Friday, March 16
Muncie, Ind.
3 p.m.
Ball State University
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Dayton
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Dayton
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Ball State
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Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Ball State Comes Up Just Short in Home Opener, 4-3
March 16, 2018 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. – Visiting Dayton spoiled the Ball State baseball team's home opener on a frigid Friday afternoon at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, 4-3.
Dayton's (4-8) starting pitcher Brandon Smith held the Cardinals' offense off-balance in 5.1 innings of work and also provided one of the biggest hits of the game. Smith broke a scoreless tie with a two-out, two-run double just over the third base bag in the third inning.
Takahiro Yamada gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead with his first home run of the year in the fourth inning.
After Dayton extended its lead to 4-0 in the sixth, Ball State (8-9) finally started to put together some hits. Four singles in the frame allowed the Cardinals to score twice and chase Smith. Junior Griffin Hulecki and senior Seth Freed tallied RBI hits to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Senior Jeff Riedel came through with an RBI single in the seventh to make the score 4-3. However, Dayton's bullpen retired Ball State in order in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the victory.
Sophomore pitcher John Baker suffered the hard-luck loss. The righty allowed all four runs, but also finished with a personal-high 14 strikeouts. The 14 strikeouts were the most by a Ball State pitcher since T.J. Weir also struck out 14 batters in a 3-2 win over Western Michigan on April 19, 2014.
The Cardinals continue their four-game series with a doubleheader at Dayton tomorrow. The two teams will conclude the series with a game back at Ball Diamond on Sunday.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Dayton's (4-8) starting pitcher Brandon Smith held the Cardinals' offense off-balance in 5.1 innings of work and also provided one of the biggest hits of the game. Smith broke a scoreless tie with a two-out, two-run double just over the third base bag in the third inning.
Takahiro Yamada gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead with his first home run of the year in the fourth inning.
After Dayton extended its lead to 4-0 in the sixth, Ball State (8-9) finally started to put together some hits. Four singles in the frame allowed the Cardinals to score twice and chase Smith. Junior Griffin Hulecki and senior Seth Freed tallied RBI hits to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Senior Jeff Riedel came through with an RBI single in the seventh to make the score 4-3. However, Dayton's bullpen retired Ball State in order in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the victory.
Sophomore pitcher John Baker suffered the hard-luck loss. The righty allowed all four runs, but also finished with a personal-high 14 strikeouts. The 14 strikeouts were the most by a Ball State pitcher since T.J. Weir also struck out 14 batters in a 3-2 win over Western Michigan on April 19, 2014.
The Cardinals continue their four-game series with a doubleheader at Dayton tomorrow. The two teams will conclude the series with a game back at Ball Diamond on Sunday.
For the most up-to-date information on the Ball State baseball team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateBB and @CoachMaloney.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SMITH, Brandon (1-1)
L: Baker, John (2-2)
S: NIXON, Josh (1)
Batting:
2B: SMITH, Brandon 1
HR: YAMADA, Takahiro 1
RBI: SMITH, Brandon 2 ; YAMADA, Takahiro 1
SH: WILSON, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MEEHAN, Pat 1 ; TIROTTA, Riley 1 ; YAMADA, Takahiro 1 ; MONTOYA, Bailey 1
SB: YAMADA, Takahiro 1 ; WILSON, Connor 1
Batting:
RBI: Riedel, Jeff 1 ; Hulecki, Griffin 1 ; Freed, Seth 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riedel, Jeff 1 ; Brockhouse, Colin 1 ; Navarro, Noah 1
SB: Kirkpatrick, Justin 1
HBP: Hulecki, Griffin 1 ; Kirkpatrick, Justin 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
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