Ball State University
12-28, 8-9
Eastern Michigan
28-15, 12-6
Baseball Falls At Eastern Michigan
May 01, 2011 | Baseball
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Ball State baseball team was swept for the first time in Mid-American Conference play this season as the Cardinals dropped an 18-5 contest against Eastern Michigan Sunday at Oestrike Stadium. The loss drops the Cardinals to 8-9 in MAC play while the Eagles improve to 12-6 in league play to maintain a first place tie in the MAC West Division.
Eastern Michigan opened the scoring in the bottom of the third against junior right-hander Cal Bowling (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown), who had his Friday start pushed back due to a back injury. The Eagles tallied six hits in the inning to take a 4-0 lead including a two-run double by Ken Battiston and a two-run home run by Daniel Russell. Bowling settled down to get the final two outs as he stranded two on base to limit the damage to four runs.
The Cardinals answered back in the top of the fourth inning against right-hander Joe Battistelli. Sophomore Blake Beemer (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Freshman Sean Godfrey (New Albany, Ind./New Albany) drove in Beemer as he singled through the right side. Ball State narrowed the gap to 4-2 as freshman Cody Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) drove a single through the left side plating Godfrey from second base.
The Eagles came right back in the bottom of the fourth inning and extended their lead chasing Bowling from the game. Eastern Michigan scored six runs in the inning against Bowling and the Ball State bullpen to take a 10-2 lead as it sent 11 batters to the plate. The Eagles tacked on three runs in the fifth inning and three in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 16-2.
The Cardinals notched a run in the top of the seventh inning against EMU reliever Collin Taylor. Junior Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) drew a four-pitch walk and quickly stole second to move into scoring position. Issler posted his third single of the afternoon as he dropped a hit into left field to make it a 16-3 contest.
Ball State posted two more runs in the eighth inning as it took advantage of some erratic EMU pitching. The Cardinals led off the inning with three straight walks to load the bases. Junior Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) drove in two runs as he stroked a line drive double into left center field to make it 16-5.
Bowling (4-4) was charged with the loss as he lasted 3.2 innings and allowed six runs on eight hits in his shortest outing of the season. Battistelli (5-1) picked up the victory as he worked 6.0 innings and allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out six batters.
The Cardinals will be off during the midweek for final exams before returning home to Ball Diamond as they host Western Michigan in a MAC West Division battle. First pitch Friday afternoon is set for 3 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BATTISTELLI (5-1)
L: Bowling, Cal (4-4)
Batting:
2B: Elliott, Cody 1
RBI: Elliott, Cody 2 ; Issler, Tim 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Campbell, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Widau, Mitch 1 ; Beemer, Blake 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Claypool, Stephen 1 ; Campbell, Cody 1
SB: Widau, Mitch 1
CS: Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Overley, Mitch 1
HBP: Overley, Mitch 1
PO: Issler, Tim 1
Batting:
2B: BATTISTON 1 ; LEONARD 1 ; HITT 1
HR: BATTISTON 2 ; RUSSELL 1 ; LEONARD 1
RBI: BATTISTON 7 ; OHRMAN 1 ; RUSSELL 2 ; MAGSIG 1 ; LEONARD 5 ; OTT 1 ; LONGO 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BATTISTON 3 ; OHRMAN 2 ; RUSSELL 2 ; MAGSIG 2 ; LEONARD 2 ; RUBINO 1 ; LONGO 2 ; KLEIN 2 ; HITT 2
SB: OHRMAN 1 ; RUSSELL 1 ; MAGSIG 1
HBP: RUBINO 1
