Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
18-8, 0
Buffalo
6-14, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| Ball State Cardinals | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | X | 16 | 16 | 0 |
Baseball Improves to 5-1 in MAC with 16-8 Win
March 29, 2015 | Baseball
Ball State's baseball team's eight-run second inning highlighted by a Jarett Rindfleisch grand slam lifted the Cardinals to a 16-8 win over the visiting Buffalo Bulls Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, Ball State improved to 18-8 overall and 5-1 in the Mid-American Conference, while Buffalo fell to 6-14 overall and 2-4 in the MAC.
In his second at-bat of the second inning, Rindfleisch's home run marked his third of the season as it easily cleared the leftfield fence and gave the Cardinals an 8-0 lead. Rindfleisch, who had two singles, a triple and the grand slam in the game, posted the first four-hit game of his career.
A single by Matt Eppers early in the inning plated two Ball State runners, while a single by Sean Kennedy cleared the bases and tallied two runs-batted-in for Kennedy.
Buffalo mounted a rally in the third inning and scored two runs before B.J. Butler entered the game with one out and the bases loaded and struck out the next two Bulls' hitters to end the inning. Butler earned the win and improved to 3-2 on the year after pitching four innings and striking out seven.
The story of the game on the mound for Ball State was the performance of Mitch Gibson. In only his second career appearance, the freshman pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing only two hits and striking out three. Gibson pitched 0.1 innings in the second game Saturday against Buffalo for his first career showing.
In the bottom of the third, Alex Maloney hit his second HR of the season to increase the Cardinals' advantage to 9-2. Ball State returned to the scoring column in the fourth when Rindfleisch tripled and scored on and Elbert Devarie sacrifice fly to centerfield. Maloney doubled off the left centerfield fence to score Rindfleisch and Ball State led 11-2 after four innings.
Ball State added four more runs in the sixth. With no outs, the Cardinals got back-to-back singles from Alex Call and Rindfleisch. Devarie doubled to left centerfield to score Rindfleisch and then Colin Brockhouse singled through the infield to score Call and Ball State led 13-2.
With runners on the corners and one out, Eppers scored two runners on a single to leftfield and it was 15-2. The Cardinals added one more in the seventh to complete the victory at Ball Diamond in the First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
Ball State will host Valparaiso Tuesday at 3 p.m. and play at Indiana State Wednesday. The Cardinals will return to Mid-American Conference action Friday through Sunday when they host Akron.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Butler, BJ (3-2)
L: McGEE, Mike (2-2)
Batting:
2B: HAEFNER, Ben 1 ; DUDEK, Brian 1
RBI: HAEFNER, Ben 2 ; DUDEK, Brian 1 ; SHEPPARD, Bobby 1 ; ABRUNZO, Mike 2 ; VEY, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SINAY, Nick 2 ; DUDEK, Brian 1 ; SHEPPARD, Bobby 1 ; KWITZER, Chris 1 ; ABRUNZO, Mike 1 ; GONZALEZ, Justin 2
CS: SHEPPARD, Bobby 1
HBP: SHEPPARD, Bobby 1 ; MALLARO, Vinny 1
Batting:
2B: Devarie, Elbert 1 ; Maloney, Alex 1
3B: Rindfleisch, Jarett 1
HR: Rindfleisch, Jarett 1 ; Maloney, Alex 1
RBI: Kennedy, Sean 2 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 5 ; Devarie, Elbert 2 ; Brockhouse, Colin 1 ; Maloney, Alex 2 ; Estep, Brandon 2 ; Eppers, Matt 2
SF: Devarie, Elbert 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Spaulding, Ryan 2 ; Call, Alex 2 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 4 ; Devarie, Elbert 2 ; Brockhouse, Colin 2 ; Maloney, Alex 1 ; Estep, Brandon 1 ; Eppers, Matt 1
SB: Spaulding, Ryan 1
CS: Eppers, Matt 1
