Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
19-8
Valparaiso
9-14
Baseball Improves to 19-8 Win with Tuesday Victory
March 31, 2015 | Baseball
Ball State's baseball team improved to 19-8 with a 13-4 non-conference win over Valparaiso Tuesday at Ball Diamond in the First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
The Cardinals took the early 2-0 lead on Jarett Rindfleisch's fourth home run of the year in the first inning, but a three-run fourth inning and a total of seven runs in the seventh and eighth frames put the game away.
Trevor Henderson started the game on the mound for Ball State and went 4.2 innings, striking out six, before Colin Brockhouse came on in relief and got the victory to improve to 2-0. Brockhouse pitched the final 4.1 innings, allowing only one earned run on four hits and striking out six of the 17 batters he faced.
After the early 2-0 lead, Valparaiso rallied back to take a 3-2 advantage through 3.5 innings, but Alex Maloney led off the Ball State half of the fourth with a double down the left field line to get the Cardinals three-run inning started. Scott Tyler singled just past the first baseman and with runners on first and second and one out, Sean Kennedy doubled down the left field line to score Maloney and tie the game at 3-3. Ryan Spaulding, who was 3-for-3 on the day, ripped a single to left to clear the bases and Ball State took a 5-3 advantage through four innings.
With one out in the sixth inning, Kennedy tripled to right center field and Spaulding laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Kennedy and Ball State's lead increased to 6-3.
In the seventh, Rindfleisch doubled to lead off the inning and Elbert Devarie hit his fourth HR of the year over the right field fence to put the Cardinals ahead 8-3. Brockhouse followed with a double to right center field and Tyler's single scored him to put Ball State ahead 9-3.
Devarie, who was 2-for-4 on the day with four runs-batted-in, added a two-run double in the eighth to put the Cardinals ahead 11-4. Maloney's sacrifice fly scored Devarie and a Matt Eppers' RBI double gave Ball State the final 13-4 advantage.
Ball State returns to action Wednesday with a non-conference game at Indiana State before returning to the friendly confines of Ball Diamond for a Friday through Sunday Mid-American Conference series vs. Akron. Wednesday's game is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium in Terre Haute, Ind.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brockhouse, Colin (2-0)
L: Foreman, Ellis (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Lodden, Nolan 1 ; Clark, Josh 1 ; Johnson, Mark 1
RBI: Lodden, Nolan 2 ; Palace, Nate 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mahoney, Spencer 1 ; Edwards, Jeff 1 ; Johnson, Mark 2
SB: Edwards, Jeff 1
HBP: Molitor, Shea 1
Batting:
2B: Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 1 ; Devarie, Elbert 1 ; Brockhouse, Colin 1 ; Maloney, Alex 1 ; Eppers, Matt 1
3B: Kennedy, Sean 1
HR: Rindfleisch, Jarett 1 ; Devarie, Elbert 1
RBI: Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Spaulding, Ryan 3 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 2 ; Devarie, Elbert 4 ; Maloney, Alex 1 ; Tyler, Scott 1 ; Eppers, Matt 1
SH: Spaulding, Ryan 1
SF: Maloney, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy, Sean 3 ; Spaulding, Ryan 1 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 2 ; James, Jarrett 1 ; Devarie, Elbert 2 ; Brockhouse, Colin 2 ; Maloney, Alex 1 ; Tyler, Scott 1
