Ball State University
8-7
Western Carolina
1-14
Cardinals Hang On, Complete Sweep Over Western Carolina
March 10, 2018 | Baseball
Ball State quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to piling on six runs in the top of the third inning. Freshman Rhett Wintner had a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double to spark the frame. The very next batter, freshman Drey Jameson, tallied his first collegiate home run to make the score, 6-0. Junior William Baker capped the inning with an RBI single.
Western Carolina (1-14) slowly fought its way back in the game with a run in the fourth, followed by two more runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Trailing 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Catamounts made one last charge. Matthew Koehler's RBI groundout cut the deficit to 9-6. With two outs and the bases loaded, Justin Sparks came through with a single to right center to plate two more runs and put the tying run on third. However, freshman reliever Cody Freed got WCU's Caleb Robinson to pop out to third to end the game.
Eight of the nine Cardinals in the starting lineup tallied a hit. Seniors Seth Freed and Justin Kirkpatrick each posted two hits and two runs scored. Kirkpatrick's two-out RBI double in the eighth inning proved to be the deciding run.
Freshman starting pitcher Kyle Nicolas (2-1) registered his season win of the season. The righty posted a stat line of 5.1 innings pitched, seven strikeouts and three earned runs allowed.
Ball State's next contest is slated for Wednesday, March 14 at Butler. Game time is set for 4 p.m. The Cardinals will play their home opener this coming Friday, March 16 against Dayton.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nicolas, Kyle (2-1)
L: Taylor Purus (0-4)
S: Freed, Cody (1)
Batting:
2B: Riedel, Jeff 1 ; Kirkpatrick, Justin 1 ; Wintner, Rhett 1
HR: Jameson, Drey 1
RBI: Baker, William 1 ; Kirkpatrick, Justin 1 ; Ricotta, John 1 ; Wintner, Rhett 3 ; Jameson, Drey 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Riedel, Jeff 1 ; Baker, William 1 ; Hulecki, Griffin 1 ; Freed, Seth 2 ; Kirkpatrick, Justin 2 ; Wintner, Rhett 1 ; Jameson, Drey 1
SB: Kirkpatrick, Justin 1
HBP: Riedel, Jeff 1
Batting:
2B: Caleb Robinson 1
HR: Luke Robinson 1
RBI: Matthew Koehler 2 ; Justice Bigbie 1 ; Luke Robinson 1 ; Bo Fricks 1 ; Justin Sparks 2 ; Cameron Blaquiere 1
SF: Bo Fricks 1 ; Cameron Blaquiere 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Will Prater 1 ; Matthew Koehler 2 ; Justice Bigbie 1 ; Luke Robinson 1 ; Caleb Robinson 1 ; Cameron Blaquiere 2
SB: Caleb Robinson 1
HBP: Luke Robinson 1 ; Cameron Blaquiere 1
