Baseball Advances in MAC Tourney with Thursday Win

Thursday, May 21

Avon, Ohio

8:00 PM

Ball State University

32-23

Akron

26-29

Akron

Ball State Cardinals

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May 22, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Ball State Athletics

In the Mid-American Conference Tournament, Ball State's baseball team used a two-out, two-run rally in the seventh inning and a Jarett Rindfleisch two-run home run in the eighth to claim a 9-6 win over Akron Thursday.

With the victory in a game that ended at nearly 1 a.m., the Cardinals advance to the semifinals and will have Friday off before facing the winner of a Friday 4:30 p.m. game pitting Akron and Toledo. Ball State will play its semifinal contest Saturday at 1 p.m. at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

With two outs in the seventh, Scott Tyler reached first on an Akron error and Matt Eppers made the Zips pay with a double off the left field wall to score Tyler and tie the game at 6-6. Alex Maloney came to the plate with two down and laced a single to right to score Eppers and give Ball State a 7-6 advantage.

Alex Call opened the eighth with a bloop single that was misplayed by Akron's second baseman and Rindfleisch ripped his two-run blast over the leftfield wall to give Ball State a commanding 9-6 lead.

Akron started the games scoring and led 2-0 early in the game, but in the top of the third Eppers led off the inning with his seventh triple of the season when his line drive sailed over the center fielders head to start the Cardinals first scoring threat. Maloney hit a sacrifice fly to left center to score Eppers and close the gap to 2-1.

In the bottom half of the fifth and the Zips leading 3-1, Eppers led off with an infield single and with one out, Elbert Devarie hit a line shot up the middle to put runners on first and second. Call dropped a single into right field to score Eppers and pull the Cardinals within 3-2. With runners on first and third, Rindfleisch walked to load the bases for Ryan Spaulding. And two pitches later, Spaulding's shot down the left field line scored two and Ball State took its first lead of the game at 4-3.

The Zips responded to the Cardinals taking the lead and scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.

With two outs in the sixth, Devarie double down the left field line and Call followed it up with a double just past the third baseman that scored Devarie and pulled the Cardinals within one run at 6-5 and set the stage for Ball State's late-inning heroics.

In a game that saw Ball State use five pitchers, Colin Brockhouse got the win and improved to 4-0 on the season. Brockhouse entered in the fifth inning and went two frames, allowing no hits and striking out four. Scott Baker, who made only his fourth relief appearance in 14 games this season, earned his second save of the year. He pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out one to close the door on the Zips.

Eppers highlighted the Cardinals offensively with a single, double and triple in his four at-bats, scoring three runs and knocking in one. Devarie, Call and Spaulding tallied two hits apiece in the win.