Wednesday, May 22
Avon, Ohio
12:30 PM
Ball State University
33-21-1
5
vs
1
Toledo
25-31
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Toledo
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
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1
Ball State
2
0
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0
0
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3
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X
5
13
0
Photo by: Collin Phillips/Ball State Athletics
Beeker Dominant in Baseball's Opening Round Win over Toledo
May 22, 2024 | Baseball
MAC Pitcher of the Year Tosses One-Hitter vs Rockets
AVON, Ohio – The Ball State baseball team got early and late offense in addition to a dominant pitching performance from Merritt Beeker to beat Toledo 5-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Crushers Stadium.
The No. 3 seed Cardinals (33-21-1) plated two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Blake Bevis and Houston King to take a 2-0 edge over the No. 6 seed Rockets (25-31).
After Toledo scored its only run of the game in the top of the fifth, Ball State scored three runs in the seventh inning on a home run by Michael Hallquist and RBI singles from Clay Jacobs while King scored on a balk.
The first inning scoring proved to be enough for Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year Merritt Beeker (9-3), who threw Ball State's second complete game of the year, working 9.0 innings and striking out 12 while allowing only one hit and two walks.
Beeker moved to third in Ball State history for most strikeouts in a single season with 128.
Decker Scheffler went 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Hallquist and King had a pair of hits each as part of a Cardinals offense that put up 13 hits with eight different players recording one.
Hallquist's homer was his 21st of the year to tie Brad Miller (2006) for the second-most home runs in a year in program history.
"Our boys played a solid game," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Merritt Beeker was outstanding! Excellent team effort!"
Ball State will play No. 2 seed Western Michigan at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in its next game of the MAC Tournament.
The No. 3 seed Cardinals (33-21-1) plated two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Blake Bevis and Houston King to take a 2-0 edge over the No. 6 seed Rockets (25-31).
After Toledo scored its only run of the game in the top of the fifth, Ball State scored three runs in the seventh inning on a home run by Michael Hallquist and RBI singles from Clay Jacobs while King scored on a balk.
The first inning scoring proved to be enough for Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year Merritt Beeker (9-3), who threw Ball State's second complete game of the year, working 9.0 innings and striking out 12 while allowing only one hit and two walks.
Beeker moved to third in Ball State history for most strikeouts in a single season with 128.
Decker Scheffler went 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Hallquist and King had a pair of hits each as part of a Cardinals offense that put up 13 hits with eight different players recording one.
Hallquist's homer was his 21st of the year to tie Brad Miller (2006) for the second-most home runs in a year in program history.
"Our boys played a solid game," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Merritt Beeker was outstanding! Excellent team effort!"
Ball State will play No. 2 seed Western Michigan at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in its next game of the MAC Tournament.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beeker, Merritt (9-3)
L: UMBERGER, Grant (5-5)
Batting:
RBI: WAGNER, JP 1
SH: SCHOLVIN, Charlie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WRIGHT, Trey 1
SB: KONCZAK, Caden 1
HBP: KONCZAK, Caden 1 ; WAGNER, JP 1
Batting:
HR: Hallquist, Michael 1
RBI: Hallquist, Michael 1 ; Bevis, Blake 1 ; King, Houston 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scheffler, Decker 1 ; Hallquist, Michael 2 ; Bevis, Blake 1 ; Miller, Grant 1
HBP: Gonzalez, Matthew 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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