Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Opens MAC Play This Weekend At Akron
March 22, 2012 | Baseball
Friday @ 3 p.m. - RHP Cal Bowling vs. RHP Andrew Brown
Saturday @ 1 p.m. - RHP T.J. Weir vs. LHP Pay Dyer
Sunday @ 1 p.m. - TBA vs. RHP Alex Loftin
What's On Tap . . .
The Ball State baseball team opens Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against MAC East Division foe Akron ... The series will be played at Canal Park, the home of the Akron Aeros - the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians ... Admission to all games if free ... The teams will open MAC play Friday at 3 p.m. while also playing Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
MAC Openers . . .
This weekend marks the 39th season of Mid-American Conference baseball for Ball State ... The Cardinals own a 58-52 record all-time in MAC season-opening series dating back to 1974 ... Ball State has been strong recently in MAC opening series as the Cardinals are 16-5 over the past seven seasons ... In fact, since the 1995 season, Ball State is 36-13 in conference opening weekends.
Last season, the Cardinals took two out of three against Ohio in Muncie to open league play ... Ball State won the series opener with a 2-1 victory and also posted a 1-0 victory in Sunday's rubber game ... The Cardinals' pitching staff allowed just six runs in the three-game series, limiting Ohio to a .132 batting average.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Akron have played 40 times prior to this weekend's three-game series with the Cardinals owning a 24-16 record against the Zips ... The Cardinals are 20-8 against the Zips over the past nine series, including taking two out of three in 2009 ... That year, Ball State posted a 3-2 victory on Friday, dropped a 10-8 decision Saturday before claiming the series with a 5-1 Sunday victory.
Ball State is 12-10 all-time in games played in Akron and will be making its first trip in the series since 2006 ... The Cardinals took two out of three in 2006 with back-to-back wins Saturday and Sunday after dropping the series opener.
Probable Starting Pitchers . . .
Ball State will send senior right-handed pitcher Cal Bowling to the hill Friday afternoon in the Mid-American Conference opener while sophomore right-hander T.J. Weir will get the ball Saturday ... The Cardinals have not named a starter for Sunday ... Akron will counter with right-hander Andrew Brown Friday, left-hander Pat Dyer Saturday and right-hander Alex Loftin Sunday.
Bowling will be making his sixth start of the season, all on Fridays, as he owns a 2-1 record with a 3.35 ERA ... He has worked a team-high 37.2 innings and has struck out 30 batters while walking nine ... Last weekend, he worked 6.2 innings against No. 21 Louisville and allowed five runs on seven hits while picking up his first loss of the season.
Weir, the Cardinals' starting shortstop, will be making his fifth start of the season ... He has an 0-4 record with a 9.74 ERA in 20.1 innings as he has struck out 16 and walked seven batters ... Last weekend against nationally ranked Louisville, he allowed nine runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings.
Brown will be making his sixth start of the season for the Zips and owns a 2-3 record with a 7.33 ERA ... He has worked a team-high 27.0 innings and has struck out 19 while walking 11 ... Last weekend, he worked 7.0 innings in the victory over Fairfield and allowed four runs on six hits.
Dyer will be making his fourth start of the season and sixth appearance Saturday ... He has a 1-1 record with a 4.82 ERA in 18.2 innings as he has struck out six and walked 13 batters ... Last weekend, he got a no decision against North Dakota State as he worked 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on two hits.
Loftin will be making his third start of the season and his seventh appearance Sunday ... He has a 1-0 record with a 2.95 ERA in 18.1 innings as he has struck out 14 and walked seven batters ... Last time out, he picked up the victory over Chicago State working 5.0 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits in the Zips' 14-5 victory.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 3-12 record after dropping all three games at No. 21 Louisville last weekend ... The Cardinals own victories this season against Dayton, Missouri and Middle Tennessee ... Ball State has scored 55 runs this season and owns a .248 batting average while opponents have scored 113 runs and boast a .301 batting average.
Senior second baseman Mitch Widau leads the team with a .304 batting average and is third on the team with 14 hits ... Widau is also tied for the team lead with eight RBI ... Freshman Elbert Devarie is second on the team with a .302 batting average as he has posted 13 hits in 11 starts ... Sophomore T.J. Weir leads the team with 16 hits and is tied for the team lead with eight RBI.
In the bullpen, Chris Marangon leads the team with six appearances and owns a 7.04 ERA in 15.1 innings ... Marangon has posted the Cardinals' lone save this season and has an 0-2 record on the year ... Sophomore Jacob Brewer has appeared in five games and has a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings ... Left-hander Jon Cisna has appeared in six games and has a 7.71 ERA in 4.2 innings of work.
Scouting Akron . . .
Akron enters the weekend with a 6-13 overall record and will be hosting its first home games of the season this weekend ... The Zips own victories over Youngstown State, Xavier, Pittsburg, Fairfield, Chicago State and West Virginia ... Akron has scored 88 runs this season and own a .261 batting average as a team ... Opponents are batting .305 against the Zips and have scored 131 runs.
Darius Washington leads the team with a .393 batting average in eight games ... Tyler Begun has a .361 batting average in all 19 games and leads the team with 26 hits, 15 runs scored, seven doubles and three home runs ... Sam Trecaso leads the team with 14 RBI and has a .295 batting average.
In the bullpen, Scott Foster has a 3.32 ERA in six appearances as he has worked 19.0 innings and has struck out 16 ... Danny Fawcett and Jason McPeek lead Akron with eight appearances each ... Fawcett owns a 6.75 ERA in 9.1 innings while McPeek has an 8.1 ERA in 10.1 innings ... Dan Becks has a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings of relief for the Zips.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State wraps up its season-opening 19-game road swing Tuesday afternoon as it travels to Dayton for a non-conference contest ... The Cardinals hold their home opener Wednesday afternoon as they host Indiana State at 3 p.m. at Ball Diamond ... Ball State hosts reigning Mid-American Conference champion Kent State next weekend in a three-game series.
