Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Ohio For Three-Game Series
April 12, 2012 | Baseball
What's On Tap . . .
Ball State returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend as it travels to Athens, Ohio for a three-game series against the Ohio Bobcats ... The two teams will play Friday night at 6 p.m., Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Wren Stadium ... All three games will have live stats available at www.ballstatesports.com/livestats ... Additionally, updates will be posted on Twitter @BallUBaseball.
Probable Starting Pitchers . . .
Ball State will send sophomore right-hander T.J. Weir to the hill Friday evening ... The Cardinals have not named a starter for either Saturday or Sunday due to the injury to senior right-hander Cal Bowling, who will miss his start this weekend ... Bowling leads the Mid-American Conference in innings pitched at 58.0 ... Ohio will counter with senior left-hander Brent Choban Friday and senior right-hander Jason Moulton Saturday ... The Bobcats have also not named a starter for Sunday's series finale.
Weir will be making his ninth appearance of the season and eighth start of the season ... He has a 1-5 record with a 6.58 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched ... He has struck out 33 batters while walking 10 ... He has worked 13.2 innings in his last two starts, including posting 6.1 shutout innings in the victory over Miami last weekend ... He limited the RedHawks to seven hits while striking out seven batters.
Choban will be making his ninth start of the season ... He has a 4-2 record with a 2.75 ERA in a team-high 55.2 innings ... He has struck out 30 while walking 17 ... Last weekend, he picked up the Friday victory with 6.2 innings of work at Northern Illinois allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three batters.
Moulton will also be making his ninth start of the season ... He has a 2.09 ERA in 43.0 innings pitched while striking out 35 and walking 11 ... Last weekend, he posted a victory over NIU working 4.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits.
Series History . . .
Ball State and Ohio have met 96 times prior to this weekend's three-game series ... The Cardinals trail the all-time series by a 55-41 margin but have won five out of the last seven meetings, including series victories last year in Muncie and in Athens in 2010.
Last season, the Cardinals posted a 2-1 victory Friday and a 1-0 win Sunday while Ohio recorded a 5-4 victory Saturday ... Outfielder Blake Beemer posted a .625 batting average (5-of-8) over the three games, including a pair of doubles ... The story of the series was the Cardinals' pitching staff that allowed three earned runs on just 12 hits in the three games ... Right-hander Cal Bowling posted a complete game two-hitter Friday while left-hander Devin Wilburn recorded his first career save posted 3.0 shutout innings Sunday.
Ohio was led last season by Ethan Newton and Garrett Black who posted two hits apiece ... Jason Moulton picked up a loss for the Bobcats despite working 8.0 innings and allowing just one run on three hits ... Brent Choban had a no decision as he allowed three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings.
RPI Numbers . . .
Despite the Cardinals' 7-23 overall record, Ball State owns the seventh highest NCAA RPI number in the Mid-American Conference at 228 ... The Cardinals trail Kent State (121), Miami (139), Eastern Michigan (166), Western Michigan (190), Toledo (207) and Central Michigan (222) ... Ball State boasts a higher RPI in the MAC than Northern Illinois (236), Ohio (247), Buffalo (249), Akron (254) and Bowling Green (270).
The Cardinals' RPI of 228 is in large part due to 10 non-conference games against teams in the top 100 of the RPI and 22 total games so far this season against teams in the top 150 of the RPI ... Ball State's non-conference schedule included games against No. 12 Purdue, No. 51 Tennessee, No. 52 Indiana State, No. 60 Louisville (3), No. 79 USC-Upstate, No. 98 Middle Tennessee (3), No. 110 Missouri (3) and No. 117 UAB (3).
Coaching Comparison . . .
Ball State head coach Alex Marconi enters his second season at the helm ... Marconi posted a 15-35 record last year after working for five years as an assistant coach for BSU under former head coach Greg Beals (Ohio State).
Ohio is led by 24-year head coach Joe Carbone ... Carbone owns a 645-598-2 record during his career in Athens.
Scouting The Cardinals . . .
Ball State enters the weekend with a 7-23 overall record and a 3-6 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... Last weekend, the Cardinals posted a series victory over Miami, recoding wins Friday and Saturday ... Ball State has scored 112 runs (3.7 runs/game) and is batting .245 as a team ... Opponents have scored 234 runs (7.8 runs/game) while notching a .305 batting average as a team.
Junior center fielder Wes Winkle leads the team with a .287 batting average ... Winkle is second on the team with 29 hits and third with 11 runs scored ... Senior Mitch Widau is second on the team with a .286 batting average and junior Blake Beemer places third at .280 ... Sophomore T.J. Weir leads the team with 30 hits while classmate Cody Campbell has driven in a team-high 11 runs.
In the bullpen, left-hander Devin Wilburn leads the team with 13 appearances ... Wilburn owns a 6.62 ERA in 17.2 innings and has posted one save ... Right-hander Chris Marangon leads the team with two saves and has a 4.85 ERA in 29.2 innings as he has made 12 appearances ... Left-hander Jon Cisna also has appeared in 12 games with a 5.65 ERA in 14.1 innings.
Scouting The Bobcats . . .
Ohio enters the weekend with a 16-16 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The Bobcats swept Northern Illinois last weekend while posting a series win over Eastern Michigan and a loss to Toledo ... Ohio has scored 199 runs (6.2 runs/game) this season and is batting .291 as a team ... Opponents have scored 163 runs (5.1 runs/game) and are batting .266 as a team.
Jake Madsen leads the team with a .373 batting average and 47 hits ... Jensen Painter leads the Bobcats with 11 home runs, 10 doubles, 31 RBI, 29 runs scored and a .694 slugging percentage ... Ethan Newton is second on the team with 41 hits while leading the team with 29 runs scored, 10 doubles and 13 stolen bases.
In the bullpen, Shane Cole is tied for the team lead with 17 appearances ... Cole has a 1.98 ERA in 27.1 innings while posting two saves ... Marck Paliotto has also appeared in 17 games ... Paliotto has a 3.18 ERA in 17.0 innings pitch ... Brett Barber leads the team with four saves as he has a 2.45 ERA in 29.1 innings pitched ... Barber has struck out 22 while walking four.
Looking Ahead . . .
Ball State returns home to Ball Diamond for four straight games next week as it hosts Northwestern Ohio Tuesday and Eastern Michigan next weekend in a three-game series.
