Play Ball! Baseball Opener is This Weekend

Game #1 – Ball State vs. UMass Lowell
Friday, Feb. 16, noon
Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Game #2 – Ball State vs. Morehead State
Saturday, Feb. 17, 11 a.m.
Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Game #3 – Ball State vs. UMass Lowell
Saturday, Feb. 17, 5 p.m.
Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Game #4 – Ball State vs. Morehead State
Sunday, Feb. 18, 11:30 a.m.
Live Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Projected Starting Pitchers (2017 stats)
Game #1 – John Baker, RHP (5-2, 4.28 ERA, 62 Ks)
Game #2 – Nolan Gazouski, RHP (n/a)
Game #3 – Kyle Nicolas, RHP (n/a)
Game #4 – TBA

Around the Horn
Opening Pitch: Ball State baseball will have lots of new faces in the field this year. Only three projected starters in the field were starters on last year's team. The new-look Cardinals will have to replace 78.8 percent of their home runs (26 of 33), 61.0 percent of their RBIs (188 of 308) and 60.5 of their runs scored (207 of 342) from a year ago. Senior 2B Seth Freed is the top returnee is each of those categories – 3 HR, 31 RBIs and 39 runs scored.

Series History: This will be the first ever meeting between Ball State and UMass Lowell. Ball State is 4-0 all-time against current America East teams. The Cardinals last faced an America East team in March 2015 and defeated Maine, 8-7.

The Cardinals are 3-0 all-time against Morehead State. The teams last met in the second game of the 2014 season in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Ball State broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the seventh inning for a 7-5 victory.

This and That: Some random stats for the week …
• This is the 13th consecutive year the Cardinals have made a trip to the Palmetto state for early season baseball.
• There are 15 newcomers on the roster this season, the most in coach Rich Maloney's tenure at Ball State.
• Ball State led the Mid-American Conference in doubles last year (110) and also ranked second in runs scored (342) and triples (17).
• The Cardinals were 20-1 when recording at least 10 hits in 2017.
• Ball State lost its first six league games a year ago. The Cardinals then won 14 of their final 18 MAC games to finish tied for second in the MAC West.

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Players Mentioned

John Baker

Seth Freed

Nolan Gazouski

Kyle Nicolas