Friday, April 25
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
2 PM
Ball State University
at
Central Michigan
Baseball Resuming MAC Play with Three-Game Series at CMU Starting Friday at 2 p.m.
April 24, 2025 | Baseball
*Friday's series opener has been pushed up from 3 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The Ball State baseball team returns to Mid-American Conference play with a three-game series at Central Michigan set to start at 2 p.m. on Friday in Mount Pleasant.
Links to the video stream, Dom Liacone's digital radio broadcast and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (29-13, 15-3 MAC) suffered a 14-4 setback to Indiana in Indianapolis on Wednesday night after taking two of three games at Bowling Green last weekend. Ball State bounced back from a loss in the opener to claim a 23-18 victory on Friday and 16-12 decision on Saturday to clinch its sixth straight conference series to begin MAC play.
The Chippewas (16-25, 8-10 MAC) fell 8-7 at Oakland in 11 innings on Tuesday afternoon and dropped two of three games against Miami (OH) at home on Easter weekend. Central Michigan is in its second season under the direction of head coach Jake Sabol, and the Chippewas were picked to finish ninth in the preseason MAC poll.
Central is second in the league in both doubles (86, No. 36 nationally) and triples (11). The Chippewas' pitching staff ranks fourth in the MAC in ERA (6.18), while the offense is eighth in scoring at 6.4 runs per game.
Junior infielder Aaron Piasecki paces CMU with a .313 batting average and 50 hits, while junior outfielder Cole Prout has the most home runs (eight) and RBI (32) among Chippewa batters.
Ball State will take a break from midweek games for finals week and return home to host Kent State for a three-game series set for 3 p.m. next Friday.
SOLID START: The Ball State baseball team stands at first in the Mid-American Conference standings with a 15-3 record. This is the program's fourth time starting that well or better in MAC play through the first 18 games.
The 1998 and 2022 teams started 15-3, while the 2001 group began conference action with a 16-2 record.
GREGO HITS THE GONG: Junior Dylan Grego had a historic performance in Ball State's 23-18 comeback victory at Bowling Green, hitting three home runs for nine RBI.
The shortstop hit a three-run homer in the second inning, a two-run blast in the eighth and a grand slam in the ninth for Ball State's second three-home run performance of the year and the first nine RBI outing by a Ball State batter since Sean Kennedy on April 15, 2017, also against Bowling Green. Grego was earlier in the day placed on the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List honoring the nation's top collegiate shortstop.
Grego was the tenth player in NCAA Division I this year to drive in nine runs in a single game and third MAC hitter with a three-home run contest.
OFFENSE FOR DAYS: The Ball State bats dominated the Bowling Green arms on Easter weekend to the tune of 43 total runs in the three-game series.
The last time Ball State pitching allowed at least 18 runs and still won the game before Friday was a 26-25 win at New Mexico State on March 2, 2008. For the weekend, 10 different Cardinals scored multiple runs and eight drove in multiple runs, while eight rapped out at least four hits. Grego finished the series with a double, a triple, four home runs, 13 RBI, 22 total bases and eight runs scored.
CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: The Cardinals enter the weekend leading all of NCAA Division I with a .985 fielding percentage.
Ball State has committed 22 errors in 1,451 opportunities this year through the first 42 games. Ball State is 14th nationally in double plays turned at 36.
OLD RELIABLE THIRTY: Ball State's next win will be its 30th of the season, a mark the program has reached in each of the last 11 completed seasons.
The Cardinals have posted at least 30 wins in each of head coach Rich Maloney's 18 completed campaigns as the skipper.
RICHTER REACHES BASE: Senior Alex Richter has been hit by a pitch 23 times this year, which is the second-most in NCAA Division I.
The third baseman is only one HBP away from tying Ryan Read's program record of 24 set in 1995.
AWARD WATCH LISTS: Dylan Grego, Garrett Harker and Keegan Johnson have each been mentioned on watch lists for national honors in the last few weeks.
