Thursday, May 15
Muncie, Ind.
3 PM
Ball State University
vs
Miami (OH)
Baseball Hosting Miami (OH) Starting Thursday for Crucial Series Concluding Regular Season
May 14, 2025 | Baseball
Pregame Senior Day Ceremony Friday and Shebek Stadium Dedication Saturday
The Ball State baseball team concludes the regular season with a crucial three-game series against Miami (OH) starting at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Links to the ESPN+ broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to Friday's game (3 p.m.) to support the team's seniors in a pregame Senior Day ceremony. Saturday's start time is set for 2 p.m. and will feature Mike Shebek throwing
out the first pitch for the Shebek Stadium dedication.
Ball State (34-18, 20-7 Mid-American Conference) won Saturday and Sunday at Ohio to take two out of three games over the Bobcats in Athens last weekend. The Cardinals had a Tuesday game with Purdue canceled due to expected thunderstorms.
Miami (30-20, 21-6) swept Akron at home last weekend, winning every game by at least three runs. Ball State beat the RedHawks in two out of three games in April 2024 in Oxford.
Brian Smiley is in his second year in charge of Miami, who was picked third in the MAC preseason poll after going 27-27 (17-13 MAC) to enter the 2024 MAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
The RedHawks lead the league and rank in the Top 20 nationally with 32 sacrifice flies (No. 8 in NCAA Division I) and walks (293, No. 17). Miami is led by an offense that ranks second in the MAC in scoring (8.0 runs per game), batting average (.296) and on base percentage (.421). The pitching staff has the sixth-best ERA in the conference (6.34).
Senior David Novak (42 walks), redshirt junior Evan Appelwick (41), senior Anthony Zarlingo (40) and junior Dominic Krupinski go 1-2-3-4 in the MAC in free passes. Appelwick is third in the league in home runs (16), fourth in RBI (59) and fifth in runs scored (54).
Junior Carson Byers and redshirt sophomore Cooper Katskee are two of the top pitchers in the MAC. Byers has the top ERA (2.73) among qualifiers in the league along with the second-best WHIP (1.10). Katskee has the most wins (nine, fifth-most in NCAA Division I), top WHIP (1.00) and second-best ERA (2.82).
Ball State will next begin the MAC Tournament either Wednesday or Thursday at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio depending on seeding.
SENIOR DAY AND SHEBEK DEDICATION: There will be pregame ceremonies on Friday for Senior Day and Saturday for the Shebek Stadium dedication.
Grant Miller, Alex Richter, Nick Husovsky, Jacob Hartlaub, Clay Jacobs, Korbin Griffin, Drue Young, Houston King, Garrett Harker, Lucas Letsinger, Garrett Arnold, Ty Davis, and team manager Glenn Prynn will be recognized Friday, while Mike Shebek will throw out the first pitch on Saturday.
TAKING TWENTY-FIVE FOR THE TEAM: Senior Alex Richter was hit by a pitch for the 25th time this season on Saturday at Ohio to tie the program record.
Ryan Read was hit 24 times during the 1995 campaign for the previous record. Richter ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in HBP (26) this year and leads the team in walks (32) as well for a .426 on base percentage. Additionally, the infielder paces the Cardinals in home runs (16), RBI (51) and runs scored (53).
TOP OF THE PACK IN THE MAC: Kent State and Miami (OH) enter the final weekend of the regular season tied at the top of the conference standings at 21-6, and Ball State is a game back at 20-7.
The Golden Flashes are set to play three games at Eastern Michigan, while the Cardinals and RedHawks square off for a three-game set. Kent (over Ball State) and Miami (over Kent) hold head-to-head tiebreakers with series wins earlier in the year.
OLD RELIABLE THIRTY: Ball State's 9-6 win on April 25 at Central Michigan was its 30th of the season, a mark the program has now reached in each of the last 12 completed seasons.
The Cardinals have posted at least 30 wins in each of head coach Rich Maloney's 19 full campaigns as the skipper.
CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: The Cardinals enter the weekend ranking second in NCAA Division I with a .983 fielding percentage.
Ball State has committed 30 errors in 1,785 opportunities this year through the first 52 games. Ball State is ninth nationally in double plays turned at 46.
BURDEN BRINGING IT: Senior Alex Burden entered Sunday's 6-3 win at Ohio with runners on first and second and no one out and retired nine straight Bobcats to close out the game.
The left-handed pitcher sandwiched strikeouts around a flyout to get out of the seventh inning jam and earn his first save with the Cardinals.
BEVIS BOUNCING UP THE RECORD BOOK: Junior Blake Bevis hit a two-run home run in the first inning of Friday's game at Ohio for his 14th of the year.
Bevis bested his previous single-season high of 12 from 2024 and broke a tie with Brad Snyder for fifth in program history with 37 career homers. Next up on the list is Ed Farris (1994-97) with 38 home runs.
BALANCED POWER: Richter (16 home runs) Bevis (14), Dylan Grego (13) and Ty Davis (11) have each hit double digit homers this year for Ball State.
