Ball State University
25-17
Northern Kentucky
15-27
Ball State Baseball Defeats Northern Kentucky, 13-1
April 26, 2016 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. – Alex Call hit a pair of home runs and four Ball State pitchers combined to shut down Northern Kentucky in a 13-1 baseball victory Tuesday at the First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
Third baseman Sean Kennedy went 3-for-3 at the plate as the Cardinals improved to 25-17 overall and 6-1 in non-conference home games. Northern Kentucky fell to 15-27.
Ball State starter Evan Korson worked five innings, holding the Norse to one unearned run on two hits. He struck out seven on his way to the win. Nick Floyd, David Current and Evan Marquardt combined to hold NKU scoreless the rest of the way.
Northern Kentucky found the scoreboard first in the second inning, but Ball State proceeded to score 13 unanswered runs.
The Cardinals evened the score in the bottom of the second on a Kennedy sacrifice fly following a Matt Eppers triple. The home team took the lead an inning later on Call's solo shot to deep center field. Call then hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run fourth inning as Ball State took control.
The Cardinals put the game out of the reach two innings later with six runs in the sixth. They sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring on RBI singles from Alex Maloney, Ryan Spaulding and Kennedy. Roman Baisa had a sacrifice fly, and Ball State also scored on a walk and hit batter with the bases loaded.
Eppers capped the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth inning. He joined Spaulding, Maloney and Call with two hits each in the game.
Call became the second Ball State player to hit two home runs in a game this season, joining Jarett Rindfleisch who hit two at LSU. Call now has eight home runs on the season, tied with Caleb Stayton for the most on the team.
Floyd and Maverick Bacon made their Ball State debuts Tuesday. Floyd pitched two scoreless innings, while Bacon had an RBI single in the fourth.
Ball State hits the road this weekend as it returns to Mid-American Conference play with a three-game series at Buffalo. Game one is slated for Friday at 3 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Korson, Evan (2-2)
L: MENFEE,Jordan (0-2)
Batting:
RBI: BOHLEN,Brad 1
SH: MONTGOMERY,Tito 1 ; LEDGER,Conor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MOFFATT,Mike 1
HBP: SPURLIN,Logan 1 ; VAGNIER,Anthony 1
Batting:
2B: Eppers, Matt 1
3B: Eppers, Matt 1
HR: Call, Alex 2
RBI: Call, Alex 4 ; Stayton, Caleb 1 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 1 ; Spaulding, Ryan 1 ; Eppers, Matt 2 ; Kennedy, Sean 2 ; Bacon, Maverick 1 ; Baisa, Roman 1
SF: Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Baisa, Roman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Call, Alex 3 ; Maloney, Alex 1 ; Stayton, Caleb 1 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 1 ; Spaulding, Ryan 2 ; Eppers, Matt 1 ; Kennedy, Sean 2 ; Bacon, Maverick 2
SB: Maloney, Alex 2 ; Spaulding, Ryan 1 ; Kennedy, Sean 1
HBP: Call, Alex 1 ; Maloney, Alex 1 ; Rindfleisch, Jarett 1
