Ball State University
6-20
Indiana State
17-10
Baseball Falls At Indiana State, 5-3
April 07, 2011 | Baseball
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team suffered a hard-fought 5-3 non-conference loss at instate rival Indiana State Wednesday evening at Bob Warn Field. The Cardinals return to Mid-American Conference action this weekend as they host Bowling Green in a three-game series at Ball Diamond.
Ball State (6-20) used nine different pitchers in its lone midweek contest and started a lineup that consisted of four freshmen, a redshirt freshman, four sophomores and a junior. The Cardinals' pitching staff allowed five runs in the first three innings before putting up five straight zeroes to close out the contest.
Freshman first baseman Cody Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) led the Cardinals' eight-hit attack as he posted a career-high three doubles in his first three at-bats. Campbell, who entered the game with one double on the year, becomes the first Cardinal since Kolbrin Vitek March 25, 2009 to post three doubles in a game.
Indiana State (17-10) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning against freshman left-hander Nestor Bautista (New York, N.Y./George Washington). Koby Kramer got the inning going with a one-out double down the left field line. Robby Ort made it a 1-0 contest as he singled into right field, scoring Kramer. Bautista settled in and picked off Ort before inducing a weak ground ball to end the inning.
After Indiana State added a run in the second inning, the Sycamores ran their lead to 5-0 with three runs in the third inning. Indiana State posted four straight hits in the inning after freshman Devin Wilburn (Wapahani, Ind./Selma) recorded two outs including a three-run home run by cleanup hitter Jon Hedges.
Ball State broke through in the top of the fifth inning against Indiana State's second pitcher Greg Kuhlman. Campbell led off the inning with his second double of the afternoon as he reached the wall in right center field. Junior second baseman Tim Issler (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) put the Cardinals on the board as he ripped a run-scoring single through the left side to bring Campbell home from second base.
The Cardinals chipped away at the deficit in the top of the sixth inning as Dominic Catanzarite (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) reached on a wild pitch after a strike out. Sophomore Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) executed a perfect hit-and-run as he poked the ball into the hole on the left side as the shortstop was covering the bag on the attempted stolen base.
The Sycamores got a ground ball double play that allowed Catanzarite to score to make it a 5-2 game. Freshman shortstop T.J. Weir (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) continued the inning as he dropped a full count pitch over the second baseman's head for a single. After back-to-back wild pitches moved Weir to third base, Campbell roped his third double of the game off the left center field wall to narrow the deficit to 5-3.
The Cardinals threatened in the seventh inning as they got two base runners aboard, but Indiana State's bullpen was able to keep the Cardinals in check. The Cardinals had a base runner in the ninth as Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) reached on a fielder's choice. Indiana State closer Blake Drake induced a game-ending double play to record his second save of the year.
Bautista (0-4) picked up the loss as he allowed one run on two hits in an inning of work. He was the first of nine pitchers for the Cardinals, with six of the nine hurlers being freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Reggie Hochstedler (2-0) picked up the victory in relief for the Sycamores as he tossed 2.1 shutout innings and limited the Cardinals to just one hit.
Ball State returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend as it hosts Bowling Green for a three-game series at Ball Diamond. The series kicks off Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. with junior right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown) set to take the hill for the Cardinals.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hochstedler, Reggie (2-0)
L: Bautista, Nestor (0-4)
S: Drake, Blake (2)
Batting:
2B: Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Campbell, Cody 3
RBI: Campbell, Cody 1 ; Issler, Tim 1
SH: Winkle, Wes 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Catanzarite, Dominick 1 ; Weir, T.J. 1 ; Campbell, Cody 1
HBP: Godfrey, Sean 1
Batting:
2B: Kraemer, Koby 1 ; Burnam, Kyle 2
HR: Hedges, Jon 1
RBI: Ort, Robby 1 ; Hedges, Jon 3 ; Lucas, Jeremy 1
SH: Hileman, Lucas 1 ; Burnam, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kraemer, Koby 2 ; Ort, Robby 1 ; Hedges, Jon 1 ; Burnam, Kyle 1
CS: Ort, Robby 1 ; Lucas, Jeremy 1
