Friday, April 11
Muncie, Ind.
3 PM
Ball State University
vs
Northern Illinois
Photo by: Mya Cataline, Ball State Athletics
Baseball Hosting Northern Illinois Starting Friday for Only Home Series of April
April 10, 2025 | Baseball
The Ball State baseball team is set to host Northern Illinois for a three-game set starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.
The Cardinals and Huskies are scheduled to play ensuing games at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Each game will feature a free single-camera broadcast, and links to that and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page. Spectators are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate for a canned food drive to support Muncie Mission.
Ball State (23-11, 10-2 Mid-American Conference) suffered a 7-5 setback at Indiana on Tuesday night after sweeping Eastern Michigan last weekend in Ypsilanti. This will be the first weekend back home for the Cardinals after three straight series on the road.
Northern Illinois (12-19, 3-9 MAC) fell 18-10 to Eastern Illinois on Tuesday afternoon but took two out of three games against Ohio over the weekend in DeKalb. The Huskies fell in three out of four games at Butler in late March to the only common opponent between the two teams so far this spring.
Head coach Ryan Copeland is in his second year leading the program, and NIU was picked to finish seventh in the MAC preseason poll.
The Huskies are an offensively-focused team, ranking first in the MAC and No. 27 in NCAA Division I with 52 home runs. Northern is fourth in the league in scoring at 7.9 runs per game. The NIU pitching staff has the eighth-best ERA in the MAC (7.59).
Junior catcher Logan Gregorio is near or at the top of the conference leaderboards in RBI (46, first, No. 13 nationally), total bases (95, first), home runs (13, second, No. 14 nationally) and total hits (45, third). Junior left-handed pitcher Max Vaisvila leads the league with a 4.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while redshirt junior righty Adam Brouwer's 47 strikeouts are tops in the MAC.
Ball State's next scheduled contest is 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Butler in a rematch of the March 19 game when the Cardinals won 17-7 in Muncie.
CARDIAC CARDS: Ball State topped Eastern Michigan 4-2 in 14 innings to clinch a doubleheader sweep at Eastern Michigan on Friday. The Cardinals followed that up with a comeback win in Sunday's series finale to secure the sweep of the Eagles.
Friday's outcome was the first win for the baseball team in an extra innings since April 7, 2023 at The Citadel, and the 14 innings were the most in a Ball State game since the 2018 Cardinals played 14 frames at Indiana on April 18.
Ball State rallied back from a 5-3 deficit entering the ninth inning on Sunday, taking a 6-5 lead on Alex Richter's three-run home run to right field. with six total runs on its way to a 9-5 triumph at EMU.
BACK HOME AGAIN: This weekend's series against Northern Illinois features three of the four home games for the Cardinals at Shebek Stadium in the month of April.
Ball State hosted Bellarmine on April 1 away from Muncie for games for the entire second half of the month.
DUAL ACES: The duo of Keegan Johnson and Jacob Hartlaub have solidified their status as two of the top starting pitchers in the Mid-American Conference as they stand at or near the top of the MAC leaderboards in multiple categories.
Johnson leads the league in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (5.91) and is second in ERA (2.96) and third in WHIP (1.12) while Hartlaub is second in WHIP (1.10) and third in ERA (3.04) among qualifiers so far this year. Johnson's six wins are the most in the league and tied for fourth nationally, and both pitchers have struck out 46 batters, placing them in a tie for second place in the MAC.
CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: The Cardinals enter the weekend ranking first in the country with a .987 fielding percentage.
Ball State has committed 15 errors in 1,196 opportunities this year through the first 34 games. Ball State is fourth nationally in double plays turned at 33.
RICHTER REACHES BASE: Senior Alex Richter has been hit by a pitch 21 times this year, which is the most in NCAA Division I.
The third baseman is only three HBP away from tying Ryan Read's program record of 24 set in 1995.
HUSKIES HEADING TO THE HORIZON LEAGUE: This weekend's series against Northern Illinois will likely be the final games for the Northern Illinois baseball team as Mid-American Conference members in Muncie.
The NIU athletic department will switch conferences to the Horizon League beginning with the 2026-27 school year, making 2026 the last season the Huskies are set to compete in the MAC. Ball State will likely play in DeKalb next spring for the final MAC series against Northern Illinois.
GREGO HITTING HIS STRIDE: Junior Dylan Grego hit the game-winning single in Ball State's 4-2 win at Eastern Michigan in 14 innings on Friday and has developed into one of the top shortstops in the conference.
