Wednesday, May 24
Avon, Ohio (Sprenger Stadium)
8:30 pm
Ball State University
vs
Ohio
Cardinals Aim for MAC Title This Week
May 23, 2017 | Baseball
Game #57 – No. 5 Ohio vs. No. 4 Ball State
Wednesday, May 24, 8 p.m.
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)
Game #58 –No. 4 Ball State vs. No. 8 Toledo
Thursday, May 25, 1 p.m.
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)
Game #59 – No. 4 Ball State vs. TBA
Friday, May 26, TBA
Projected Starting Pitchers
Wednesday – Colin Brockhouse, RHP (3-2, 4.11 ERA, 33 Ks)
Thursday – TBA
Friday – TBA
Around the Horn
Opening Pitch: Ball State opens the 2017 MAC Tournament against the No. 5 seed, Ohio. The Bobcats swept Ball State in Muncie in early April. Ball State hit just .202 (19-of-84) and recorded only five RBIs in the series. Ohio was the only MAC team to toss a shutout against the Cardinals, winning on April 2 by a score of 10-0.
Also on Ball State's half of the bracket are No. 1 Kent State and No. 8 Toledo. Kent State swept the Cardinals the opening weekend of league play. Ball State won all three games versus Toledo a few weeks ago.
Expected to start on the mound in Wednesday's opener is RHP Colin Brockhouse. The junior came back to Ball State after being selected in the 37th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft. Brockhouse did not pitch during the Ohio series as he was battling an injury. His best outing of 2017 came against West Virginia when he went 8.0 innings, struck out nine batters and held WVU to two runs.
Tournament History: Ball State's lone tournament title came 11 years ago (2006) when the Cardinals won four straight games over Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Kent State (twice).
This is the fifth straight year Ball State has qualified for the MAC Tournament. The Cardinals advanced to the title game in 2015 and 2013 under head coach Rich Maloney. The Cardinals are 7-7 the last four years in the MAC Tournament.
The last time Ball State and Ohio met in the MAC Tournament was the 2015 championship game. Ohio pulled out a 6-2 win to claim the tournament title. Senior INF Alex Maloney went 3-for-4 with a double and scored both Ball State runs in that game.
Series History vs. Ohio: Seven Ohio batters hit better than .300 in the series sweep over Ball State this year.
In the 2016 series, senior C/1B Caleb Stayton hit .454 against Ohio with two home runs and seven RBIs. One of his home runs was a grand slam. The Cardinals won two of three games a year ago.
Ohio leads the all-time series, 63-46.
Series History vs. Kent State: Kent State's Luke Burch hit .500 against Ball State with five runs scored and three stolen bases in this year's series. The Golden Flashes hit four home runs in the three-game sweep.
INF Seth Freed went 5-for-9 (.556) against Kent State with a triple, home run and three runs scored. INF Sean Kennedy tallied three doubles and hit .417 (5-of-12) in that series.
Kent State leads the series, 67-52.
Series History vs. Toledo: OF Roman Baisa (.600), OF Matt Eppers (.500) and INF Seth Freed (.455) all hit better than .450 against Toledo earlier this month. Eppers notched a walk-off single in the 7-6 win on May 7.
On the mound, junior RHP Brendan Burns tossed 5.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win in the 10-5 victory on May 6.
Ball State leads the all-time series, 71-58.
Wednesday, May 24, 8 p.m.
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)
Game #58 –No. 4 Ball State vs. No. 8 Toledo
Thursday, May 25, 1 p.m.
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)
Game #59 – No. 4 Ball State vs. TBA
Friday, May 26, TBA
Projected Starting Pitchers
Wednesday – Colin Brockhouse, RHP (3-2, 4.11 ERA, 33 Ks)
Thursday – TBA
Friday – TBA
Around the Horn
Opening Pitch: Ball State opens the 2017 MAC Tournament against the No. 5 seed, Ohio. The Bobcats swept Ball State in Muncie in early April. Ball State hit just .202 (19-of-84) and recorded only five RBIs in the series. Ohio was the only MAC team to toss a shutout against the Cardinals, winning on April 2 by a score of 10-0.
Also on Ball State's half of the bracket are No. 1 Kent State and No. 8 Toledo. Kent State swept the Cardinals the opening weekend of league play. Ball State won all three games versus Toledo a few weeks ago.
Expected to start on the mound in Wednesday's opener is RHP Colin Brockhouse. The junior came back to Ball State after being selected in the 37th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft. Brockhouse did not pitch during the Ohio series as he was battling an injury. His best outing of 2017 came against West Virginia when he went 8.0 innings, struck out nine batters and held WVU to two runs.
Tournament History: Ball State's lone tournament title came 11 years ago (2006) when the Cardinals won four straight games over Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Kent State (twice).
This is the fifth straight year Ball State has qualified for the MAC Tournament. The Cardinals advanced to the title game in 2015 and 2013 under head coach Rich Maloney. The Cardinals are 7-7 the last four years in the MAC Tournament.
The last time Ball State and Ohio met in the MAC Tournament was the 2015 championship game. Ohio pulled out a 6-2 win to claim the tournament title. Senior INF Alex Maloney went 3-for-4 with a double and scored both Ball State runs in that game.
Series History vs. Ohio: Seven Ohio batters hit better than .300 in the series sweep over Ball State this year.
In the 2016 series, senior C/1B Caleb Stayton hit .454 against Ohio with two home runs and seven RBIs. One of his home runs was a grand slam. The Cardinals won two of three games a year ago.
Ohio leads the all-time series, 63-46.
Series History vs. Kent State: Kent State's Luke Burch hit .500 against Ball State with five runs scored and three stolen bases in this year's series. The Golden Flashes hit four home runs in the three-game sweep.
INF Seth Freed went 5-for-9 (.556) against Kent State with a triple, home run and three runs scored. INF Sean Kennedy tallied three doubles and hit .417 (5-of-12) in that series.
Kent State leads the series, 67-52.
Series History vs. Toledo: OF Roman Baisa (.600), OF Matt Eppers (.500) and INF Seth Freed (.455) all hit better than .450 against Toledo earlier this month. Eppers notched a walk-off single in the 7-6 win on May 7.
On the mound, junior RHP Brendan Burns tossed 5.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win in the 10-5 victory on May 6.
Ball State leads the all-time series, 71-58.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C/1B
/ BaseballBaseball // 5 AM Workouts
Tuesday, August 26
Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Baseball // Day 1 MAC Tournament Recap: Win vs. EMU
Thursday, May 22