Cardinals Welcome Central Michigan to First Merchants Ballpark Complex

Game #25 – Central Michigan at Ball State
Friday, March 30, 3 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Game #26 – Central Michigan at Ball State
Saturday, March 31, 1 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Game #27 – Central Michigan at Ball State
Sunday, April 1, 1 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateBB)

Projected Starting Pitchers (2018 stats)
Friday – John Baker, RHP (3-2, 3.89 ERA, 55 Ks)
Saturday – Kyle Nicolas, RHP (2-3, 4.20 ERA, 31 Ks)
Sunday – TBD

Around the Horn
Opening Pitch: After taking on the MAC preseason favorite Kent State last weekend, Ball State is now set to take on the 2017 MAC West champion and preseason number two pick Central Michigan this weekend. The Chippewas return 11 of 12 pitchers and six positional starters from their 2017 team that went 16-8 in league play.

The Cardinals are on a pretty good roll entering play Friday, winning five of their last six games. In that stretch, Ball State is hitting .289 while holding the opposition to a .195 batting average. Thirteen Cardinals have an RBI in the last six games, led by SS Noah Powell and OF Colin Brockhouse, who each have six RBIs.

Series History: Ball State has not won a home series against Central Michigan since 2007. The Chippewas have won four straight series at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.

However, Ball State won two of three games at CMU last year. 2B Seth Freed went 6-for-10 (.600) with three RBIs and three runs scored in that series. OF Jeff Riedel hit .400 (4-for-10) and scored four times.

Central Michigan leads the all-time series by a count of 93-58.

This and That: Some random stats heading into the weekend …

• Ball State only went 11-10 in home games last year and 6-6 against MAC foes.

• Fourteen of Ball State's 16 home runs have come when a runner has been on base. Ball State has hit a home run in four of its last five games and is 9-1 when hitting a home run this season.

• The Cardinals equaled a season high with eight walks in their most recent game against Valpo on March 26.

• SS Noah Powell has multiple hits in four straight games. The Cardinals are 9-3 when he starts at shortstop.

Cardinals Welcome Central Michigan to First Merchants Ballpark Complex

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Players Mentioned

John Baker

Colin Brockhouse

Seth Freed

Kyle Nicolas

Noah Powell

Jeff Riedel