Friday, May 7
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
3 p.m.
Ball State University
at
Central Michigan
First-Place Showdown For Cardinals Baseball
May 06, 2021 | Baseball
| Ball State (28-12, 19-5Â MAC) at Central Michigan (28-11, 20-4 MAC) | |
| Dates | Friday-Sunday |
| Times | Baseball Schedule  |  Friday 3 pm start, 1 pm on weekend days |
| Location | Theunissen Stadium - Mt. Pleasant, Mich. |
| Game Notes | Ball State   |  CMU Preview |
| Live Stats | BallStateSports.com |
| Social Media | Twitter  |   Instagram |
| Live Video | BallStateSports.com (links on schedule page) |
The biggest series of the MAC baseball regular season is this weekend when the Ball State baseball team travels to Central Michigan with first place on the line. No other team is within five games of either team in the standings.
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Ball State (19-5 MAC) trails Central by one game heading into the weekend. The two teams had been tied until last Sunday. CMU, on an 8-game win streak, is coming off a sweep over Miami while BSU has won seven of eight and won a series at Bowling Green.
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The two teams met in the 2019 conference tournament final, where Central won the tournament for the first time since 1995. Central Michigan started league play 0-2 this year but is 20-2 since then. A weekend split at CMU keeps the Cardinals a game back, while winning the series puts BSU alone in first place.
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Following this weekend's games, Ball State has Kent State at home May 14-16.
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What To Know For This Weekend
-- Aaron Simpson, a career .272 hitter with 38 extra-base hits at BSU, knows Central's shortstop pretty well. His younger brother, Justin, starts for CMU and is hitting .317 with 33 runs and 33 RBIs.RELATED: Simpson Series (via LATimes.com)
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-- Ross Messina is on an 8-game hitting streak, a span where he's hitting .500 (14-for-28) with 11 runs and nine RBIs.
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-- Ball State has six everyday players hitting .303 or better, the most in the conference. Central has four guys hitting .317 or better, to BSU's five.
Tale of the Tape: BSU vs. CMU (MAC Ranking)
| CATEGORY | BALL STATE | CENTRAL MICHIGAN |
| Team Batting Avg. | .277 (T-3rd) | .277 (T-3rd) |
| Runs / Game | 6.25 (3rd) | 7.41 (1st) |
| Hits / Game | 8.88 (2nd)Â Â Â Â | 8.41 (4th) |
| Walks / Game | 4.42 (2nd) | 6.46 (1st) |
| Team OBP | .383 (2nd) | .424 (1st) |
| Team Slugging | .402 (5th) | .372 (7th) |
| Stolen Bases | 48-63 (3rd) | 50-62 (2nd) |
| Team ERA | 3.89 (3rd) | 3.24 (1st) |
| Hits / 9 Innings | 7.72 (5th) | 7.29 (1st) |
| Ks / 9 Innings | 10.98 (2nd) | 9.32 (4th) |
| Batting Avg Allowed | .234 (3rd) | .223 (1st) |
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Players Mentioned
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