Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Opens Season This Weekend In Palmetto State
February 15, 2012 | Baseball
Friday -- Cal Bowling, Ball State (Sr., RHP) vs. Burny Mitchem, Dayton (Sr., RHP)
Sautrday -- Nestor Bautista, Ball State (So., LHP) vs. Scott DeCecco, USC Upsate (Jr. LHP)
Sunday -- T.J. Weir, Ball State (So., RHP) vs. Jesse Morris, Wofford (So., RHP)
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State opens the 2012 season this weekend as it travels to the Palmetto State for three games in Spartanburg, S.C. ... The Cardinals open the season Friday against Dayton (at Wofford), followed by road games at USC Upstate Saturday and Wofford Sunday ... Ball State is entering is 92nd season of baseball in 2012 ... The Cardinals own a 1423-1353-14 record in 2,790 career games.
Under the guidance of second-year head coach Alex Marconi, Ball State is coming off a 15-35 record last season, including an 11-15 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... Dayton was picked third in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll after posting a 32-27 record last season and a 15-9 mark ... USC Upstate was tabbed to finish 10th in the Atlantic Sun this season after recording a 19-37 overall record and an 8-19 league record ... Wofford was chosen 10th in the Southern Conference this year after posting a 22-33 overall record and a 9-21 SoCON mark.
Series History . . .
Friday's game marks the 27th meeting all-time between Ball State and Dayton and the first of two meetings this season (Mar. 27) ... The Cardinals own a 19-7 record all-time against the Flyers, including wins in seven of the last eight meetings ... The two teams last met April 2, 2008 with the Cardinals notching a 4-2 victory at Ball Diamond.
Saturday's game marks the sixth meeting all-time between Ball State and Wofford with all games coming in Spartanburg ... The Cardinals hold a slim 3-2 advantage against the Terries, including a 9-4 victory in the last meeting March 4, 1996 ... Sunday's game marks the first ever meeting between Ball State and USC Upstate.
Probable Starters . . .
Ball State will send out the weekend rotation of senior right-hander Cal Bowling Friday against Dayton, sophomore left-hander Nestor Bautista Saturday at USC Upstate and sophomore right-hander T.J. Weir Sunday at Wofford.
Bowling returns to his Friday starter spot in the rotation for the second straight season ... He posted a 5-5 record and a 3.41 ERA in a team-high 89.2 innings of work last year ... He posted four complete games in 14 starts while striking out 48 and walking 31 batters.
Bautista moves into the starting rotation this year after making 14 appearances, with five starts, last season during his rookie campaign ... He posted an 0-5 record with a 9.11 ERA in 27.2 innings while striking out 19 and walking 12.
Weir rounds out the weekend rotation and is slated to be the Cardinals' starting shortstop both Friday and Saturday ... He made 12 appearances last season, including one start, while posting a 6.75 ERA in 20.0 innings ... He recorded 10 strikeouts and walked 10 batters.
Dayton will counter with right-hander Burny Mitchem who made 21 appearances with 12 starts last year ... Mitchem posted a team-low 2.07 ERA in a team-high 104.1 innings ... He recorded three complete games while striking out 88 and walking 23.
USC Upstate will send left-hander Scott DeCecco to the hill Saturday in the Cardinals' first true road game ... DeCecco posted 15 appearances last year with 11 starts ... He tallied a 7.94 ERA and a 1-7 record last spring while striking out 33 batters.
Wofford rounds out the weekend with right-hander Jesse Morris ... Morris saw action in 14 games out of the bullpen last season and owned a 6.65 ERA in 21.2 innings of work.
Cardinals Name Captains . . .
Second-year head coach Alex Marconi announced that senior right-hander Cal Bowling and junior right fielder Blake Beemer were chosen as team captains this year ... Bowling is the Cardinals' top starting pitcher with a team-high 14 starts last season and a team-high 89.2 innings ... Beemer played in 48 games last year with 43 starts as he recorded a .273 batting average with 21 runs scored.
Continue The Streak . . .
Senior second baseman Mitch Widau enters the 2012 season carrying a nine-game hitting streak over from last season ... Widau's nine-game streak was the longest for the Cardinals last year as he posted a .313 batting average in 46 games ... He tallied a career-high 15-game hitting streak during his sophomore campaign.
Sophomore shortstop T.J. Weir opens the season with a seven-game hitting streak ... Weir ended his rookie year with a .236 batting average a in 32 games.
Did You Know? . . .
Junior right fielder Blake Beemer will be appearing in his 100th career game this weekend ... Beemer has seen action 99 games during his first two years, including 88 career starts.
Summer Honors . . .
Sophomore outfielder Sean Godfrey was named to Baseball America's Top Prospect list for the 20 different summer college leagues and Team USA this summer ... Godfrey ranked as the ninth best prospect in the Cal Ripken League playing for the Southern Maryland Nationals ... He led his team and finished sixth in the league with a .357 batting average in 39 games over the summer ... He was tied for the league-lead in triples (3), second in the league in stolen bases (20), fifth in hits (51), fifth in doubles (9) and sixth in runs scored (28) ... He was named to the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL) All-Star Team as a starter and notched two hits in the game.
Sophomore left-hander Nestor Bautista was named the Most Valuable Player for his summer league team, the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters in the prestigious 16-team collegiate Northwoods League ... Bautista was chosen after a two-day online fan ballot of over 1,600 votes as he received 50.9% of the tally ... He made 13 starts for the Rafters and pitched a 69.2 innings, ranking second on the team ... He struck out 46 batters while posting a solid 3.75 ERA on the year ... He produced six quality starts (at least six innings pitched, allowing three earned runs or less) and he allowed more than three earned runs in only two of his 13 starts.
Looking Ahead . .
The Cardinals continue their season-opening 20-game road trip next weekend with a three-game series at UAB.
