Sunday, April 27
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 PM
Ball State University
31-14, 17-4
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Central Michigan
17-27, 9-12
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9
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Ball State
0
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Central Michigan
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1
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Photo by: Jack Reeber
Baseball Falls in Finale at Central Michigan Despite Strong Relief Performance from Garza
April 27, 2025 | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Ball State baseball team got a strong relief performance from Brendan Garza, but Central Michigan scored four early runs on its way to a 4-0 win on Sunday afternoon at Keilitz Field.
The Chippewas (17-27, 9-12 Mid-American Conference) plated three tallies in the first and one in the second inning to salvage the series finale after dropping the first two games of the set to the Cardinals (31-14, 17-4 MAC), who maintained their first-place position in the conference standings.
Garza entered with a runner on first and no outs in the first frame with the hosts up 3-0 and went 6.2 innings while allowing one hit and a single unearned run to give the Cardinals a chance to win. The true freshman had worked 13.2 innings on the year before Sunday and lowered his ERA to 3.98 with the effort.
Central scored its runs on a two-run triple and RBI single in the first and another run-scoring single in the second. Ball State starter Connor Hutchinson (2-3) suffered the loss.
Dylan Grego went 2-for-4 for the Cardinals, and Nick Husovsky, Ty Davis and Ben Giovannetti also had hits for the visitors. Both offenses were limited to five hits on the day.
"Our boys came up short today but had another series win," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "We hit the ball hard but right at them. Brendan Garza was outstanding for us!"
Jared Hanson (2-2) struck out two in five shutout innings to earn the win for the hosts.
Ball States takes a break from midweek games due to Finals Week and returns home to host Kent State starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.
The Chippewas (17-27, 9-12 Mid-American Conference) plated three tallies in the first and one in the second inning to salvage the series finale after dropping the first two games of the set to the Cardinals (31-14, 17-4 MAC), who maintained their first-place position in the conference standings.
Garza entered with a runner on first and no outs in the first frame with the hosts up 3-0 and went 6.2 innings while allowing one hit and a single unearned run to give the Cardinals a chance to win. The true freshman had worked 13.2 innings on the year before Sunday and lowered his ERA to 3.98 with the effort.
Central scored its runs on a two-run triple and RBI single in the first and another run-scoring single in the second. Ball State starter Connor Hutchinson (2-3) suffered the loss.
Dylan Grego went 2-for-4 for the Cardinals, and Nick Husovsky, Ty Davis and Ben Giovannetti also had hits for the visitors. Both offenses were limited to five hits on the day.
"Our boys came up short today but had another series win," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "We hit the ball hard but right at them. Brendan Garza was outstanding for us!"
Jared Hanson (2-2) struck out two in five shutout innings to earn the win for the hosts.
Ball States takes a break from midweek games due to Finals Week and returns home to host Kent State starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jared Hanson (2-2)
L: Hutchinson, Connor (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Cole Prout 1
3B: Aaron Piasecki 1
RBI: Aydin Wright 1 ; Aaron Piasecki 2 ; Nathan Ball 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mikey Murphy 2 ; Aydin Wright 1 ; Aaron Piasecki 1
SB: Mikey Murphy 1
CS: Aydin Wright 1 ; Aaron Piasecki 1
HBP: Aydin Wright 1 ; Zach Knowlton 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
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P
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