Grego is the league leader with 50 hits while batting .365 (No. 7 in the MAC) with an 1.014 OPS through 34 games.
Â
The Cardinals and Huskies are scheduled to play ensuing games at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Each game will feature a free single-camera broadcast, and links to that and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page. Spectators are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to donate for a canned food drive to support Muncie Mission.
Ball State (23-11, 10-2 Mid-American Conference) suffered a 7-5 setback at Indiana on Tuesday night after sweeping Eastern Michigan last weekend in Ypsilanti. This will be the first weekend back home for the Cardinals after three straight series on the road.
Northern Illinois (12-19, 3-9 MAC) fell 18-10 to Eastern Illinois on Tuesday afternoon but took two out of three games against Ohio over the weekend in DeKalb. The Huskies fell in three out of four games at Butler in late March to the only common opponent between the two teams so far this spring.
Head coach Ryan Copeland is in his second year leading the program, and NIU was picked to finish seventh in the MAC preseason poll.
The Huskies are an offensively-focused team, ranking first in the MAC and No. 27 in NCAA Division I with 52 home runs. Northern is fourth in the league in scoring at 7.9 runs per game. The NIU pitching staff has the eighth-best ERA in the MAC (7.59).
Junior catcher Logan Gregorio is near or at the top of the conference leaderboards in RBI (46, first, No. 13 nationally), total bases (95, first), home runs (13, second, No. 14 nationally) and total hits (45, third). Junior left-handed pitcher Max Vaisvila leads the league with a 4.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while redshirt junior righty Adam Brouwer's 47 strikeouts are tops in the MAC.
Ball State's next scheduled contest is 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Butler in a rematch of the March 19 game when the Cardinals won 17-7 in Muncie.
CARDIAC CARDS: Ball State topped Eastern Michigan 4-2 in 14 innings to clinch a doubleheader sweep at Eastern Michigan on Friday. The Cardinals followed that up with a comeback win in Sunday's series finale to secure the sweep of the Eagles.
Friday's outcome was the first win for the baseball team in an extra innings since April 7, 2023 at The Citadel, and the 14 innings were the most in a Ball State game since the 2018 Cardinals played 14 frames at Indiana on April 18.
Ball State rallied back from a 5-3 deficit entering the ninth inning on Sunday, taking a 6-5 lead on Alex Richter's three-run home run to right field. with six total runs on its way to a 9-5 triumph at EMU.
BACK HOME AGAIN: This weekend's series against Northern Illinois features three of the four home games for the Cardinals at Shebek Stadium in the month of April.
Ball State hosted Bellarmine on April 1 away from Muncie for games for the entire second half of the month.
DUAL ACES: The duo of Keegan Johnson and Jacob Hartlaub have solidified their status as two of the top starting pitchers in the Mid-American Conference as they stand at or near the top of the MAC leaderboards in multiple categories.
Johnson leads the league in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (5.91) and is second in ERA (2.96) and third in WHIP (1.12) while Hartlaub is second in WHIP (1.10) and third in ERA (3.04) among qualifiers so far this year. Johnson's six wins are the most in the league and tied for fourth nationally, and both pitchers have struck out 46 batters, placing them in a tie for second place in the MAC.
CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: The Cardinals enter the weekend ranking first in the country with a .987 fielding percentage.
Ball State has committed 15 errors in 1,196 opportunities this year through the first 34 games. Ball State is fourth nationally in double plays turned at 33.
RICHTER REACHES BASE: Senior Alex Richter has been hit by a pitch 21 times this year, which is the most in NCAA Division I.
The third baseman is only three HBP away from tying Ryan Read's program record of 24 set in 1995.
HUSKIES HEADING TO THE HORIZON LEAGUE: This weekend's series against Northern Illinois will likely be the final games for the Northern Illinois baseball team as Mid-American Conference members in Muncie.
The NIU athletic department will switch conferences to the Horizon League beginning with the 2026-27 school year, making 2026 the last season the Huskies are set to compete in the MAC. Ball State will likely play in DeKalb next spring for the final MAC series against Northern Illinois.
GREGO HITTING HIS STRIDE: Junior Dylan Grego hit the game-winning single in Ball State's 4-2 win at Eastern Michigan in 14 innings on Friday and has developed into one of the top shortstops in the conference.
Grego is the league leader with 50 hits while batting .365 (No. 7 in the MAC) with an 1.014 OPS through 34 games.
Â
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballBaseball // 5 AM Workouts
Tuesday, August 26
Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Baseball // Day 1 MAC Tournament Recap: Win vs. EMU
Thursday, May 22