Ball State University
32-25
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Western Michigan
19-31
Ball State Falls in MAC Tourney Opener, 5-1
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
AVON, Ohio – Western Michigan's Nick Vogelmeier came up with the hit of the game, a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and lift the Broncos to a 5-1 win over the Ball State baseball team in the opening round of the 2016 Mid-American Conference Tournament Wednesday afternoon.
Ball State (32-25), the tournament's No. 2 seed, now faces an elimination game tomorrow against No. 6 seed Central Michigan (21-36). First pitch at All Pro Freight Stadium is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
Western Michigan (19-31) starting pitcher Keegan Akin, who entered the game ranked 13th nationally in ERA (1.68) and seventh in strikeouts (113), went 7.2 innings, struck out seven batters and only allowed one unearned run.
The Cardinals got the leadoff batter on base in the second, third and fourth innings, but could not push across a run. Junior Alex Call, the MAC Player of the Year, nearly hit a two-run home run in the third inning, however the ball hooked just foul along the left field line.
Ball State starter BJ Butler matched Akin on the mound for the first six innings. The righty worked out of a jam in the first inning with back-to-back strikeouts. In the sixth, Butler picked off a runner on second base to end another WMU scoring threat.
Butler was one strike away from working out of a major jam in the seventh inning. Thanks to a double, hit batter and passed ball, the Broncos had runners on second and third with nobody out. Butler responded with two straight strikeouts and had two strikes on Vogelmeier when he singled through the left side to score both runners.
Trevor Allison notched an RBI single in the eighth to extend Western Michigan's lead to 3-0. Ball State finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth. The Cardinals plated an unearned run and had a chance to score more, but left two runners on base.
Ball State brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. Unfortunately, senior Scott Tyler flew out to deep right center field with the bases loaded to end the game.
The Cardinals were held to their lowest run total since a 5-1 loss to Bowling Green on April 22.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: AKIN, Keegan (6-3)
L: Butler, BJ (6-1)
S: PIECHOTA, Jacob (3)
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Batting:
2B: SMITH, Connor 1 ; NELSON, Evan 1
RBI: VOGELMEIER, Nick 2 ; MILLER, Grant 2 ; ALLISON, Tanner 1
SH: MILLER, Grant 1 ; PRINCE, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SMITH, Connor 1 ; MILLER, Grant 1 ; NELSON, Evan 1 ; GOODWIN, Alex 1 ; HENDERSON, Conner 1
HBP: GOODWIN, Alex 1
PO: SMITH, Connor 1
Batting:
SH: Baisa, Roman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bacon, Maverick 1
HBP: Bacon, Maverick 1
