Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Preseason MAC West Favorite CMU
April 21, 2011 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend as it hosts preseason MAC West Division favorite Central Michigan in a three-game series at Ball Diamond ... The teams are slated to play Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. ... The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 7-4 MAC record and sit a half game out of first place while the Chippewas enter with a 7-5 record and are a game out of first place.
Live stats will be available for all three games at www.ballstatesports.com ... No audio will be available this weekend.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Central Michigan have met 129 times prior to this weekend's series ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by an 81-48 margin ... Ball State has posted a 4-6 record against the Chippewas the last three years but took two out of three in Mount Pleasant last year ... Central Michigan won the first game of the series 4-3 before the Cardinals responded with a Saturday doubleheader sweep picking up 3-2 and 5-2 victories.
In the low-scoring series, former Cardinal Kolbrin Vitek led the team with three RBI while T.J. Baumet added a team-high four hits ... On the mound, Cal Bowling picked up the series-clinching victory as he worked 6.0 innings and limited the Chippewas to two runs on six hits ... Left-hander Derek Grabner made two appearances in the doubleheader and tossed 4.2 total innings, limiting CMU to two runs on six hits.
Central Michigan was led offensively by Scott Phillion who posted six hits in the series ... Ricky Clark and Nate Theunissen each added three RBI for the Chippewas ... On the mound, Trent Howard worked 5.2 shutout innings of relief and struck out five batters ... Jake Sabol picked up a loss as he allowed five runs on six hits in 3.1 innings of work.
This Weekend's Starters . . .
Ball State will send its normal weekend rotation to the hill in junior right-hander Cal Bowling Friday, senior left-hander Derek Grabner Saturday and senior right-hander Morgan Coombs Sunday ... Central Michigan will counter with left-hander Trent Howard Friday, right-hander Zach Cooper Saturday and right-hander Jake Sabol Sunday.
Bowling will be making his 10th start of the season Friday ... He owns a 4-2 record with a 2.10 ERA in a team-high 60.0 innings ... He has struck out 37 batters while walking 19 ... In Mid-American Conference play, Bowling has a 0.77 ERA in 35.0 innings of work ... He has posted three complete game as he has worked 35 of a possible 36 innings in league play.
Grabner will also be making his 10th start of the season ... He has a 1-3 record with a 4.91 ERA in 47.2 innings ... He has struck out 32 batters while walking 20 ... He is coming off his first victory of the season at Buffalo as he worked 6.1 innings and struck out a season-high seven batters.
Coombs will be making his ninth appearance and sixth start of the season Sunday ... He has a 3-3 record with a 4.50 ERA on the year in 30.0 innings ... He has struck out 23 and walked 12 batters ... He did not pitch last weekend as Sunday's game at Buffalo was rained out ... In MAC play, he has a 3-0 record with a 3.26 ERA in 19.0 innings.
Howard will be making his 10th start of the year Friday ... He has a 3-3 record with a 1.95 ERA in 60.0 innings ... He has struck out a team-high 66 batters while walking 13 ... Last weekend, he got a no decision against Kent State despite tossing 7.0 innings of four-hit baseball as he allowed one run and struck out 11 batters.
Cooper will also be making his 10th start of the season ... He has a 2-3 record with a 3.49 ERA in 49.0 innings ... He has struck out 46 batters while walking 27 ... Last weekend, he picked up a loss against Kent State as he allowed six runs on six hits in 4.0 innings.
Sabol will be making his 10th appearance and his seventh start Sunday ... He has a 3-2 record with a 3.28 ERA in 49.1 innings of work as he has posted two complete games ... He has struck out 30 atters while walking just eight ... He got a no decision last weekend as he allowed three runs on six hits in 6.0 innings of work.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the weekend riding a season-high four-game winning streak ... The Cardinals own an 11-23 overall record and a 7-4 mark in Mid-American Conference play as they have won three out of four MAC weekend series this year ... Ball State is batting .247 as a team and has scored 162 runs (4.76 runs/game) ... On the mound, the Cardinals own a 5.41 ERA as a team and opponents are batting .291.
Freshman first baseman Kenny Mahala leads the team with a .325 batting average ... Mahala also leads the team with four home runs and is second on the team with 19 RBI ... Junior Cody Elliott is third on the team with a .290 batting average but leads the team with 40 hits, five triples, 24 RBI and nine stolen bases ... Junior second baseman Mitch Widau is second on the team with 33 hits and has driven in 17 runs.
In the bullpen, Justin Warrington leads the team with 15 appearances as a left-handed specialist ... He has worked 5.1 innings on the year ... Left-hander Devin Wilburn has appeared in 11 games and a has a 6.00 ERA in 21.0 innings of work while posting a save ... Right-hander Seth Hobbs, Michael Sandman and Scott Brothers Jr. have also recorded saves for the Cardinals.
Scouting The Chippewas . . .
Central Michigan enters the weekend with an 18-19 overall record and a 7-5 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Chippewas took two out of three from preseason MAC East Division favorite Kent State ... Central Michigan is batting .257 as a team and has scored 195 runs (5.27 runs/game) ... The Chippewas own a 3.68 ERA and opponents are batting .267.
Tyler Hall leads CMU with a .340 batting average ... Hall has tallied a team-high 48 hits and has stolen a team-high 12 bases ... Sam Russell leads the team with 16 doubles and has driven in 24 runs ... Jordan Dean is second on the team with a .313 batting average and has 46 hits.
In the bullpen, Dietrich Enns has appeared in 13 games and has a 3.42 ERA in 26.1 innings ... Enns has a 4-1 record with four saves as he has struck out 33 and walked 13 ... Mike Nixon has appeared in 12 games while Jon Weaver has seen action in 11 games.
Mahala's Grand Day . . .
Freshman first baseman Kenny Mahala had a breakout performance against Bowling Green ... Mahala, who entered the weekend with just three RBI on the season, drove in 10 runs in the twin bill as he blasted three home runs against the Falcons ... He posted back-to-back grand slams in the first game of the doubleheader with home runs in the third and fourth innings ... He followed that up with a two-run home run in the second game of the twin bill.
In one afternoon, Mahala raised his RBI total from three to 13, his home run total from zero to three and his slugging percentage from .286 to .453.
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.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State will be off during the midweek before travelling to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a three-game series against Eastern Michigan.
