Saturday, March 18
Muncie, Ind.
12 pm
Ball State University
9-8
6
vs
0
Dayton
5-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Dayton
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Ball State
1
0
0
0
3
0
0
2
X
6
5
0
Senior RHP BJ Butler
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Baseball Opens Home Slate with Doubleheader Sweep
March 18, 2017 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team took a pair of games from Dayton Saturday afternoon at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, 6-0 and 4-3.
Senior right-handed pitcher BJ Butler picked up his first collegiate complete game shutout in the opener. The native of Mattawan, Michigan, held Dayton (5-10) to just four singles over nine innings. His toughest inning came in the fourth when Nick Ryan led off with a single and then stole second. A walk with two outs put runners on first and second, but Butler ended the threat with a strikeout. Butler equaled his career high with nine strikeouts. He is the first Ball State (10-8) pitcher to throw a complete game shutout since Zach Plesac beat Miami (Ohio) on March 26, 2016.
Fellow senior Sean Kennedy provided most of the offense in game one. The infielder went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Kennedy put Ball State on the board in the first inning with a double just inside the third base line. He extended Ball State's lead to 4-0 in the fifth with a bases loaded two-out, two-run single. Sophomore Griffin Hulecki added a two-run double off the right field wall in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.
In game two, the Cardinals jumped out in front 3-0 thanks to two runs in the first and a single tally in the second. However, the Flyers eventually battled back to even the score at 3-all in the fifth inning. Bailey Montoya led off the top of the fifth with his first home run of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2. Dayton scored another run later in the frame off Brandon Smith's high chopper to the left side of the infield with the bases loaded.
Ball State reliever Brendan Burns kept Dayton from scoring any more runs in the fifth behind back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded.
The Cardinals scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth when senior Alex Maloney drove a ball to the left field wall to score sophomore Roman Baisa from first base. Sophomore reliever T.J. Baker worked out of a jam in the eighth with a ground ball double play and then retired the Flyers in order in the ninth to earn his second save.
Maloney equaled his personal best with four hits, including two doubles, in the second game. Baisa notched two hits and scored twice.
Rich Maloney recorded his 400th career victory as the Ball State head coach in game one. He is now 401-245-1 (.620) in 12 seasons with the Cardinals.
Ball State and Dayton will conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader at Dayton tomorrow, March 19. First pitch is set for noon.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Senior right-handed pitcher BJ Butler picked up his first collegiate complete game shutout in the opener. The native of Mattawan, Michigan, held Dayton (5-10) to just four singles over nine innings. His toughest inning came in the fourth when Nick Ryan led off with a single and then stole second. A walk with two outs put runners on first and second, but Butler ended the threat with a strikeout. Butler equaled his career high with nine strikeouts. He is the first Ball State (10-8) pitcher to throw a complete game shutout since Zach Plesac beat Miami (Ohio) on March 26, 2016.
Fellow senior Sean Kennedy provided most of the offense in game one. The infielder went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Kennedy put Ball State on the board in the first inning with a double just inside the third base line. He extended Ball State's lead to 4-0 in the fifth with a bases loaded two-out, two-run single. Sophomore Griffin Hulecki added a two-run double off the right field wall in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.
In game two, the Cardinals jumped out in front 3-0 thanks to two runs in the first and a single tally in the second. However, the Flyers eventually battled back to even the score at 3-all in the fifth inning. Bailey Montoya led off the top of the fifth with his first home run of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2. Dayton scored another run later in the frame off Brandon Smith's high chopper to the left side of the infield with the bases loaded.
Ball State reliever Brendan Burns kept Dayton from scoring any more runs in the fifth behind back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded.
The Cardinals scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth when senior Alex Maloney drove a ball to the left field wall to score sophomore Roman Baisa from first base. Sophomore reliever T.J. Baker worked out of a jam in the eighth with a ground ball double play and then retired the Flyers in order in the ninth to earn his second save.
Maloney equaled his personal best with four hits, including two doubles, in the second game. Baisa notched two hits and scored twice.
Rich Maloney recorded his 400th career victory as the Ball State head coach in game one. He is now 401-245-1 (.620) in 12 seasons with the Cardinals.
Ball State and Dayton will conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader at Dayton tomorrow, March 19. First pitch is set for noon.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Butler, BJ (2-2)
L: CLINE, Austin (1-3)
Base Running:
SB: RYAN, Nick 2
CS: COUGHLIN, Mitch 1
HBP: COUGHLIN, Mitch 1
PO: COUGHLIN, Mitch 1
Batting:
2B: Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Hulecki, Griffin 1
RBI: Maloney, Alex 1 ; Kennedy, Sean 3 ; Hulecki, Griffin 2
SH: Riedel, Jeff 1 ; Kirkpatrick, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Eppers, Matt 1 ; Baisa, Roman 2 ; Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Freed, Seth 1 ; Gunn, Joe 1
HBP: Baisa, Roman 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
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RHP
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP/C
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/ Baseball
RHP
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