Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Purdue Wednesday At 1:30 P.M.
May 10, 2011 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State wraps up the non-conference portion of the 2011 regular season Wednesday afternoon as the Cardinals complete the home-and-home series against the Purdue Boilermakers with a trip to West Lafayette, Ind. ... Game time has been changed to 1:30 p.m. first pitch ... Ball State enters the game with a 12-31 overall record and has dropped eight of its last nine games ... The Boilermakers enter the game with a 30-16 overall record and have lost three straight after being swept at Michigan State.
Live audio will be available courtesy of Purdue athletics at www.purduesports.com ... Live stats will be available at www.ballstatesports.com.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Purdue will be meeting for the 83rd time in series history Wednesday ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 44-35-2 margin, including an 8-5 loss April 12 at Ball Diamond ... Ball State has dropped five of the last six meetings against the Boilermakers ... The Cardinals last defeated Purdue March 30, 2005 with a 9-8 victory in Muncie.
Earlier this season, the Cardinals were one out away from a 5-4 victory as Purdue rallied for four runs with two outs in the top of the ninth inning ... The Boilermakers got back-to-back two-run singles from Barrett Serrato and Payton Bieker to take the lead for good.
This Week's Starters . . .
Ball State will use multiple pitchers in its final midweek game of the regular season ... Freshman left-hander Nestor Bautista will take the mound for the Cardinals to start the game while Purdue will counter with sophomore right-hander Robert Ramer.
Bautista will be making his 14th appearance and fifth start of the season Wednesday ... He has an 0-4 record with a 7.90 ERA on the year in 27.1 innings ... He has struck out 19 batters while walking 12 ... He got the start in the previous meeting with Purdue and allowed four runs on seven hits in 4.0 innings of work ... He made his last appearance Friday against Western Michigan and four runs, only one earned, on five hits in 2.2 innings of relief.
Ramer will be making his 12th appearance of the season and sixth start Wednesday ... He has a 4-0 record with a 5.09 ERA in 35.1 innings ... He has struck out 28 batters while walking 12 ... He made the start against the Cardinals in the first meeting and allowed four runs on six hits in 6.0 innings of work ... He has not pitched since getting the start May 1 against Indiana ... He only worked 1.0 inning and allowed two runs on four hits.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters Wednesday's game with a 12-31 overall record ... The Cardinals have dropped six straight having been swept by Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan ... Ball State has scored 199 runs (4.63 runs/game) this season and is batting .253 as a team ... On the mound, the Cardinals own a 5.68 ERA and opponents are batting .294.
Junior center fielder Cody Elliott leads the Cardinals with a .316 batting average ... Elliott also leads the team with 56 hits, 29 runs, 30 RBI, 10 doubles, five triples and 14 stolen bases ... Junior Mitch Widau is second on the team with a .310 batting average and second on the team with 44 hits ... Freshman Kenny Mahala and senior T.J. Baumet are tied for the team lead with four home runs.
In the bullpen, left-hander Justin Warrington leads the team with 17 appearances as he has a 10.12 ERA in 5.1 innings ... Devin Wilburn has appeared in 15 games and has a 5.54 ERA in 26.0 innings ... Michael Sandman has seen action in 11 games and has a 5.54 ERA in 13.0 innings.
Scouting The Boilermakers . . .
Purdue enters Wednesday's game with a 30-16 record despite being swept at Michigan State last weekend ... The Boilermakers have scored 344 runs (7.48 runs/game) and are batting .316 as a team ... On the mound, Purdue owns a 4.57 team ERA and opponents are batting .291.
Kevin Plawecki leads the team with a .366 batting average and is third on the team with 64 hits ... Cameron Perkins is second on the team with a .361 batting average ... Perkins leads the team with 70 hits, seven home runs and 47 RBI ... Eric Charles leads the team with 15 doubles.
In the bullpen, Nick Wittgren leads the team with 22 appearances ... Wittgren has a 3.98 ERA in 40.2 innings as he has recorded a team-high nine saves ... He has struck out 41 batters while walking just eight ... Lance Breedlove is second on the team with 19 appearances ... He has a 4.66 ERA in 36.2 innings while posting two saves.
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 hits the road for the final time this season as the Cardinals travel to DeKalb, Ill., for a three-game series against Northern Illinois ... The Cardinals close out the regular season the following weekend as they host Toledo in a three-game series.