Harker was placed on the National Stopper of the Year Watch List by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday after Grego (Brooks Wallace Award, top college shortstop) and Johnson (National Pitcher of the Year) were mentioned on watch lists for awards from the College Baseball Foundation.
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The Ball State baseball team returns to Mid-American Conference play with a three-game series at Central Michigan set to start at 2 p.m. on Friday in Mount Pleasant.
Links to the video stream, Dom Liacone's digital radio broadcast and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (29-13, 15-3 MAC) suffered a 14-4 setback to Indiana in Indianapolis on Wednesday night after taking two of three games at Bowling Green last weekend. Ball State bounced back from a loss in the opener to claim a 23-18 victory on Friday and 16-12 decision on Saturday to clinch its sixth straight conference series to begin MAC play.
The Chippewas (16-25, 8-10 MAC) fell 8-7 at Oakland in 11 innings on Tuesday afternoon and dropped two of three games against Miami (OH) at home on Easter weekend. Central Michigan is in its second season under the direction of head coach Jake Sabol, and the Chippewas were picked to finish ninth in the preseason MAC poll.
Central is second in the league in both doubles (86, No. 36 nationally) and triples (11). The Chippewas' pitching staff ranks fourth in the MAC in ERA (6.18), while the offense is eighth in scoring at 6.4 runs per game.
Junior infielder Aaron Piasecki paces CMU with a .313 batting average and 50 hits, while junior outfielder Cole Prout has the most home runs (eight) and RBI (32) among Chippewa batters.
Ball State will take a break from midweek games for finals week and return home to host Kent State for a three-game series set for 3 p.m. next Friday.
SOLID START: The Ball State baseball team stands at first in the Mid-American Conference standings with a 15-3 record. This is the program's fourth time starting that well or better in MAC play through the first 18 games.
The 1998 and 2022 teams started 15-3, while the 2001 group began conference action with a 16-2 record.
GREGO HITS THE GONG: Junior Dylan Grego had a historic performance in Ball State's 23-18 comeback victory at Bowling Green, hitting three home runs for nine RBI.
The shortstop hit a three-run homer in the second inning, a two-run blast in the eighth and a grand slam in the ninth for Ball State's second three-home run performance of the year and the first nine RBI outing by a Ball State batter since Sean Kennedy on April 15, 2017, also against Bowling Green. Grego was earlier in the day placed on the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List honoring the nation's top collegiate shortstop.
Grego was the tenth player in NCAA Division I this year to drive in nine runs in a single game and third MAC hitter with a three-home run contest.
OFFENSE FOR DAYS: The Ball State bats dominated the Bowling Green arms on Easter weekend to the tune of 43 total runs in the three-game series.
The last time Ball State pitching allowed at least 18 runs and still won the game before Friday was a 26-25 win at New Mexico State on March 2, 2008. For the weekend, 10 different Cardinals scored multiple runs and eight drove in multiple runs, while eight rapped out at least four hits. Grego finished the series with a double, a triple, four home runs, 13 RBI, 22 total bases and eight runs scored.
CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: The Cardinals enter the weekend leading all of NCAA Division I with a .985 fielding percentage.
Ball State has committed 22 errors in 1,451 opportunities this year through the first 42 games. Ball State is 14th nationally in double plays turned at 36.
OLD RELIABLE THIRTY: Ball State's next win will be its 30th of the season, a mark the program has reached in each of the last 11 completed seasons.
The Cardinals have posted at least 30 wins in each of head coach Rich Maloney's 18 completed campaigns as the skipper.
RICHTER REACHES BASE: Senior Alex Richter has been hit by a pitch 23 times this year, which is the second-most in NCAA Division I.
The third baseman is only one HBP away from tying Ryan Read's program record of 24 set in 1995.
AWARD WATCH LISTS: Dylan Grego, Garrett Harker and Keegan Johnson have each been mentioned on watch lists for national honors in the last few weeks.
Harker was placed on the National Stopper of the Year Watch List by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday after Grego (Brooks Wallace Award, top college shortstop) and Johnson (National Pitcher of the Year) were mentioned on watch lists for awards from the College Baseball Foundation.
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