Ball State University Athletics
Friday, February 13
DeLand, Fla.
Noon
Ball State University
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Photo by: Caden Vincent
Late Rally Leads Baseball to 4-3 Win over St. John's in Season Opener
February 13, 2026 | Baseball
DeLAND, Fla. – The Ball State baseball team rode a late three-run rally and strong performance out of the bullpen from John Chambers to a 4-3 win against St. John's on Saturday afternoon at Melching Field.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Brett Griffiths led off with a double before Preston Murphy reached on a fielder's choice that also advanced Griffiths to third base. John Colligan next reached on an RBI fielder's choice that scored Griffiths, and Murphy was thrown out at second.
Gavin Balius followed with a single to left field that moved Colligan to third, and Colligan scored on a throwing error as Balius stole second base to tie the game at 3-3. Pinch hitter Tommy Landsnes walked to set up an RBI single to left by Ryan Muizelaar which proved to be the game-winning hit.
Chambers (1-0) struck out five in 5.0 shutout relief innings while only walking one to earn the win. The senior righthander has now worked 11 straight scoreless frames counting the end of last season which included a 5.2-inning shutout appearance out of the bullpen against Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Keegan Johnson started for the Cardinals and worked 4.0 innings of three-run ball in the season opener. Tommy Conley took the loss for St. John's after giving up three runs in 1.1 frames.
The Red Storm got out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run in the third inning, but Kenskey Thomas drove in Balius on a single in the bottom half of the frame to put the Cardinals on the board. St. John's scored on a sacrifice fly in the fourth but was held scoreless for the rest of the contest.
"Our boys played a solid game," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "Good pitching, timely hitting and good defense. John Chambers was outstanding in relief."
Ball State is set to play St. John's again on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by a game against Stetson at 6 p.m.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Brett Griffiths led off with a double before Preston Murphy reached on a fielder's choice that also advanced Griffiths to third base. John Colligan next reached on an RBI fielder's choice that scored Griffiths, and Murphy was thrown out at second.
Gavin Balius followed with a single to left field that moved Colligan to third, and Colligan scored on a throwing error as Balius stole second base to tie the game at 3-3. Pinch hitter Tommy Landsnes walked to set up an RBI single to left by Ryan Muizelaar which proved to be the game-winning hit.
Chambers (1-0) struck out five in 5.0 shutout relief innings while only walking one to earn the win. The senior righthander has now worked 11 straight scoreless frames counting the end of last season which included a 5.2-inning shutout appearance out of the bullpen against Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Keegan Johnson started for the Cardinals and worked 4.0 innings of three-run ball in the season opener. Tommy Conley took the loss for St. John's after giving up three runs in 1.1 frames.
The Red Storm got out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run in the third inning, but Kenskey Thomas drove in Balius on a single in the bottom half of the frame to put the Cardinals on the board. St. John's scored on a sacrifice fly in the fourth but was held scoreless for the rest of the contest.
"Our boys played a solid game," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "Good pitching, timely hitting and good defense. John Chambers was outstanding in relief."
Ball State is set to play St. John's again on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by a game against Stetson at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chambers, John (1-0)
L: Conley, Tommy (0-1)
Batting:
HR: LeGrande, Jon 1
RBI: Bernardini, Cristian 1 ; LeGrande, Jon 2
SF: Bernardini, Cristian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fitzimmons, Dylan 1 ; Frey, Ayden 1 ; LeGrande, Jon 1
SB: LeGrande, Jon 1
HBP: Mansour, Rob 1
Batting:
2B: Griffiths, Brett 1
RBI: Colligan, John 1 ; Thomas, Kenskey 1 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Colligan, John 1 ; Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Balius, Gavin 2
SB: Huebner, Brayden 1 ; Balius, Gavin 2
CS: Colligan, John 1
HBP: Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
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RBI
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4
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H
1
RBI
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AB
4
R
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H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
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UTIL
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OF
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