Friday, April 26
Raleigh, N.C.
6 PM
Ball State University
at
NC State
Photo by: Ashley Huss, WMU Athletics
Baseball to Face No. 24 NC State in Raleigh this Weekend
April 25, 2024 | Baseball
The Ball State baseball team takes a break from Mid-American Conference play for a road series at No. 24 NC State starting on Friday at 6 p.m.
Subsequent games are scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday, with each being streamed on ACCNX (ESPN+). Links to the video streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (25-15-1, 12-9 MAC) are coming off a 7-7 draw with Indiana on Wednesday evening after 12 innings, while the Wolfpack (22-16, 12-9 ACC) most recently fell 10-6 at No. 7 East Carolina on Tuesday night.
NC State boasts recent series wins over No. 11 North Carolina, No. 2 Clemson and No. 9 Duke, with the set triumph against the Tigers being on the road. The Wolfpack returned this week to the Top 25 in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Asscoiation poll (No. 24) and D1Baseball.com rankings (No. 21).
Ball State senior infielder Michael Hallquist leads the league in total bases (118, No. 29 in NCAA Division I), hits (60, No. 47) and doubles (14) while ranking third in home runs (14) and fourth in RBI (43) and runs scored (42).
SCOUTING NC STATE: The Wolfpack went 36-21, (13-16 ACC) last year in head coach Elliott Avent's 27th leading the program. NC State qualified for the NCAA Tournament but bowed out in the Columbia, S.C., regional after winning one game.
The Wolfpack rank No. 13 in the ACC in scoring (7.3 runs per game) and No. 13 in ERA (6.83) in the 14-team league.
Graduate infielder Garrett Pennington paces the conference with 17 doubles to rank No. 14 nationally while ranking eighth in the ACC with 58 total hits. Fellow graduate infielder Alec Makarewicz ranks fifth in the league with 16 homers (No. 26 nationally), sixth in RBI (51, No. 38), fourth in total bases (118, No. 29) and sixth in slugging percentage (.756, No. 45).
FIRST TIE, LONG TIME: Ball State's game against Indiana on Wednesday evening ended in a 7-7 tie after 12 innings for the program's first stalemate since March 17, 1996 in Rich Maloney's ninth game as a head coach.
Ball State baseball played 1,568 games between draws. Coincidentally, the last tie game for the Cardinals was also against a Big Ten Conference team in Purdue.
MOVING ON UP: Ball State has won four straight weekend series on its way to moving up from tenth place in the Mid-American Conference standings to a tie for third place in the span of a month.
The Cardinals have taken 11 of their last 13 conference tilts, with the last series setback being in late March at Toledo, who they are now tied with.
STORIED CAREERS: This weekend features a matchup of two of the winningest active head coaches in NCAA baseball, as NC State skipper Elliott Avent (1,244 career wins) ranks No. 6 among active Division I head coaches and Ball State manager Maloney (978) ranks No. 13.
The Cardinals have also faced off with Coastal Carolina's Gary Gilmore (1,362 wins, No. 4) and Iowa's Rick Heller (1,033, No. 10) earlier this year among coaches on the leaderboard currently at Division I schools.
SERIES HISTORY: The Cardinals have played the Wolfpack three times, each in Raleigh, with NC State holding the 3-0 series edge.
The Wolfpack took a pair of games in early March of 2001 after claiming the inaugural game in the series history on March 8, 1999.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The Ball State pitching staff's 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings paces the MAC and ranks No. 34 in NCAA Division I, while its 5.84 ERA also leads the league.
The Cardinals' bats rank second in the MAC in doubles (75) and slugging percentage (.487) and third with 395 hits and 62 home runs.
BEVIS BLASTS INDIANA: Sophomore first baseman Blake Bevis hit three doubles and drew a walk while driving in two runs on Wednesday against Indiana to continue his offensive onslaught vs the Hoosiers.
Bevis hit home runs in both games last year against Indiana as a freshman and boasts a .400 batting average (6-for-15) with seven RBI and four runs scored in three career games against IU pitching.
BEEKER BALL IS BACK: Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker hails from nearby Lexington, N.C., and expects to have 10-15 family members and friends watch him pitch this weekend.
The East Carolina transfer has emerged as Ball State's ace and leads the MAC in strikeouts (82) and strikeouts per nine innings pitched (14.7), ranking No. 10 and No. 8 in those categories nationally, respectively.
