Ball State University
12-26, 8-7
Eastern Michigan
26-15, 10-6
Baseball Drops Series Opener At Eastern Michigan
April 30, 2011 | Baseball
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Ball State baseball team dropped the opening game of its three-game Mid-American Conference series at Eastern Michigan Friday night by a 13-1 score at Oestrike Stadium. The Cardinals and Eagles will continue their series Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Eastern Michigan (26-15, 10-6 MAC) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning against senior left-hander Derek Grabner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Lincoln Trail), who had his start moved up one day due to an injury for the Cardinals' normal Friday starter, Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown).
The Eagles opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Zack Leonard lined a two-run double into right center field to take an early 2-0 lead. Grabner quickly loaded the bases as he hit a batter and walked one before inducing an inning-ending double play off the bat of Lee Longo to limit the damage.
The Eagles broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning as they sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs to take a 9-0 lead chasing Grabner from the game. Eastern Michigan posted five hits and took advantage of three Ball State errors along with three walks in the inning.
Ball State (12-26, 8-7 MAC) broke the shutout of EMU left-hander Rob Wendzicki in the top of the seventh inning as it plated a run after two outs. Freshman Sean Godfrey (New Albany, Ind./New Albany) got things going as he ripped a double down the left field line. Sophomore Kevin Franchetti (Highland, Ind./Andrean) made it a 12-1 contest as he singled to left field, scoring Godfrey from second base.
Grabner (1-4) was charged with the loss as he allowed eight runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings of work. Wendzicki (4-4) picked up the victory for the Eagles as he limited the Cardinals to just one run on five hits in 8.0 innings.
The Cardinals and Eagles will continue their three-game series Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: WENDZICKI (4-4)
L: Grabner, Derek (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Elliott, Cody 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1
RBI: Franchetti, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Godfrey, Sean 1
Batting:
2B: OHRMAN 1 ; LEONARD 1 ; MAGSIG 1
RBI: BATTISTON 1 ; OHRMAN 1 ; LEONARD 3 ; MAGSIG 2 ; RUBINO 2 ; RUSSELL 1
SF: MAGSIG 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BATTISTON 2 ; OHRMAN 3 ; LEONARD 3 ; MAGSIG 1 ; RUBINO 1 ; LONGO 1 ; HITT 1 ; PETERSON 1
HBP: LEONARD 1 ; MAGSIG 1 ; CHAVEZ 1 ; PETERSON 1
