call that led to two runs. Senior shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) made it a 4-3 contest with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Cardinals took their first lead in the bottom of the third inning as Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) reached on an error and junior Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) ripped a double into the right field corner to put two in scoring position. Freshman T.J. Weir (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) plated Claypool to tie the game with a ground ball while Godfrey drove in Widau with a single to center field for a 5-4 lead.
The Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning as Baumet reached on a one out single before junior center fielder Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) notched his fist home run of the year over the left field wall. Ball State stretched its lead to 8-4 in the fifth as Baumet posted a run-scoring single.
Marshall started its comeback in the sixth inning with two runs before taking the lead back for good with five runs in the seventh inning. The Herd posted five hits in the inning, including three doubles, and took advantage of two Ball State fielding errors to take an 11-8 lead. Marshall added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to take the 12-8 advantage.
Senior right-hander Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind./Lincoln Trail) picked up the loss in relief as he allowed five runs, three earned, in 1.0 inning of work as he allowed six hits and walked one batter. Grabner got a no decision after tossing 5.1 innings of eight hit baseball and allowing six runs.
Marshall used six different pitchers in the victory, including five pitchers who combined to allow one run over the final 5.1 innings. Jesse Fernandez (1-1) picked up the win in relief with a scoreless sixth inning for the Herd.
Game Two - Quinnipiac 5, Ball State 4
Ball State suffered its third straight loss on the weekend with a hard fought 5-4 defeat to Quinnipiac. The Cardinals held an early 3-1 advantage before the Bobcats plated four runs in the fifth inning before holding on for the victory. Quinnipiac took advantage of five Ball State errors as four of its runs scored were unearned.
Quinnipiac (2-1) opened the scoring in the top of the third inning against junior right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown). The Bobcats scored the inning's unearned run thanks to two errors and an RBI single from Chris Migani.
Ball State (1-8) quickly took the lead back in the bottom of the third as Kirby Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) reached on an error and advanced all the way to third on the play. Sophomore catcher Kevin Franchetti (Highland, Ind./Andrean) tied the game as he lifted a sacrifice fly into right field to plate Campbell.
Sophomore Wes Winkle (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) followed with a walk and Baumet singled to put two aboard. Sophomore Blake Beemer (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) gave the Cardinals the lead with a single into right field to plate Winkle. The Cardinals extended the lead to 3-1 as they executed a double steal attempt with Baumet scoring before Beemer was tagged out in the rundown.
Quinnipiac took the lead back in the fifth inning as it plated four runs. The Bobcats utilized two crucial BSU errors after two outs to score the runs and take a 5-3 lead.
The Cardinals tried to mount a late-inning comeback as they trimmed the deficit to 5-4 with a run in the seventh inning. Weir led off the inning with an infield single while Widau singled through the left side to put runners on the corners. The Cardinals looked ready for a big inning by the Bobcats were able to induce a ground ball double play from Campbell that limited the inning's damage to just one run.
Bowling (0-1) picked up the loss despite tossing 6.0 innings of eight hit baseball. He allowed five runs but only one was earned while striking out seven batters. Left-hander Jon Cisna (Homer Glenn, Ill./Lockport tossed two shutout innings while senior right-hander Scott Brothers Jr. (Monticello, Ind./Gulf Coast CC) added a scoreless ninth.
George Dummar (1-0) earned the victory as he worked 5.0 innings of four-hit baseball and allowed three unearned runs. Ryan Walsh tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save as he struck out two batters.
The Cardinals return to action Monday afternoon as they face host and 27th ranked Coastal Carolina at 4 p.m. No games are scheduled Sunday due to forecasted inclement weather.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fernandez (1-1)
L: COOMBS, Morgan (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Meeks 1 ; Lavinskas 1 ; Ramos 1 ; Stafford 1
3B: Ramos 1
RBI: Ballou 1 ; Meeks 1 ; Lavinskas 2 ; Ramos 2 ; Stafford 3 ; Helmburg 2
SH: Helmburg 1
SF: Stafford 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Socorro 1 ; Gomez 1 ; Meeks 2 ; Lavinskas 3 ; Ramos 4 ; Stafford 1
SB: Stafford 1 ; Maynard 2
HBP: Ramos 1
PO: Gomez 1
Batting:
2B: Widau, Mitch 1
HR: Elliott, Cody 1
RBI: Baumet, T.J. 2 ; Elliott, Cody 2 ; Weir, T.J. 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 2
SF: Baumet, T.J. 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baumet, T.J. 1 ; Elliott, Cody 1 ; Claypool, Stephen 1 ; Widau, Mitch 2 ; Weir, T.J. 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Campbell, Kirby 1
SB: Campbell, Kirby 1
CS: Baumet, T.J. 1
