Ball State University
22-22, 9-9
Northern Illinois
14-28, 8-7
Cardinals Can’t Hold Off NIU in Series Finale
April 30, 2017 | Baseball
The game was halted in the seventh inning yesterday due to rainy conditions with hopes of completing the game today. However, the weather did not cooperate and the game was made official Sunday morning.
The bottom of the Ball State (22-22, 9-9 MAC) lineup provided an offensive spark early in the game. Junior Jeff Riedel put the Cardinals on the board with a two-run double in the second inning. One inning later, sophomore Trent Theisen tallied a two-out, two-run double of his own to extend the Ball State cushion to 5-0.
Northern Illinois (14-28, 8-7) rallied in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings off the Cardinals bullpen. The Huskies capitalized on five singles, three walks and two wild pitches to score six times in the fifth. Two costly Ball State errors in the sixth inning allowed Northern Illinois to tack on two more runs to make the score, 9-5.
The Cardinals made a charge in the seventh as Riedel, sophomore Zach Milam and senior Matt Eppers notched RBIs to cut the deficit to one 9-8. Senior Caleb Stayton came to the plate with the tying run on third, but could not push it across.
NIU quickly answered in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two more times before the game was halted.
Riedel led the Cardinals with two hits and three RBIs. Theisen reached base four times thanks to a hit and three walks. Sophomore Griffin Hulecki chipped in with three hits and scored twice.
For Northern Illinois, Tommy Hook and Samuel Vega combined for four hits, five RBIs and four runs scored.
This was the second straight year Northern Illinois took two of three games from the Cardinals.
Ball State returns home to First Merchants Ballpark Complex next weekend with a three-game series against Toledo. Game one is scheduled for Friday, May 5, 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: Ryne Blanton (2-1)
L: Baker, T.J. (1-2)
S: George Faue (3)
Batting:
2B: Hulecki, Griffin 1 ; Theisen, Trent 1 ; Riedel, Jeff 1
RBI: Eppers, Matt 1 ; Theisen, Trent 2 ; Riedel, Jeff 3 ; Milam, Zach 1
SF: Milam, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stayton, Caleb 1 ; Kennedy, Sean 1 ; Freed, Seth 2 ; Hulecki, Griffin 2 ; Theisen, Trent 1 ; Riedel, Jeff 1
Batting:
2B: Jason Gasser 1
RBI: Tommy Hook 3 ; Samuel Vega 2 ; Jacob Dunham 1 ; Jesus Tovar 1 ; Roderick Bynum 1
SF: Tommy Hook 1 ; Jacob Dunham 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tommy Hook 2 ; Samuel Vega 2 ; Jacob Dunham 1 ; Jesus Tovar 1 ; Joe Jumonville 1 ; Roderick Bynum 1 ; Jason Gasser 2 ; Brad Wood 1
SB: Samuel Vega 2
CS: Roderick Bynum 1
