Ball State University
26-18-1, 0
Northern Illinois
15-30, 0
Baseball Controls the Late Innings in Series-Opening Win at NIU
May 03, 2024 | Baseball
Hallquist Homers Twice to Power Ball State to Victory
The Cardinals (26-18-1, 13-9 Mid-American Conference) put two runs on the board in the second inning on a Clay Jacobs RBI that plated Blake Bevis followed by a Nick Gregory triple which scored Dylan Grego to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. The Huskies (15-30, 9-13 MAC) had single tallies in the first, second and fourth innings before Hallquist's heroics.
Hallquist, a senior shortstop from Fargo, N.D., blasted his first homer to left center and his second to center to power the Cardinals to their 12th win in 14 tries in conference contests.
Merritt Beeker struck out nine in 5.1 innings of three-run ball as the Ball State starter and handed it off to Nate Blain who earned his first win of the year thanks to 3.2 shutout innings out of the bullpen with five strikeouts.
NIU's Ty Brachbill (5-6) suffered the loss after giving up four runs in 6.0 innings on the mound.
Hallquist increased his season home run total to 16 with the pair of dingers to regain the team lead. Nick Husovsky joined Hallquist as Cardinals with multiple hits on the afternoon, while 8 of 9 in the visiting lineup collected a safety. Gregory reached base three times with the triple and two walks.
"Gritty performance by Merritt Beeker and Nate Blain," head coach Rich Maloney said. "Michael Hallquist came up big at the plate. Solid team effort!"
Ball State and Northern Illinois are scheduled to play the middle game of the set at 1 p.m. ET (Noon CT) on Saturday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Blain, Nate (1-4)
L: BRACHBILL, Ty (5-6)
Batting:
2B: Dobbins, Hunter 1 ; Grego, Dylan 1
3B: Gregory, Nick 1
HR: Hallquist, Michael 2
RBI: Hallquist, Michael 2 ; Jacobs, Clay 1 ; Gregory, Nick 1
SH: Husovsky, Nick 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1
SF: Jacobs, Clay 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hallquist, Michael 2 ; Bevis, Blake 1 ; Grego, Dylan 1
SB: Scheffler, Decker 1
CS: Kamins, Matthew 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1
HBP: Dobbins, Hunter 1 ; Jacobs, Clay 1
Batting:
2B: CEPICKY, CJ 1
3B: ERATO, Eric 1
HR: COHN, Cooper 1
RBI: SUMMERHILL, Colin 1 ; COHN, Cooper 1 ; KELLEY, Mason 1
SH: NELSON, Jake 1
SF: SUMMERHILL, Colin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ERATO, Eric 1 ; CEPICKY, CJ 1 ; COHN, Cooper 1
HBP: PARCELL, Charlie 1
PO: SUMMERHILL, Colin 1
