Thursday, May 16
Kent, Ohio
6 PM
Ball State University
at
Kent State
Photo by: Bobby Ellis (Ball State Creative Services)
Baseball Wraps up Regular Season with Crucial Series at Kent State
May 16, 2024 | Baseball
Winner of Series Clinches Top Four Seed in Next Week's MAC Tournament
The Ball State baseball team concludes its regular season with a three-game set at Kent State beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Subsequent contests are scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Links to the video streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (30-20-1, 16-11 Mid-American) and Golden Flashes (26-23, 16-11 MAC) are in a tie in the league standings, with the winner of the series guaranteeing itself no worse than a No. 4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
Ball State is coming off another MAC series win, its seventh in a row, when it took 2 of 3 vs Central Michigan last weekend. The Cardinals won 6-1 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday before falling 17-9 on Sunday.
Kent State most recently swept Akron and it features a series win over 2024 MAC regular season champion Bowling Green from April 26-28.
SCOUTING KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes are in their 11th year under the direction of head coach Jeff Duncan, who sports a 347-220 record in his time leading the program from Northeast Ohio.
Kent State's pitching staff leads the league with a 2.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio and is third in the MAC with a 6.00 ERA. The defense's 52 double plays are third in NCAA Division I. Golden Flashes bats are second in the MAC in doubles (94) and walks (259) and third in home runs (80) and scoring (7.6 runs per game).
Redshirt senior outfielder Josh Johnson paces the league with 22 steals while ranking fifth in the conference at 55 RBI.
PLAYING FOR A BYE: Ball State is one of six teams that have already clinched a spot in next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament, and the Cardinals have a shot at earning as high as the No. 2 seed for a first round bye.
Bowling Green is established as the No. 1 seed in the tourney with its 21 conference wins, while Ball State can finish in second place if it wins the series at Kent State and is ahead of Toledo and ahead of or tied with Miami (OH) and Western Michigan in the league standings after the dust settles this weekend. One win against the Golden Flashes would give the Cardinals no worse than the No. 5 seed.
BEEKER'S HUNDRED: Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker tied a season-best with 13 strikeouts on his way to the century mark in the stat on the year during Friday's win over Central Michigan.
Beeker didn't allow an earned run and surrendered only three hits and a walk in 7.0 innings of work against the Chippewas and ended the day with 105 strikeouts for the season. The lefty paces the MAC and is Top 10 nationally in both total punchouts (seventh) and strikeouts per nine innings pitched (14.39, ninth).
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SERIES HISTORY: Kent State leads Ball State 74-62 in the all-time series after sweeping a three-game set last May 18-20 in Muncie, but the Cardinals got revenge by winning the final two games of the MAC Tournament to clinch the championship over the Golden Flashes.
The Cardinals are 17-16 against Kent State since Coach Maloney began his second stint with the program in 2013.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The Ball State pitching staff paces the MAC with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings, ranking No. 38 nationally, and stands at fourth in the league in ERA (6.14). The Cardinals' bats lead the league in doubles (99) and rank second in home runs (82, No. 45 nationally) and slugging percentage (.504, No. 51) and fourth in hits (501) and batting average (.292) as a team.
Senior shortstop Michael Hallquist is near the top of the MAC leaderboards in total bases (147, No. 1), doubles (17, No. 1) slugging (.703, No. 2), home runs (19, No. 3) and hits (71, No. 3). Junior catcher Hunter Dobbins is fifth in slugging percentage (.671) and fifth in homers (17) entering this weekend.
SCHEFFLER SCORCHING: Senior outfielder Decker Scheffler has done some of his finest work in the final month of his collegiate career going 12-for-27 at the plate (.444) with three doubles, one triple, two home runs, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored in the first few weeks of May.
The 2023 MAC batting champion in league games leads the conference with four triples on the year while being 12th in steals (11) and 16th in batting average (.335).
Up Next
The MAC Tournament begins on Wednesday, May 22 at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio. The first two seeds receive a first round bye to begin play on Thursday.
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Subsequent contests are scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Links to the video streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (30-20-1, 16-11 Mid-American) and Golden Flashes (26-23, 16-11 MAC) are in a tie in the league standings, with the winner of the series guaranteeing itself no worse than a No. 4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
Ball State is coming off another MAC series win, its seventh in a row, when it took 2 of 3 vs Central Michigan last weekend. The Cardinals won 6-1 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday before falling 17-9 on Sunday.
Kent State most recently swept Akron and it features a series win over 2024 MAC regular season champion Bowling Green from April 26-28.
SCOUTING KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes are in their 11th year under the direction of head coach Jeff Duncan, who sports a 347-220 record in his time leading the program from Northeast Ohio.
Kent State's pitching staff leads the league with a 2.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio and is third in the MAC with a 6.00 ERA. The defense's 52 double plays are third in NCAA Division I. Golden Flashes bats are second in the MAC in doubles (94) and walks (259) and third in home runs (80) and scoring (7.6 runs per game).
Redshirt senior outfielder Josh Johnson paces the league with 22 steals while ranking fifth in the conference at 55 RBI.
PLAYING FOR A BYE: Ball State is one of six teams that have already clinched a spot in next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament, and the Cardinals have a shot at earning as high as the No. 2 seed for a first round bye.
Bowling Green is established as the No. 1 seed in the tourney with its 21 conference wins, while Ball State can finish in second place if it wins the series at Kent State and is ahead of Toledo and ahead of or tied with Miami (OH) and Western Michigan in the league standings after the dust settles this weekend. One win against the Golden Flashes would give the Cardinals no worse than the No. 5 seed.
BEEKER'S HUNDRED: Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker tied a season-best with 13 strikeouts on his way to the century mark in the stat on the year during Friday's win over Central Michigan.
Beeker didn't allow an earned run and surrendered only three hits and a walk in 7.0 innings of work against the Chippewas and ended the day with 105 strikeouts for the season. The lefty paces the MAC and is Top 10 nationally in both total punchouts (seventh) and strikeouts per nine innings pitched (14.39, ninth).
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SERIES HISTORY: Kent State leads Ball State 74-62 in the all-time series after sweeping a three-game set last May 18-20 in Muncie, but the Cardinals got revenge by winning the final two games of the MAC Tournament to clinch the championship over the Golden Flashes.
The Cardinals are 17-16 against Kent State since Coach Maloney began his second stint with the program in 2013.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The Ball State pitching staff paces the MAC with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings, ranking No. 38 nationally, and stands at fourth in the league in ERA (6.14). The Cardinals' bats lead the league in doubles (99) and rank second in home runs (82, No. 45 nationally) and slugging percentage (.504, No. 51) and fourth in hits (501) and batting average (.292) as a team.
Senior shortstop Michael Hallquist is near the top of the MAC leaderboards in total bases (147, No. 1), doubles (17, No. 1) slugging (.703, No. 2), home runs (19, No. 3) and hits (71, No. 3). Junior catcher Hunter Dobbins is fifth in slugging percentage (.671) and fifth in homers (17) entering this weekend.
SCHEFFLER SCORCHING: Senior outfielder Decker Scheffler has done some of his finest work in the final month of his collegiate career going 12-for-27 at the plate (.444) with three doubles, one triple, two home runs, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored in the first few weeks of May.
The 2023 MAC batting champion in league games leads the conference with four triples on the year while being 12th in steals (11) and 16th in batting average (.335).
Up Next
The MAC Tournament begins on Wednesday, May 22 at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio. The first two seeds receive a first round bye to begin play on Thursday.
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