Saturday, April 24
Muncie, Ind.
12 p.m.
Ball State University
24-11, 0
6
vs
5
Northern Illinois
7-26, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Northern Illinois
0
0
3
0
0
0
2
5
11
1
Ball State
0
5
0
1
0
0
X
6
5
3
Photo by: Jacob Musselman
Messina's Homer The Big Shot In 6-5 Victory
April 24, 2021 | Baseball
MUNCIE - The Ball State baseball team beat the rain and Northern Illinois Saturday, as Ross Messina's 3-run homer lifted the MAC-leading Cards to a 6-5 win. The second game of the doubleheader was postponed to Sunday due to potential rainy conditions. Sunday's series finales will be a 1 p.m. ET.
THE KEY INNING: The Cardinals (24-11, 15-4 MAC) got five runs in the bottom of the 2nd, gaining a huge advantage in a 7-inning game. With two outs, a walk by Justin Conant kept the inning alive, and literally on the next pitch Adam Tellier delivered an RBI single to make it 1-0. A wild pitch would score Conant for the second run before Messina pulled a no-doubter out to left to make it 5-0.Â
Tellier added an RBI groundout later in the game to give BSU a 6-3 lead. That ended up being an important run because NIU (7-26, 6-13) rallied in the 7th inning.
HELD OUR GROUND AT THE END: BSU led 6-3 when NIU strung together a series of hits. Three singles and an error allowed the visitors to pull within 6-4. Two more singles made it 6-5 and NIU had runners on 2nd and 3rd. Three different pitchers worked the final frame for BSU, with freshman Sam Klein getting the final two outs for his first career save.
ON THE MOUND: Ty Johnson pitched 4.0 innings into the 7th in relief of starter Lukas Jaksich. Johnson was in control most of the day until finding trouble in the final inning. He struck out six with no walks and retired 12 of the 15 batters he faced. Andre Orselli came in to close before giving way to Klein, who struck out two pinch hitters to end the game with NIU threatening to tie or lead.
BIG PICTURE LOOKING AHEAD: BSU, at 15-4 in league play, remains in first place. The Cardinals are tied with Central Michigan, which won twice on Saturday. Ball State is at Bowling Green next weekend and at Central Michigan May 7-9.
THE KEY INNING: The Cardinals (24-11, 15-4 MAC) got five runs in the bottom of the 2nd, gaining a huge advantage in a 7-inning game. With two outs, a walk by Justin Conant kept the inning alive, and literally on the next pitch Adam Tellier delivered an RBI single to make it 1-0. A wild pitch would score Conant for the second run before Messina pulled a no-doubter out to left to make it 5-0.Â
Tellier added an RBI groundout later in the game to give BSU a 6-3 lead. That ended up being an important run because NIU (7-26, 6-13) rallied in the 7th inning.
HELD OUR GROUND AT THE END: BSU led 6-3 when NIU strung together a series of hits. Three singles and an error allowed the visitors to pull within 6-4. Two more singles made it 6-5 and NIU had runners on 2nd and 3rd. Three different pitchers worked the final frame for BSU, with freshman Sam Klein getting the final two outs for his first career save.
ON THE MOUND: Ty Johnson pitched 4.0 innings into the 7th in relief of starter Lukas Jaksich. Johnson was in control most of the day until finding trouble in the final inning. He struck out six with no walks and retired 12 of the 15 batters he faced. Andre Orselli came in to close before giving way to Klein, who struck out two pinch hitters to end the game with NIU threatening to tie or lead.
BIG PICTURE LOOKING AHEAD: BSU, at 15-4 in league play, remains in first place. The Cardinals are tied with Central Michigan, which won twice on Saturday. Ball State is at Bowling Green next weekend and at Central Michigan May 7-9.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Johnson, Ty (4-2)
L: MCPHERSON, Brandon (2-3)
S: Klein, Sam (1)
Batting:
2B: DUNHAM, Jake 1
RBI: DUNHAM, Jake 2 ; LONTEEN, Dylan 2 ; HUEBBE, Brady 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JOYCE, Brendan 2 ; SMITH, Kam 2 ; DUNHAM, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Navarro, Noah 1
HR: Messina, Ross 1
RBI: Tellier, Adam 2 ; Messina, Ross 3
SH: Conant, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tellier, Adam 1 ; Navarro, Noah 1 ; Messina, Ross 1 ; Quartermaine, Trenton 1 ; Sebby, Chase 1 ; Conant, Justin 1
HBP: Powell, Nick 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP/DH
/ BaseballSS
/ BaseballBaseball // 5 AM Workouts
Tuesday, August 26
Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Baseball // Day 1 MAC Tournament Recap: Win vs. EMU
Thursday, May 22