Ball State University
27-24
Western Carolina
26-24
Western Carolina Downs Ball State, 7-4
May 13, 2017 | Baseball
Western Carolina (26-24) trailed 3-2 after four innings, but scored in every inning down the stretch except the sixth to earn its second straight win over Ball State (27-24).
Bowman's sacrifice fly ball in the seventh inning put the Catamounts up for good, 4-3. He later homered to left center field in the top of the ninth to extend Western Carolina's lead to 6-3.
Ball State's bats went silent against WCU's bullpen in the fifth through eighth innings. However, the Cardinals made a last-inning charge in the bottom of the ninth. Senior Matt Eppers and junior Jeff Riedel singled to put two runners on with two outs. A walk to sophomore Trent Theisen and then another walk to junior Seth Freed pushed across a run. Pinch hitter Joe Gunn tried to extend the rally, but grounded out sharply to second base.
Western Carolina pitcher Dylan Biumi earned the win in relief thanks to throwing 3.2 innings and holding Ball State to one run. WCU leadoff hitter Brett Pope notched three hits and scored twice.
For Ball State, senior Alex Maloney walked twice and scored three times. Riedel piled up three hits while Eppers and fellow senior Caleb Stayton each recorded RBI singles.
Ball State will honor its eight seniors tomorrow before the series and home finale. First pitch of Sunday's game is set for 1 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, including schedule updates for this weekend's series, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dylan Biumi (2-0)
L: Floyd, Nick (2-1)
S: Korey Anderson (4)
Batting:
2B: Brett Pope 1 ; Bryson Bowman 1 ; Matt Smith 2 ; Spencer Holcomb 1
HR: Bryson Bowman 1
RBI: Bryson Bowman 3 ; Matt Smith 1 ; Nobu Suzuki 1 ; Matthew Koehler 1 ; Cameron Blaquiere 1
SH: Andrew Robinson 1
SF: Bryson Bowman 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brett Pope 2 ; Bryson Bowman 2 ; Matt Smith 2 ; Matthew Koehler 1
SB: Brett Pope 1
CS: Cameron Blaquiere 1
HBP: Matt Smith 1
Batting:
2B: Brockhouse, Colin 1
RBI: Eppers, Matt 1 ; Stayton, Caleb 1 ; Riedel, Jeff 1 ; Freed, Seth 1
SH: Baisa, Roman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Maloney, Alex 3 ; Eppers, Matt 1
SB: Maloney, Alex 1
CS: Riedel, Jeff 1
HBP: Bolton, Erek 1
