Tuesday, March 11
Muncie, Ind.
3 PM
Ball State University
vs
Purdue Fort Wayne
Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics
Baseball Hosting Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday Afternoon
March 10, 2025 | Baseball
Coach Maloney One Win from 1,000 Career; Game Now Being Broadcast on ESPN+
The Ball State baseball team looks to continue the momentum of its five-game winning streak when it hosts Purdue Fort Wayne at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and links to the broadcast and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
Ball State head coach Rich Maloney is one win away from 1,000 as a collegiate head coach. Maloney is in his 20th season leading the Cardinals and 30th season in charge of a program overall.
Ball State (11-5) took all five games last week, first taking both ends of a doubleheader at Florida A&M before sweeping Western Michigan over the weekend at Shebek Stadium. Tuesday's game will be the fourth contest of a nine-game homestand for the Cardinals.
Purdue Fort Wayne (1-13) is in the sixth season under the direction of head coach Doug Schreiber. The Mastodons were picked sixth in the six-team Horizon League preseason poll a year after going 19-37 (11-19 Horizon) for a fifth-place finish.
Purdue Fort Wayne leads the league in ERA (7.35) and fewest hit allowed per nine innings (10.38). Senior Camden Karczewski has the most hits (13) for the Mastodons and is tied with fellow senior Jackson Micheels for the most RBI (five) on the team, while Micheels has a team-best two home runs.
Next up for Ball State is a three-game set with Toledo starting at 3 p.m. on Friday in Muncie.
GREGO HITS THE GONG: Junior shortstop Dylan Grego hit a walkoff solo home run in the ninth inning of Ball State's 10-9 win over Western Michigan on Sunday.
Grego led off the inning with a moonshot on the second pitch he saw that went a projected 431 feet. The junior also had the most recent walkoff knock for the Cardinals when he hit a game-winning single in the ninth inning on Feb. 17, 2024 to seal a 2-1 win over Merrimack in Charleston, S.C.
K'S FOR KEEGAN: Sophomore Keegan Johnson was named the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Week after striking out eight and allowing a run on four hits in 7.1 innings of work in Ball State's 3-1 win over Western Michigan on Friday.
The left-handed pitcher didn't allow a run until the eighth on his way to his third career weekly honor from the MAC office.
CLOSING IN ON NO. 1,000: Head coach Rich Maloney is one win away from 1,000 in his career as a collegiate head coach, which is in the early stages of his 30th season.
Maloney (999) is 10th on the career wins leaderboard among active NCAA Division I coaches. The group consists of Paul Mainieri (South Carolina, 1,519 wins), Danny Hall (Georgia Tech, 1,424), Elliott Avent (NC State, 1,271), Dave Van Horn (Arkansas, 1,269), Rich Hill (Hawaii, 1,184), Steve Owens (Rutgers, 1,052), Rick Heller (Iowa, 1,048), Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt, 1,040), and Mike Bianco (Ole Miss, 1,020). Of the nine ahead of Maloney, only Hall, Mainieri, Avent, Van Horn and Bianco have more wins at the Division I level.
Another milestone primed to be reached in the coming games for Maloney is 500 conference wins. The skipper is currently at 499, with 359 of those being in the MAC and 140 in the Big Ten.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS: The 2025 Cardinals were picked to finish first in the recently released Mid-American Conference preseason poll. Ball State got six first place votes for the regular season and five to win the MAC Tournament.
The Ball State baseball program boasts the best winning percentage both overall (.636) and in conference play (.647) among MAC teams since 2019 entering the 2025 campaign.
QUICK CARDINALS: Ball State leads the MAC and ranks No. 66 nationally in stolen bases with 27.
Seven different Cardinals have swiped a bag this year, led by Gavin Balius who is 10-for-11 on steal attempts. The 10 steals are the most in the league and 26th in NCAA Division I.
BEATING THE BIG BOYS: The Cardinals beat Maryland 5-3 on Feb. 15 at the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, S.C., to extend the Ball State baseball program's streak of winning against at least one
Power Four conference opponent to 14 seasons in a row.
Ball State has notched such a triumph in every season since 2012, with nine of those seasons featuring wins against multiple opponents from the Power Four.
CLEAN FIELDING: The Cardinals begin the week leading ranking sixth in NCAA Division I in fielding percentage with a .988 average.
Ball State has committed seven errors in 566 opportunities this year through the first 16 games. The Cardinals were at the top of the national leaderboard in fielding percentage entering last weekend's series against Western Michigan. Ball State also paces the Mid-American Conference in double plays turned (16), which is No. 8 nationally.
