Saturday, February 24
Conway, S.C.
10 AM
Ball State University
vs
Cincinnati
Cardinals Back in South Carolina to Face a Trio of Formidable Foes
February 22, 2024 | Baseball
*Friday's games have been postponed due to weather. Ball State now plays Cincinnati at 10 a.m. on Saturday followed by a game immediately after with Coastal Carolina. The Cardinals wrap up the weekend playing Illinois at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
The Ball State baseball team rides momentum from a 3-1 start to the year into playing opponents from the Big Ten and Big 12 and a Sun Belt Conference power this weekend in Conway, S.C.
The Cardinals are scheduled to play Cincinnati at 11 a.m. and Illinois at 7 p.m. on Friday in Coastal Carolina's Springs Brooks Stadium before facing the Chanticleers at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats will be available for each game and can be found at the link above. The game against Coastal Carolina will be streamed on ESPN+ (link above as well).
Ball State beat Lehigh, Merrimack and Michigan State last weekend at the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, S.C. The pitching staff successfully limited opposing lineups to less than three runs per game in the four contests, holding the Spartans to a single tally in Sunday's 4-1 triumph.
Ball State went 36-23 (19-11 MAC) in 2023 to earn the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament and beat host and top seed Kent State twice to clinch the championship and fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Head coach Rich Maloney begins his 19th season leading the Cardinals and has 956 career wins in 29 seasons as a head coach.
The Cardinals were recently voted second in the MAC Preseason head coaches poll.
STACK THE DECK: Senior outfielder Decker Scheffler returns after leading the 2023 team in batting average (.378) and OPS (1.050) on his way to being named First Team All-MAC.
The left-handed hitter out of Sanborn, Minn., tallied 13 doubles, eight home runs and three triples among his 74 hits while scoring 46 times and driving in 49 runs. Scheffler was named the D1Baseball.com Mid-American Conference Preseason Player of the Year and No. 65 outfielder nationally in the online publication's season preview.
DON'T DOUBT DOBBINS: Junior catcher Hunter Dobbins earned All-MAC Defensive Team recognition in 2023 and is considered the top prospect in the league by D1Baseball.com for the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft class.
The Indianapolis native had a breakout offensive season in 2022, hitting .339 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 29 games before hitting nine home runs and 29 RBI last year.
D1 Debut: Junior third baseman Michael Hallquist collected five hits in his NCAA Division I debut weekend, notching two hits in the season-opening win over Lehigh and one each in the following three games, hitting .357 with two doubles and one RBI for the week.
The Fargo, N.D., native and Minnesota-Crookston transfer hit .406 with 22 home runs, 20 doubles and 65 RBI with a 1.403 OPS in 58 games last year at the Division II school.
BACK-TO-BACK BLASTS: Junior transfer Matthew Gonzalez and Dobbins hit consecutive home runs in the first inning of Friday's 8-4 win over Lehigh to start the season with a bang.
Gonzalez started at DH, and the pair projects as a formidable duo behind the plate for the Cardinals.
KNAPP TIME: Graduate right-handed pitcher Tanner Knapp struck out the side in the ninth inning of the season opener, punching out four overall in 1.1 innings to be credited with the save.
Knapp also picked up the save in Sunday's 4-1 win against Michigan State by inducing a groundout to clinch the victory over the Big Ten foe.
BEEKER BALL: Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker struck out 10 and allowed only one run on four hits in 5.0 innings to collect the win over the Spartans.
The East Carolina transfer sent down two batters in each inning on strikes and retired 10 Spartans in a row from the first to the fourth inning.
COASTAL CHALLENGE: The Cardinals take on Big Ten (Illinois) and Big 12 (Cincinnati) opponents on Friday before facing mid major power Coastal Carolina of the Sun Belt Conference on Saturday this weekend.
The Chanticleers began the year ranked No. 18 in the D1Baseball and USA Today Coaches Polls and No. 19 in the NCBWA Poll.
Up Next
Ball State's schedule next week includes a Tuesday game at USI followed by a weekend series at Jacksonville in Florida.
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The Ball State baseball team rides momentum from a 3-1 start to the year into playing opponents from the Big Ten and Big 12 and a Sun Belt Conference power this weekend in Conway, S.C.
The Cardinals are scheduled to play Cincinnati at 11 a.m. and Illinois at 7 p.m. on Friday in Coastal Carolina's Springs Brooks Stadium before facing the Chanticleers at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats will be available for each game and can be found at the link above. The game against Coastal Carolina will be streamed on ESPN+ (link above as well).
Ball State beat Lehigh, Merrimack and Michigan State last weekend at the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, S.C. The pitching staff successfully limited opposing lineups to less than three runs per game in the four contests, holding the Spartans to a single tally in Sunday's 4-1 triumph.
Ball State went 36-23 (19-11 MAC) in 2023 to earn the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament and beat host and top seed Kent State twice to clinch the championship and fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Head coach Rich Maloney begins his 19th season leading the Cardinals and has 956 career wins in 29 seasons as a head coach.
The Cardinals were recently voted second in the MAC Preseason head coaches poll.
STACK THE DECK: Senior outfielder Decker Scheffler returns after leading the 2023 team in batting average (.378) and OPS (1.050) on his way to being named First Team All-MAC.
The left-handed hitter out of Sanborn, Minn., tallied 13 doubles, eight home runs and three triples among his 74 hits while scoring 46 times and driving in 49 runs. Scheffler was named the D1Baseball.com Mid-American Conference Preseason Player of the Year and No. 65 outfielder nationally in the online publication's season preview.
DON'T DOUBT DOBBINS: Junior catcher Hunter Dobbins earned All-MAC Defensive Team recognition in 2023 and is considered the top prospect in the league by D1Baseball.com for the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft class.
The Indianapolis native had a breakout offensive season in 2022, hitting .339 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 29 games before hitting nine home runs and 29 RBI last year.
D1 Debut: Junior third baseman Michael Hallquist collected five hits in his NCAA Division I debut weekend, notching two hits in the season-opening win over Lehigh and one each in the following three games, hitting .357 with two doubles and one RBI for the week.
The Fargo, N.D., native and Minnesota-Crookston transfer hit .406 with 22 home runs, 20 doubles and 65 RBI with a 1.403 OPS in 58 games last year at the Division II school.
BACK-TO-BACK BLASTS: Junior transfer Matthew Gonzalez and Dobbins hit consecutive home runs in the first inning of Friday's 8-4 win over Lehigh to start the season with a bang.
Gonzalez started at DH, and the pair projects as a formidable duo behind the plate for the Cardinals.
KNAPP TIME: Graduate right-handed pitcher Tanner Knapp struck out the side in the ninth inning of the season opener, punching out four overall in 1.1 innings to be credited with the save.
Knapp also picked up the save in Sunday's 4-1 win against Michigan State by inducing a groundout to clinch the victory over the Big Ten foe.
BEEKER BALL: Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker struck out 10 and allowed only one run on four hits in 5.0 innings to collect the win over the Spartans.
The East Carolina transfer sent down two batters in each inning on strikes and retired 10 Spartans in a row from the first to the fourth inning.
COASTAL CHALLENGE: The Cardinals take on Big Ten (Illinois) and Big 12 (Cincinnati) opponents on Friday before facing mid major power Coastal Carolina of the Sun Belt Conference on Saturday this weekend.
The Chanticleers began the year ranked No. 18 in the D1Baseball and USA Today Coaches Polls and No. 19 in the NCBWA Poll.
Up Next
Ball State's schedule next week includes a Tuesday game at USI followed by a weekend series at Jacksonville in Florida.
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