Ball State University
12-29, 8-10
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Western Michigan
20-25, 8-11
Baseball Drops Series Opener To Western Michigan
May 06, 2011 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team dropped the first game of the three-game Mid-American Conference series to visiting Western Michigan 18-6 Friday at Ball Diamond. The loss drops the Cardinals to 8-10 in MAC play but remain a half game in front of the Broncos who now stand at 8-11 in league action.
Western Michigan (20-25) opened the scoring in the top of the second inning against senior right-hander Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind./Lincoln Trail). Troy Forton led off the inning with a single through the right side and Ryan McMillin put the Broncos in front 2-0 as he hit his third home run of the season over the left field wall.
Western Michigan extended its lead to 6-0 with four unearned runs in the top of the third inning. The Broncos utilized a crucial BSU fielding error to extend the inning for McMillin who tallied his second home run of the afternoon with a three-run shot over the left field wall.
The Broncos broke the game open in the top of the fourth inning as they sent 12 batters to the plate. Western Michigan scored seven runs on seven hits in the inning against three Ball State pitchers to take a 13-0 lead.
Ball State (12-29) broke through against WMU right-hander Brian Stroud in the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman Sean Godfrey (New Albany, Ind./New Albany) led off the inning with a single and move into scoring position as sophomore Kirby Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) singled through the left side.
The Cardinals scored their first run of the afternoon as junior center fielder Cody Elliott (Florence, Ky./Beechwood) singled through the left side to plate Godfrey. Senior T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) and freshman Cody Campbell (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) added back-to-back run-scoring singles to make it a 13-3 contest.
Ball State tacked on three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the final score 18-6. Elliott and Baumet started the inning off with back-to-back hits before junior Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) doubled down the right field line to score two runs. Sophomore Blake Beemer (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) followed with a run-scoring single into the right center field gap to narrow the deficit to 18-6.
Coombs (4-4) picked the loss as he allowed six runs, two earned, in 3.0 innings of work. Stroud (6-4) tallied the victory as he tossed 6.1 strong innings and allowed two runs on six hits.
Ball State and Western Michigan will continue its three-game series Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Ball Diamond 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: STROUD, Brian (6-4)
L: COOMBS, Morgan (4-4)
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Batting:
2B: FORTON, Troy 1 ; McMILLIN, Ryan 1 ; CROSS, Tim 1
HR: SIMOTES, Grant 1 ; McMILLIN, Ryan 2
RBI: MARTINEZ, Jimmy 2 ; DUNCAN, Patrick 1 ; SCANLON, Jack 1 ; FORTON, Troy 3 ; SIMOTES, Grant 1 ; McMILLIN, Ryan 6 ; CROSS, Tim 1 ; DITSWORTH, Dustin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: MARTINEZ, Jimmy 1 ; DUNCAN, Patrick 1 ; SCANLON, Jack 1 ; FORTON, Troy 4 ; SIMOTES, Grant 1 ; McMILLIN, Ryan 4 ; CROSS, Tim 1 ; SHUTES, Dan 1 ; DITSWORTH, Dustin 2 ; BOOKER, Vinnie 2
HBP: MARTINEZ, Jimmy 2 ; DUNCAN, Patrick 1 ; McMILLIN, Ryan 2 ; THOMA, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: Baumet, T.J. 1 ; Widau, Mitch 1 ; Beemer, Blake 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1
RBI: Elliott, Cody 1 ; Baumet, T.J. 1 ; Widau, Mitch 2 ; Campbell, Cody 1 ; Beemer, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elliott, Cody 2 ; Baumet, T.J. 1 ; Widau, Mitch 1 ; Godfrey, Sean 1 ; Campbell, Kirby 1