MIX OF NEW AND OLD: Ball State's 2025 roster features 17 returning players from last year's team, seven true freshmen and 13 incoming transfers.
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The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and links to the broadcast and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
Ball State head coach Rich Maloney is one win away from 1,000 as a collegiate head coach. Maloney is in his 20th season leading the Cardinals and 30th season in charge of a program overall.
Ball State (11-5) took all five games last week, first taking both ends of a doubleheader at Florida A&M before sweeping Western Michigan over the weekend at Shebek Stadium. Tuesday's game will be the fourth contest of a nine-game homestand for the Cardinals.
Purdue Fort Wayne (1-13) is in the sixth season under the direction of head coach Doug Schreiber. The Mastodons were picked sixth in the six-team Horizon League preseason poll a year after going 19-37 (11-19 Horizon) for a fifth-place finish.
Purdue Fort Wayne leads the league in ERA (7.35) and fewest hit allowed per nine innings (10.38). Senior Camden Karczewski has the most hits (13) for the Mastodons and is tied with fellow senior Jackson Micheels for the most RBI (five) on the team, while Micheels has a team-best two home runs.
Next up for Ball State is a three-game set with Toledo starting at 3 p.m. on Friday in Muncie.
GREGO HITS THE GONG: Junior shortstop Dylan Grego hit a walkoff solo home run in the ninth inning of Ball State's 10-9 win over Western Michigan on Sunday.
Grego led off the inning with a moonshot on the second pitch he saw that went a projected 431 feet. The junior also had the most recent walkoff knock for the Cardinals when he hit a game-winning single in the ninth inning on Feb. 17, 2024 to seal a 2-1 win over Merrimack in Charleston, S.C.
K'S FOR KEEGAN: Sophomore Keegan Johnson was named the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Week after striking out eight and allowing a run on four hits in 7.1 innings of work in Ball State's 3-1 win over Western Michigan on Friday.
The left-handed pitcher didn't allow a run until the eighth on his way to his third career weekly honor from the MAC office.
CLOSING IN ON NO. 1,000: Head coach Rich Maloney is one win away from 1,000 in his career as a collegiate head coach, which is in the early stages of his 30th season.
Maloney (999) is 10th on the career wins leaderboard among active NCAA Division I coaches. The group consists of Paul Mainieri (South Carolina, 1,519 wins), Danny Hall (Georgia Tech, 1,424), Elliott Avent (NC State, 1,271), Dave Van Horn (Arkansas, 1,269), Rich Hill (Hawaii, 1,184), Steve Owens (Rutgers, 1,052), Rick Heller (Iowa, 1,048), Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt, 1,040), and Mike Bianco (Ole Miss, 1,020). Of the nine ahead of Maloney, only Hall, Mainieri, Avent, Van Horn and Bianco have more wins at the Division I level.
Another milestone primed to be reached in the coming games for Maloney is 500 conference wins. The skipper is currently at 499, with 359 of those being in the MAC and 140 in the Big Ten.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS: The 2025 Cardinals were picked to finish first in the recently released Mid-American Conference preseason poll. Ball State got six first place votes for the regular season and five to win the MAC Tournament.
The Ball State baseball program boasts the best winning percentage both overall (.636) and in conference play (.647) among MAC teams since 2019 entering the 2025 campaign.
QUICK CARDINALS: Ball State leads the MAC and ranks No. 66 nationally in stolen bases with 27.
Seven different Cardinals have swiped a bag this year, led by Gavin Balius who is 10-for-11 on steal attempts. The 10 steals are the most in the league and 26th in NCAA Division I.
BEATING THE BIG BOYS: The Cardinals beat Maryland 5-3 on Feb. 15 at the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, S.C., to extend the Ball State baseball program's streak of winning against at least one
Power Four conference opponent to 14 seasons in a row.
Ball State has notched such a triumph in every season since 2012, with nine of those seasons featuring wins against multiple opponents from the Power Four.
CLEAN FIELDING: The Cardinals begin the week leading ranking sixth in NCAA Division I in fielding percentage with a .988 average.
Ball State has committed seven errors in 566 opportunities this year through the first 16 games. The Cardinals were at the top of the national leaderboard in fielding percentage entering last weekend's series against Western Michigan. Ball State also paces the Mid-American Conference in double plays turned (16), which is No. 8 nationally.
MIX OF NEW AND OLD: Ball State's 2025 roster features 17 returning players from last year's team, seven true freshmen and 13 incoming transfers.
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