Baseball Suffers 11-7 Loss at Kent State

Sunday, April 12

Kent, Ohio

1:00 PM

Ball State University

22-12, 8-4

Kent State

19-12, 8-4

Ball State Cardinals

Kent State

April 12, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Ball State Athletics

Ball State's baseball team suffered an 11-7 loss at Kent State Sunday to fall to 22-12 overall and 8-4 in the Mid-American Conference. With the victory, MAC East Division leader Kent State improved to 19-12 overall and 8-4 in league action.

Central Michigan improved to 10-2 in league play after the weekend MAC games to move two games in front of the Cardinals in the MAC West Division. Ball State returns to action with a home non-conference game Wednesday vs. Butler and then returns to MAC play Friday through Sunday at Eastern Michigan.

Ball State used five pitchers in Sunday's loss and B.J. Butler was credited with the loss to even his record at 3-3. Butler pitched 2.1 innings, allowing only one earned run, but was the pitcher of record when Kent State took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth.

After the Cardinals managed one run in the first and one in the second to take a 2-0 lead, the Golden Flashes tallied two in the bottom half of the second to tie the game at 2-2. Kent State then rallied for three in the fourth, one in the sixth and five in the eighth, while holding Ball State scoreless until a five-run ninth inning closed the gap to 11-7.

Elbert Devarie and Matt Eppers managed Ball State's only extra base hits of the game with a double and triple, respectively. Ryan Spaulding ended the day with a 3-for-5 performance with two runs-batted-in and one run scored. Alex Call tallied a 1-for-4 showing from the plate with two RBI. Devarie was 2-for-5 on the day.

Eppers got Ball State started in the first inning with a triple to right center field and scored on Spaulding's single through the left side. The Cardinals added another run in the second when Devarie doubled down the left field line, advanced to third on a Colin Brockhouse single through the left side of the infield and scored on a Scott Tyler ground out.

In the ninth, Ball State managed five runs on three hits and one Kent State error to narrow the gap, but could not finish off the Golden Flashes. Spaulding had an RBI single, while Call's single scored two runners.