Up Next
The Cardinals take a week off for Final Exams week and return to MAC play on Friday, May 3 at Northern Illinois.
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Subsequent games are scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday, with each being streamed on ACCNX (ESPN+). Links to the video streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (25-15-1, 12-9 MAC) are coming off a 7-7 draw with Indiana on Wednesday evening after 12 innings, while the Wolfpack (22-16, 12-9 ACC) most recently fell 10-6 at No. 7 East Carolina on Tuesday night.
NC State boasts recent series wins over No. 11 North Carolina, No. 2 Clemson and No. 9 Duke, with the set triumph against the Tigers being on the road. The Wolfpack returned this week to the Top 25 in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Asscoiation poll (No. 24) and D1Baseball.com rankings (No. 21).
Ball State senior infielder Michael Hallquist leads the league in total bases (118, No. 29 in NCAA Division I), hits (60, No. 47) and doubles (14) while ranking third in home runs (14) and fourth in RBI (43) and runs scored (42).
SCOUTING NC STATE: The Wolfpack went 36-21, (13-16 ACC) last year in head coach Elliott Avent's 27th leading the program. NC State qualified for the NCAA Tournament but bowed out in the Columbia, S.C., regional after winning one game.
The Wolfpack rank No. 13 in the ACC in scoring (7.3 runs per game) and No. 13 in ERA (6.83) in the 14-team league.
Graduate infielder Garrett Pennington paces the conference with 17 doubles to rank No. 14 nationally while ranking eighth in the ACC with 58 total hits. Fellow graduate infielder Alec Makarewicz ranks fifth in the league with 16 homers (No. 26 nationally), sixth in RBI (51, No. 38), fourth in total bases (118, No. 29) and sixth in slugging percentage (.756, No. 45).
FIRST TIE, LONG TIME: Ball State's game against Indiana on Wednesday evening ended in a 7-7 tie after 12 innings for the program's first stalemate since March 17, 1996 in Rich Maloney's ninth game as a head coach.
Ball State baseball played 1,568 games between draws. Coincidentally, the last tie game for the Cardinals was also against a Big Ten Conference team in Purdue.
MOVING ON UP: Ball State has won four straight weekend series on its way to moving up from tenth place in the Mid-American Conference standings to a tie for third place in the span of a month.
The Cardinals have taken 11 of their last 13 conference tilts, with the last series setback being in late March at Toledo, who they are now tied with.
STORIED CAREERS: This weekend features a matchup of two of the winningest active head coaches in NCAA baseball, as NC State skipper Elliott Avent (1,244 career wins) ranks No. 6 among active Division I head coaches and Ball State manager Maloney (978) ranks No. 13.
The Cardinals have also faced off with Coastal Carolina's Gary Gilmore (1,362 wins, No. 4) and Iowa's Rick Heller (1,033, No. 10) earlier this year among coaches on the leaderboard currently at Division I schools.
SERIES HISTORY: The Cardinals have played the Wolfpack three times, each in Raleigh, with NC State holding the 3-0 series edge.
The Wolfpack took a pair of games in early March of 2001 after claiming the inaugural game in the series history on March 8, 1999.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The Ball State pitching staff's 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings paces the MAC and ranks No. 34 in NCAA Division I, while its 5.84 ERA also leads the league.
The Cardinals' bats rank second in the MAC in doubles (75) and slugging percentage (.487) and third with 395 hits and 62 home runs.
BEVIS BLASTS INDIANA: Sophomore first baseman Blake Bevis hit three doubles and drew a walk while driving in two runs on Wednesday against Indiana to continue his offensive onslaught vs the Hoosiers.
Bevis hit home runs in both games last year against Indiana as a freshman and boasts a .400 batting average (6-for-15) with seven RBI and four runs scored in three career games against IU pitching.
BEEKER BALL IS BACK: Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker hails from nearby Lexington, N.C., and expects to have 10-15 family members and friends watch him pitch this weekend.
The East Carolina transfer has emerged as Ball State's ace and leads the MAC in strikeouts (82) and strikeouts per nine innings pitched (14.7), ranking No. 10 and No. 8 in those categories nationally, respectively.
Up Next
The Cardinals take a week off for Final Exams week and return to MAC play on Friday, May 3 at Northern Illinois.
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