Friday, April 5
Oxford, Ohio
3 PM
Ball State University
19-12, 6-7
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Miami (Ohio)
12-15, 7-6
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Ball State
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Photo by: Caden Vincent
Baseball Takes Tight Series Opener at Miami
April 05, 2024 | Baseball
Duo of Beeker and Blain Dominant on the Mound in Ball State's Seventh Straight Win
OXFORD, Ohio – The Ball State baseball team got productive pitching performances from Merritt Beeker and Nate Blain and clutch hitting in a two-run sixth inning on its way to a 3-2 win over Miami (OH) in the series opener at McKie Field.
The Cardinals (19-12, 6-7 Mid-American Conference) struck first with a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Blake Bevis that scored Nick Gregory for a 1-0 Ball State lead in the first inning.
After the RedHawks (12-15, 7-6 MAC) evened the score at 1-1 in the fifth, the visiting Cardinals responded with a two-out, two-run rally in the sixth inning featuring back-to-back RBI singles by Matthew Kamins and Hunter Dobbins. Miami scored once in the bottom half of the sixth for the day's final offense.
Beeker worked 6.0 innings of two-run ball and struck out four to improve his record to 4-2, while Blain got two strikeouts in 3.0 scoreless frames to close out the game for his first save of the year.
"Our boys won a close one behind solid pitching, defense and timely hitting," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Beeker and Blain were excellent. Good team win!"
Miami starting pitcher Patrick Mastrian IV (1-2) gave up two runs in 5.2 innings to suffer the loss, while the RedHawks' bats could only put up two runs on five hits against the duo of Beeker and Blain.
The Cardinals and RedHawks are scheduled to play the second game of the set on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Cardinals (19-12, 6-7 Mid-American Conference) struck first with a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Blake Bevis that scored Nick Gregory for a 1-0 Ball State lead in the first inning.
After the RedHawks (12-15, 7-6 MAC) evened the score at 1-1 in the fifth, the visiting Cardinals responded with a two-out, two-run rally in the sixth inning featuring back-to-back RBI singles by Matthew Kamins and Hunter Dobbins. Miami scored once in the bottom half of the sixth for the day's final offense.
Beeker worked 6.0 innings of two-run ball and struck out four to improve his record to 4-2, while Blain got two strikeouts in 3.0 scoreless frames to close out the game for his first save of the year.
"Our boys won a close one behind solid pitching, defense and timely hitting," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Beeker and Blain were excellent. Good team win!"
Miami starting pitcher Patrick Mastrian IV (1-2) gave up two runs in 5.2 innings to suffer the loss, while the RedHawks' bats could only put up two runs on five hits against the duo of Beeker and Blain.
The Cardinals and RedHawks are scheduled to play the second game of the set on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beeker, Merritt (4-2)
L: MASTRIAN IV, Patrick (1-2)
S: Blain, Nate (1)
Batting:
2B: Hallquist, Michael 1
RBI: Bevis, Blake 1 ; Kamins, Matthew 1 ; Dobbins, Hunter 1
SH: King, Houston 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gregory, Nick 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1 ; Kamins, Matthew 1
SB: Bevis, Blake 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1 ; Kamins, Matthew 1
HBP: Hallquist, Michael 1
Batting:
3B: GORDON, Tyler 1
HR: ZABOROWSKI, Ryland 1
RBI: ZABOROWSKI, Ryland 1 ; GORDON, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ZABOROWSKI, Ryland 1 ; BUZZEO, Blake 1
CS: MACDONALD, Zach 1
HBP: NOVAK, David 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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P/1B
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