Saturday, May 8
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Ball State University
28-14, 19-7
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Central Michigan
30-11, 22-4
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Ball State
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Central Michigan
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Cards Crush Central To Clinch Saturday Split
May 08, 2021 | Baseball
MT. PLEASANT, Michigan - After league-leading Central Michigan took the first two games of the biggest series of the season, the Ball State baseball team had a must-win scenario Saturday afternoon. Rallying behind Lukas Jaksich, the Cards put up five runs in the 1st inning and set the tone for a 13-3 win over Central. CMU won Saturday's first game 3-2.
PHOTO GALLERY (courtesy of Central Michigan Athletics)
"Our boys showed a lot of character in game two of our doubleheader today by persevering  after a difficult loss in game one," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Good teams stay the course and that is what our boys did today."
On the day, Nick Powell went 5-for-8 to up his team-leading season batting average to .336. Trenton Quartermaine had four hits and Justin Conant drove in four runs. The Cardinals (29-14, 20-7 MAC) out-hit the home team 23-6 with all 20 singles and three doubles. Ball State pitching held Central (30-12, 22-5) to five RBIs and a .150 average over the 14 innings.
GAME 1: Central Michigan 3, Ball State 2 (BOX SCORE)
Saturday's early game was tight throughout, with the two teams managing just six hits in a 3-2 Central Michigan win. Noah Navarro drove in both of Ball State's runs with a 2-run single in the top of the 5th. Powell had two hits but the Cards couldn't quite rally from a 3-0 deficit.Â
Central took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring two runs without getting a hit. CMU scored on two sac flies in the inning and starting pitcher Andrew Brown did the rest. He went 6.1 innings to improve to 8-3 and held the Cardinals at bay. Ball State had the tying run on 2nd base with no outs in the 6th but Brown got the next three outs. BSU put the leadoff man on again in the 7th but couldn't find the tying run.Â
GAME 2: Ball State 13, Central Michigan 3 (BOX SCORE)
After the tight loss, BSU would let fans rest easy in the second game. Ball State got five runs on six hits in the top of the 1st off of veteran starter Cameron Brown, and would ends up with nine runs over the first four innings. The Cards pounded out 19 hits, a season high. Powell and Ross Messina each had three hits and combined to score five runs. Conant had two hits, both of them driving in two runs each.
That was more than enough for Jaksich, now 7-1 on the year. He pitched 4.0 innings and allowed three runs, having a huge lead before he even entered the game. Ty Johnson got the final nine outs and struck out six. The loss was Brown's first of the year.Â
Central Michigan is two games up on BSU in the standings with 13 games left to play. Western Michigan is a distant 3rd place, six games out.
The series finale is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.Â
PHOTO GALLERY (courtesy of Central Michigan Athletics)
"Our boys showed a lot of character in game two of our doubleheader today by persevering  after a difficult loss in game one," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Good teams stay the course and that is what our boys did today."
On the day, Nick Powell went 5-for-8 to up his team-leading season batting average to .336. Trenton Quartermaine had four hits and Justin Conant drove in four runs. The Cardinals (29-14, 20-7 MAC) out-hit the home team 23-6 with all 20 singles and three doubles. Ball State pitching held Central (30-12, 22-5) to five RBIs and a .150 average over the 14 innings.
GAME 1: Central Michigan 3, Ball State 2 (BOX SCORE)
Saturday's early game was tight throughout, with the two teams managing just six hits in a 3-2 Central Michigan win. Noah Navarro drove in both of Ball State's runs with a 2-run single in the top of the 5th. Powell had two hits but the Cards couldn't quite rally from a 3-0 deficit.Â
Central took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring two runs without getting a hit. CMU scored on two sac flies in the inning and starting pitcher Andrew Brown did the rest. He went 6.1 innings to improve to 8-3 and held the Cardinals at bay. Ball State had the tying run on 2nd base with no outs in the 6th but Brown got the next three outs. BSU put the leadoff man on again in the 7th but couldn't find the tying run.Â
GAME 2: Ball State 13, Central Michigan 3 (BOX SCORE)
After the tight loss, BSU would let fans rest easy in the second game. Ball State got five runs on six hits in the top of the 1st off of veteran starter Cameron Brown, and would ends up with nine runs over the first four innings. The Cards pounded out 19 hits, a season high. Powell and Ross Messina each had three hits and combined to score five runs. Conant had two hits, both of them driving in two runs each.
That was more than enough for Jaksich, now 7-1 on the year. He pitched 4.0 innings and allowed three runs, having a huge lead before he even entered the game. Ty Johnson got the final nine outs and struck out six. The loss was Brown's first of the year.Â
Central Michigan is two games up on BSU in the standings with 13 games left to play. Western Michigan is a distant 3rd place, six games out.
The series finale is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: TAYLOR, A. (8-3)
L: McDermott, Chayce (7-2)
S: FRAZER, G. (3)
Batting:
2B: Tellier, Adam 1 ; Powell, Nick 1
RBI: Navarro, Noah 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Quartermaine, Trenton 1 ; Simpson, Aaron 1
Batting:
3B: GILLES, Z. 1
RBI: NAVARRA, G. 1 ; MARSEE, J 1 ; SHEPARDSON 1
SH: SIMPSON, J. 1 ; GILLES, Z. 1 ; ROLLIN, C. 1
SF: NAVARRA, G. 1 ; MARSEE, J 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CAMILLETTI 1 ; SIMPSON, J. 1 ; ROLLIN, C. 1
SB: SIMPSON, J. 1
HBP: CAMILLETTI 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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3
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1
RBI
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AB
4
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1
RBI
2
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3
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Players Mentioned
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