Saturday, February 17
Charleston, S.C.
4 PM
Ball State University
2-1
2
vs
1
Merrimack
0-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Merrimack
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
4
1
Ball State
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
6
0
Walkoff Single and Freshman Pitching Highlight Cardinals' Wn Over Merrimack
February 17, 2024 | Baseball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Dylan Grego's walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning catapulted Ball State to a 2-1 victory over Merrimack College on Saturday afternoon in Game 2 of a doubleheader at the Swig & Swine Classic at Shipyard Park.
Each team managed just a single run in the fifth inning of a pitcher's duel, common in the first college baseball weekend with live pitching. But with a tie score in the bottom of the ninth, catcher and cleanup hitter Hunter Dobbins stroked a ground-rule double to left-center to lead off the inning and two pitches later, Grego delivered a single to right to drive in the deciding run.
The game was dominated by pitching and strikeouts – 17 K's by Merrimack batters and six by the Cardinals. Ball State (2-1) starter Keegan Johnson, a freshman from Frederick, Maryland, making his first college appearance, whiffed nine Warriors batters over 4.2 innings pitched. Another freshman, Zach Kwasny from Mokena, Ill., threw the final 4.1 innings and struck out eight more to earn the win.
The freshman duo made a nice statement for the future of the Cardinals' pitching staff. Only twice last season did the Mid-American Conference champions manage more than 17 strikeouts by its pitching staff.
Dobbins and Grego both batted 2-of-4 on the day, accounting for four of the Cardinals' six hits. Dobbins and Michael Hallquist each doubled to account for Ball State's only extra base hits.
In the first game of the day, Ball State fell 5-0 to No. 20 Iowa and Marcus Morgan's nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings pitched. The Cardinals got a pair of base hits in the fifth inning, by Dobbins and Hallquist, but couldn't move a run across the plate. The Hawkeyes did most of their damage with three runs in the top of the fifth, and single runs in the third and eighth innings.
The six-team Swig & Swine Classic continues and concludes on Sunday. Ball State meets Michigan State at 9:00 a.m. in their tournament finale.
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Each team managed just a single run in the fifth inning of a pitcher's duel, common in the first college baseball weekend with live pitching. But with a tie score in the bottom of the ninth, catcher and cleanup hitter Hunter Dobbins stroked a ground-rule double to left-center to lead off the inning and two pitches later, Grego delivered a single to right to drive in the deciding run.
The game was dominated by pitching and strikeouts – 17 K's by Merrimack batters and six by the Cardinals. Ball State (2-1) starter Keegan Johnson, a freshman from Frederick, Maryland, making his first college appearance, whiffed nine Warriors batters over 4.2 innings pitched. Another freshman, Zach Kwasny from Mokena, Ill., threw the final 4.1 innings and struck out eight more to earn the win.
The freshman duo made a nice statement for the future of the Cardinals' pitching staff. Only twice last season did the Mid-American Conference champions manage more than 17 strikeouts by its pitching staff.
Dobbins and Grego both batted 2-of-4 on the day, accounting for four of the Cardinals' six hits. Dobbins and Michael Hallquist each doubled to account for Ball State's only extra base hits.
In the first game of the day, Ball State fell 5-0 to No. 20 Iowa and Marcus Morgan's nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings pitched. The Cardinals got a pair of base hits in the fifth inning, by Dobbins and Hallquist, but couldn't move a run across the plate. The Hawkeyes did most of their damage with three runs in the top of the fifth, and single runs in the third and eighth innings.
The six-team Swig & Swine Classic continues and concludes on Sunday. Ball State meets Michigan State at 9:00 a.m. in their tournament finale.
Follow the Cardinals
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kwasny, Zach (1-0)
L: CESPEDES (0-1)
Batting:
3B: SHERMAN 1
RBI: SHERMAN 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ALBERT 1
SB: BRYCE 1
Batting:
2B: Dobbins, Hunter 1 ; Hallquist, Michael 1
RBI: Grego, Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dobbins, Hunter 1 ; Bevis, Blake 1
CS: Miller, Grant 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
2b/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
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