Saturday, April 3
Muncie, Ind.
11 a.m.
Ball State University
14-9
10
vs
1
Butler
5-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Butler
0
0
0
0
1
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0
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Ball State
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X
10
14
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Photo by: Maeve Bradfield/Ball State Athletics
Cardinals Take Two from Butler to Sweep Series
April 03, 2021 | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team pulled away from Butler in game one Saturday and exploded offensively in the final innings of game two to sweep a doubleheader at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
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In so doing, the Cardinals (15-9) swept this weekend's three-game series from the Bulldogs (5-9) in a weekend away from Mid-American Conference play.
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"I thought in the second game, we just kept battling," BSU head coach Rich Maloney said. "We got a lot of guys in, and I thought the guys that came in did a good job."
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Decker Scheffler went 4-for-6 with a home run and four RBIs on the day, while Nick Powell went 4-for-8 with two home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored. Nine different BSU players drove in runs over the two games.
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Game 1 | Ball State 10, Butler 1
In four-game league series this year, Chayce McDermott and Lukas Jaksich have started the Saturday doubleheader games. With just three games this weekend, the pair teamed up in game one of this twinbill.
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McDermott – the reigning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week – struck out eight without allowing a hit in the first four innings. Then Jaksich worked the next four, striking out six and surrendering just one run. Trennor O'Donnell came on to work a hitless ninth to finish it out.
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Ball State jumped on top with two runs in the third inning and then added two more in the fourth on a double from Adam Christianson. The Cardinals later put the game away with a five-spot in the sixth, highlighted by Powell's three-run homer.
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Ross Messina and Trenton Quartermaine each drove in two runs in the win.
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Game 2 | Ball State 16, Butler 10
Ball State utilized almost every available player in this one, with 14 position players and eight pitchers seeing action. The Cardinals had big innings early and late to pull through for the sweep.
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Ball State led 4-2 after the first inning, but the Butler bats got going and pushed the Bulldogs ahead 8-6 through six. Then the BSU offense came back to life.
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Mack Murphy's pinch-hit, two-RBI single sparked a four-run seventh inning that put the Cardinals back on top 10-8. It was short-lived, as Butler pushed across a pair in the top of the eighth to tie it up. But the Cardinals kept churning out runs in the bottom of the inning. BSU batted around and scored six runs, two on a base hit from Christianson and three on a home run from Scheffler.
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Luke Schafer came out of the bullpen in the ninth to send Butler down in order to end it. The Cardinals also got strong relief performances from guys like Sam Klein and Mac Ayres to keep them in position for the win.
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Ball State returns to conference play next weekend, traveling to Akron for the first of back-to-back road weekends. The four-game series begins Friday.
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In so doing, the Cardinals (15-9) swept this weekend's three-game series from the Bulldogs (5-9) in a weekend away from Mid-American Conference play.
Â
"I thought in the second game, we just kept battling," BSU head coach Rich Maloney said. "We got a lot of guys in, and I thought the guys that came in did a good job."
Â
Decker Scheffler went 4-for-6 with a home run and four RBIs on the day, while Nick Powell went 4-for-8 with two home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored. Nine different BSU players drove in runs over the two games.
Â
Game 1 | Ball State 10, Butler 1
In four-game league series this year, Chayce McDermott and Lukas Jaksich have started the Saturday doubleheader games. With just three games this weekend, the pair teamed up in game one of this twinbill.
Â
McDermott – the reigning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week – struck out eight without allowing a hit in the first four innings. Then Jaksich worked the next four, striking out six and surrendering just one run. Trennor O'Donnell came on to work a hitless ninth to finish it out.
Â
Ball State jumped on top with two runs in the third inning and then added two more in the fourth on a double from Adam Christianson. The Cardinals later put the game away with a five-spot in the sixth, highlighted by Powell's three-run homer.
Â
Ross Messina and Trenton Quartermaine each drove in two runs in the win.
Â
Game 2 | Ball State 16, Butler 10
Ball State utilized almost every available player in this one, with 14 position players and eight pitchers seeing action. The Cardinals had big innings early and late to pull through for the sweep.
Â
Ball State led 4-2 after the first inning, but the Butler bats got going and pushed the Bulldogs ahead 8-6 through six. Then the BSU offense came back to life.
Â
Mack Murphy's pinch-hit, two-RBI single sparked a four-run seventh inning that put the Cardinals back on top 10-8. It was short-lived, as Butler pushed across a pair in the top of the eighth to tie it up. But the Cardinals kept churning out runs in the bottom of the inning. BSU batted around and scored six runs, two on a base hit from Christianson and three on a home run from Scheffler.
Â
Luke Schafer came out of the bullpen in the ninth to send Butler down in order to end it. The Cardinals also got strong relief performances from guys like Sam Klein and Mac Ayres to keep them in position for the win.
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Ball State returns to conference play next weekend, traveling to Akron for the first of back-to-back road weekends. The four-game series begins Friday.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McDermott, Chayce (4-1)
L: SCHULTZ (0-3)
Batting:
2B: TAYLOR 1 ; BENNETT 1 ; ORTEGA 1
RBI: ORTEGA 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TAYLOR 1
CS: MCGRATH 1
Batting:
2B: Quartermaine, Trenton 1 ; Messina, Ross 1 ; Scheffler, Decker 1 ; Christianson, Adam 1 ; Conant, Justin 1
HR: Powell, Nick 1
RBI: Tellier, Adam 1 ; Quartermaine, Trenton 2 ; Messina, Ross 2 ; Powell, Nick 3 ; Christianson, Adam 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Tellier, Adam 2 ; Quartermaine, Trenton 1 ; Murphy, Mack 1 ; Messina, Ross 1 ; Powell, Nick 1 ; Simpson, Aaron 1 ; Scheffler, Decker 1 ; Conant, Justin 2
SB: Peltier, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
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OF/1B
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