Five different Cardinals have also hit 10+ doubles: Nick Husovsky (13), Grego (12), Bevis (11), Garrett Arnold and Clay Jacobs (10 each). Finally, Richter (51), Grego (50), Husovsky (47) and Bevis (43) each have driven in more than 40 runs so far this season.
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Links to the ESPN+ broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to Friday's game (3 p.m.) to support the team's seniors in a pregame Senior Day ceremony. Saturday's start time is set for 2 p.m. and will feature Mike Shebek throwing
out the first pitch for the Shebek Stadium dedication.
Ball State (34-18, 20-7 Mid-American Conference) won Saturday and Sunday at Ohio to take two out of three games over the Bobcats in Athens last weekend. The Cardinals had a Tuesday game with Purdue canceled due to expected thunderstorms.
Miami (30-20, 21-6) swept Akron at home last weekend, winning every game by at least three runs. Ball State beat the RedHawks in two out of three games in April 2024 in Oxford.
Brian Smiley is in his second year in charge of Miami, who was picked third in the MAC preseason poll after going 27-27 (17-13 MAC) to enter the 2024 MAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
The RedHawks lead the league and rank in the Top 20 nationally with 32 sacrifice flies (No. 8 in NCAA Division I) and walks (293, No. 17). Miami is led by an offense that ranks second in the MAC in scoring (8.0 runs per game), batting average (.296) and on base percentage (.421). The pitching staff has the sixth-best ERA in the conference (6.34).
Senior David Novak (42 walks), redshirt junior Evan Appelwick (41), senior Anthony Zarlingo (40) and junior Dominic Krupinski go 1-2-3-4 in the MAC in free passes. Appelwick is third in the league in home runs (16), fourth in RBI (59) and fifth in runs scored (54).
Junior Carson Byers and redshirt sophomore Cooper Katskee are two of the top pitchers in the MAC. Byers has the top ERA (2.73) among qualifiers in the league along with the second-best WHIP (1.10). Katskee has the most wins (nine, fifth-most in NCAA Division I), top WHIP (1.00) and second-best ERA (2.82).
Ball State will next begin the MAC Tournament either Wednesday or Thursday at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio depending on seeding.
SENIOR DAY AND SHEBEK DEDICATION: There will be pregame ceremonies on Friday for Senior Day and Saturday for the Shebek Stadium dedication.
Grant Miller, Alex Richter, Nick Husovsky, Jacob Hartlaub, Clay Jacobs, Korbin Griffin, Drue Young, Houston King, Garrett Harker, Lucas Letsinger, Garrett Arnold, Ty Davis, and team manager Glenn Prynn will be recognized Friday, while Mike Shebek will throw out the first pitch on Saturday.
TAKING TWENTY-FIVE FOR THE TEAM: Senior Alex Richter was hit by a pitch for the 25th time this season on Saturday at Ohio to tie the program record.
Ryan Read was hit 24 times during the 1995 campaign for the previous record. Richter ranks fourth in NCAA Division I in HBP (26) this year and leads the team in walks (32) as well for a .426 on base percentage. Additionally, the infielder paces the Cardinals in home runs (16), RBI (51) and runs scored (53).
TOP OF THE PACK IN THE MAC: Kent State and Miami (OH) enter the final weekend of the regular season tied at the top of the conference standings at 21-6, and Ball State is a game back at 20-7.
The Golden Flashes are set to play three games at Eastern Michigan, while the Cardinals and RedHawks square off for a three-game set. Kent (over Ball State) and Miami (over Kent) hold head-to-head tiebreakers with series wins earlier in the year.
OLD RELIABLE THIRTY: Ball State's 9-6 win on April 25 at Central Michigan was its 30th of the season, a mark the program has now reached in each of the last 12 completed seasons.
The Cardinals have posted at least 30 wins in each of head coach Rich Maloney's 19 full campaigns as the skipper.
CLEAN FIELDING AND TURNING TWO: The Cardinals enter the weekend ranking second in NCAA Division I with a .983 fielding percentage.
Ball State has committed 30 errors in 1,785 opportunities this year through the first 52 games. Ball State is ninth nationally in double plays turned at 46.
BURDEN BRINGING IT: Senior Alex Burden entered Sunday's 6-3 win at Ohio with runners on first and second and no one out and retired nine straight Bobcats to close out the game.
The left-handed pitcher sandwiched strikeouts around a flyout to get out of the seventh inning jam and earn his first save with the Cardinals.
BEVIS BOUNCING UP THE RECORD BOOK: Junior Blake Bevis hit a two-run home run in the first inning of Friday's game at Ohio for his 14th of the year.
Bevis bested his previous single-season high of 12 from 2024 and broke a tie with Brad Snyder for fifth in program history with 37 career homers. Next up on the list is Ed Farris (1994-97) with 38 home runs.
BALANCED POWER: Richter (16 home runs) Bevis (14), Dylan Grego (13) and Ty Davis (11) have each hit double digit homers this year for Ball State.
Five different Cardinals have also hit 10+ doubles: Nick Husovsky (13), Grego (12), Bevis (11), Garrett Arnold and Clay Jacobs (10 each). Finally, Richter (51), Grego (50), Husovsky (47) and Bevis (43) each have driven in more than 40 runs so far this season.
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