Ball State University
23-13, 10-8
Akron
6-28, 1-14
Baseball Completes Sweep over Akron
April 14, 2024 | Baseball
Cardinals Set Program Record for Sac Flies in a Game
The Cardinals (23-13, 10-8 Mid-American Conference) got a two-run homer by Nick Gregory followed by a grand slam from Hunter Dobbins for the big inning, and the Ball State offense stayed hot to clinch the sweep of the Zips (6-28, 1-14 MAC).
Ball State pushed across single tallies in the second on a Nick Husovsky RBI single and the third on a Michael Hallquist solo home run to right field to cut Akron's advantage to 3-2 at the conclusion of three innings. The Zips plated three runs in the fifth after the Cardinals gained an 8-3 lead with the six-run outburst, but Ball State scored twice in the bottom half of the fifth on a Hallquist RBI double and sac fly from Dobbins before Gregory hit a sac fly of his own in the sixth to put Ball State ahead 11-6.
The visitors plated three runs in the seventh to cut their deficit down to 11-9, but Gregory (sac fly), Decker Scheffler (sac fly) and Hallquist (sac fly) combined to drive in three runs in the eighth for the final scoring of the day.
Dobbins went 3-for-3 at the dish with a walk, five RBI and two runs scored on his way to a four-homer, 10-RBI weekend. Gregory notched four RBI on the day, and Hallquist batted 2-for-3 with two walks, three RBI and two runs scored.
The four sacrifice flies from the Cardinals' offense established a program single-game high.
Sam Kelin tossed 4.2 relief innings of three-run ball while striking out four for his first win of the year. Nate Blain struck out one and threw 2.0 scoreless innings for save No. 3 for the junior.
"Excellent team effort in our sweep this weekend," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Dobbins had a monster weekend!"
Akron starter Dawson Tourney fell to 1-6 after giving up five runs in 3.0 innings pitched.
Ball State's next scheduled contest is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night at Purdue in West Lafayette.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Klein, Sam (1-0)
L: D. Tourney (1-6)
S: Blain, Nate (3)
Batting:
2B: J. Poist 1 ; M. Sprockett 1 ; F. Pyatt 1
3B: F. Pyatt 1
HR: H. Hayman 1
RBI: J. Poist 1 ; M. Bowman 1 ; M. Sprockett 3 ; H. Hayman 3 ; F. Pyatt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: E. Bottone 2 ; J. Poist 2 ; M. Bowman 2 ; H. Hayman 1 ; R. Brown 1 ; F. Pyatt 1
Batting:
2B: Hallquist, Michael 1 ; Dobbins, Hunter 1 ; Kamins, Matthew 1 ; King, Houston 1
HR: Gregory, Nick 1 ; Hallquist, Michael 1 ; Dobbins, Hunter 1
RBI: Gregory, Nick 4 ; Scheffler, Decker 1 ; Hallquist, Michael 3 ; Dobbins, Hunter 5 ; Husovsky, Nick 1
SF: Gregory, Nick 1 ; Scheffler, Decker 1 ; Hallquist, Michael 1 ; Dobbins, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gregory, Nick 2 ; Scheffler, Decker 2 ; Hallquist, Michael 2 ; Bevis, Blake 1 ; Dobbins, Hunter 2 ; Kamins, Matthew 1 ; Husovsky, Nick 1 ; Miller, Grant 1 ; King, Houston 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1
CS: Gregory, Nick 1
HBP: Gregory, Nick 1 ; Bevis, Blake 2 ; King, Houston 1
