Wednesday, May 21
Avon, Ohio
12:30 PM
Ball State University
36-20
6
vs
5
Eastern Michigan
20-30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Michigan
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
5
7
1
Ball State
1
0
2
2
0
1
0
0
0
6
11
1
Photo by: David Dermer
Cardinals Claim 6-5 Opening Round Win against EMU at MAC Tournament
May 21, 2025 | Baseball
AVON, Ohio – The Ball State baseball team rode a season-best pitching performance by John Chambers to a 6-5 win over Eastern Michigan on Wednesday afternoon at Crushers Stadium in the first game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The Cardinals (36-20) got six strikeouts and 5.2 shutout frames out of the bullpen by the right-hander to lead to the opening round takedown of the No. 6 seed Eagles (20-30).
Ball State struck first on an RBI double from Nick Husovsky in the first and a two-run home run from Blake Bevis in the third inning to claim a 3-0 lead. Eastern responded with a five-run fourth before a more than three-hour rain delay between the top and bottom half of the frame.
The No. 3 seed Cardinals came out of the break with a Dylan Grego run-scoring single and sacrifice fly by Husovsky to tie the score. Grego later drove in Max Kalk on a sac fly for what proved to be the game-winning run.
Chambers (2-0) came on with one out in the fourth and went the distance from there to post his second win of the year. The junior allowed four hits and a walk against the four punchouts.
Grego and Husovsky posted two hits and two RBI each, while Bevis went for two RBI on the home run. Gavin Balius knocked two hits and scored a run on the day.
Eastern Michigan's Ethan Davis (2-4) was hit with the loss after surrendering three runs in three innings of work.
"Our boys showed their grit in waiting out the rain delay and came back ready to play," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "Great team effort but John Chambers' pitching was outstanding!"
The Cardinals are set to face No. 2 seed Kent State at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The Cardinals (36-20) got six strikeouts and 5.2 shutout frames out of the bullpen by the right-hander to lead to the opening round takedown of the No. 6 seed Eagles (20-30).
Ball State struck first on an RBI double from Nick Husovsky in the first and a two-run home run from Blake Bevis in the third inning to claim a 3-0 lead. Eastern responded with a five-run fourth before a more than three-hour rain delay between the top and bottom half of the frame.
The No. 3 seed Cardinals came out of the break with a Dylan Grego run-scoring single and sacrifice fly by Husovsky to tie the score. Grego later drove in Max Kalk on a sac fly for what proved to be the game-winning run.
Chambers (2-0) came on with one out in the fourth and went the distance from there to post his second win of the year. The junior allowed four hits and a walk against the four punchouts.
Grego and Husovsky posted two hits and two RBI each, while Bevis went for two RBI on the home run. Gavin Balius knocked two hits and scored a run on the day.
Eastern Michigan's Ethan Davis (2-4) was hit with the loss after surrendering three runs in three innings of work.
"Our boys showed their grit in waiting out the rain delay and came back ready to play," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "Great team effort but John Chambers' pitching was outstanding!"
The Cardinals are set to face No. 2 seed Kent State at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chambers, John (2-0)
L: DAVIS, Ethan (2-4)
Batting:
2B: VANCE, Cooper 1
RBI: HUGO, Logan 1 ; HALE, John 1 ; VANCE, Cooper 2
SF: HUGO, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JELLISON, Bruce 1 ; STECKO, Ty 1 ; JONES, Drew 1 ; HALE, John 1 ; VANCE, Cooper 1
CS: STECKO, Ty 2
HBP: HUGO, Logan 1 ; HALE, John 1
Batting:
2B: Grego, Dylan 1 ; Husovsky, Nick 2 ; Griffin, Korbin 1
HR: Bevis, Blake 1
RBI: Grego, Dylan 2 ; Husovsky, Nick 2 ; Bevis, Blake 2
SF: Grego, Dylan 1 ; Husovsky, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grego, Dylan 1 ; Husovsky, Nick 1 ; Bevis, Blake 1 ; Arnold, Garrett 1 ; Kalk, Max 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1
SB: Grego, Dylan 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1
CS: Balius, Gavin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF/1B/P
/ Baseball
P
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballUTIL
/ Baseball
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