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Ball State University
25-13, 9-3
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Ball State Earns Series Win At MAC Leader Miami
April 21, 2019 | Baseball
Cardinals play Tuesday night at Victory Field
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami's conference lead is down to one game. The Ball State baseball team did what no other MAC team has done yet this year - beat Miami in a 3-game series.Â
After winning a suspended game 3-2 on Friday/Saturday, the Cardinals split a Sunday doubleheader with Miami to improve to 9-4 in league play.
John Baker dominated Miami in the Sunday opener to clinch the series, leading the Cards to a 6-1 win. Ball State led for much of the finale before Miami rallied in the 7th inning to win 7-5.
RELATED: Buy Ball State-IU Victory Field Tickets
For the day, Ross Messina went 4-for-9 with 3 RBIs and Aaron Simpson also had 4 hits.Â
Here's what happened in each game of the Easter Sunday doubleheader:
GAME 1: Ball State 6, Miami 1 (Box Score | Twitter Thread)
Baker dominated Miami in Sunday's noon game that clinched the series win. He pitched 8 shutout innings and the Cardinals bats gave the junior right-hander a lead Miami wouldn't threaten. Baker struck out 8 while scattering 6 hits and 4 walks. He was really only pushed when Miami loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th. In that inning, Baker rolled a 1-2-3 double play and then got the next batter on a check swing to get out of the inning.Â
Baker improved to 5-1 with the win, picking up his 3rd conference win in 4 league starts. Baker is now 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 26 innings against MAC competition.
The top third of BSU's order did the damage, as Simpson, Noah Navarro and Messina combined to go 6-for-12 and score 3 runs. Each had an XBH and the trio combined for 4 RBIs. Simpson's RBI triple in the 2nd gave BSU a 3-0 lead and then Navarro pushed a single through the right side to make it 4-0. Simpson added an RBI single in the 9th to provide the final score. Ball State scored twice on sac flies.
GAME 2: Miami 7, Ball State 5 (Box Score | Twitter Thread)
Miami went for 5 runs in the 6th and 7th innings to erase a Ball State lead and salvage the last game 7-5. Ball State got quality innings out of Mike Pachmayer, who pitched 4.2 innings in relief. The Cardinals led 5-2 before the host RedHawks had the crooked innings.
Messina went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and made a spectacular running grab in right field in the game. Sprinting in foul territory, he flipped over the fence and made a sensational play. He had a double in each game and now has a league-best 18 doubles. Justin Conant went 2-for-3 and had a 2-run triple that gave Ball State an early lead.Â
Miami (30-9, 11-4) got 5.0 innings of scoreless relief pitching and held off the Cardinals once it took the lead late.Â
Ball State (25-14, 9-4) will be the home team Tuesday night against Indiana at Victory Field. Game time in downtown Indy is 7 p.m. The Cardinals then host Bowling Green next weekend at Ball Diamond. Fans can follow on Twitter and Instagram at @BallStateBB.
After winning a suspended game 3-2 on Friday/Saturday, the Cardinals split a Sunday doubleheader with Miami to improve to 9-4 in league play.
John Baker dominated Miami in the Sunday opener to clinch the series, leading the Cards to a 6-1 win. Ball State led for much of the finale before Miami rallied in the 7th inning to win 7-5.
RELATED: Buy Ball State-IU Victory Field Tickets
For the day, Ross Messina went 4-for-9 with 3 RBIs and Aaron Simpson also had 4 hits.Â
Here's what happened in each game of the Easter Sunday doubleheader:
GAME 1: Ball State 6, Miami 1 (Box Score | Twitter Thread)
Baker dominated Miami in Sunday's noon game that clinched the series win. He pitched 8 shutout innings and the Cardinals bats gave the junior right-hander a lead Miami wouldn't threaten. Baker struck out 8 while scattering 6 hits and 4 walks. He was really only pushed when Miami loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th. In that inning, Baker rolled a 1-2-3 double play and then got the next batter on a check swing to get out of the inning.Â
Baker improved to 5-1 with the win, picking up his 3rd conference win in 4 league starts. Baker is now 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 26 innings against MAC competition.
The top third of BSU's order did the damage, as Simpson, Noah Navarro and Messina combined to go 6-for-12 and score 3 runs. Each had an XBH and the trio combined for 4 RBIs. Simpson's RBI triple in the 2nd gave BSU a 3-0 lead and then Navarro pushed a single through the right side to make it 4-0. Simpson added an RBI single in the 9th to provide the final score. Ball State scored twice on sac flies.
GAME 2: Miami 7, Ball State 5 (Box Score | Twitter Thread)
Miami went for 5 runs in the 6th and 7th innings to erase a Ball State lead and salvage the last game 7-5. Ball State got quality innings out of Mike Pachmayer, who pitched 4.2 innings in relief. The Cardinals led 5-2 before the host RedHawks had the crooked innings.
Messina went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and made a spectacular running grab in right field in the game. Sprinting in foul territory, he flipped over the fence and made a sensational play. He had a double in each game and now has a league-best 18 doubles. Justin Conant went 2-for-3 and had a 2-run triple that gave Ball State an early lead.Â
Miami (30-9, 11-4) got 5.0 innings of scoreless relief pitching and held off the Cardinals once it took the lead late.Â
Ball State (25-14, 9-4) will be the home team Tuesday night against Indiana at Victory Field. Game time in downtown Indy is 7 p.m. The Cardinals then host Bowling Green next weekend at Ball Diamond. Fans can follow on Twitter and Instagram at @BallStateBB.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ALMQUIST (4-0)
L: Pachmayer, Mike (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Messina, Ross 1
3B: Conant, Justin 1
RBI: Messina, Ross 2 ; Conant, Justin 2 ; Blankenberger, Tim 1
SF: Blankenberger, Tim 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Baker, William 1 ; Murphy, Mack 1 ; Conant, Justin 2 ; Powell, Noah 1
SB: Simpson, Aaron 1
CS: Baker, William 1
HBP: Conant, Justin 1
Batting:
RBI: WINKLER 1 ; VOGELGESANG 2 ; STEPHENS, L 1 ; ELVERS 1
Base Running:
RUNS: VOGELGESANG 1 ; STEPHENS, L 1 ; STEPHENS, J 1 ; ELVERS 1 ; ANDREWS 1 ; MASSMAN 2
PO: ELVERS 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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3
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2
H
2
RBI
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AB
5
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3
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Players Mentioned
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