Ball State University Athletics
Saturday, February 14
DeLand, Fla.
2 PM
Ball State University
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Photo by: Caden Vincent
Cardinals Sweep Twinbill and Stay Unbeaten Behind Pitching Efforts From Garza & Burden
February 14, 2026 | Baseball
DELAND, Fla. -- Brendan Garza and Alex Burden totaled 11 innings pitched and struck out 11 on Saturday while leading Ball State to a doubleheader sweep over St. John's and Stetson, as part of a four-team, opening weekend tournament hosted by the Hatters. The Cardinals beat St. John's, 8-2, for the second straight day, then got past Stetson, 5-2, to stay unbeaten.
The Cardinals cap their four-game opening weekend when they battle Minnesota on Sunday morning.
Garza and the Cardinals were the beneficiaries of 12 free passes via walk or hit by pitch in the day's first game against St. John's. The Cardinals also scored a pair of runs on wild pitches, scoring three in the first, three in the third and leading 7-0 before giving Garza an 8-2 victory. Garza did his part by striking out five over his five innings pitched. He only allowed three hits and allowed just two walks of his own.
Ball State got two hits apiece from Tommy Landsnes, Preston Murphy and Gavin Balius, and eight different runners scored the Cardinals' runs.
In the nightcap, Ball State blitzed the homestanding Hatters in the fifth inning by chasing starter Ethan Phillips. Charlie Keller walked for Ball State and Huston Dunn's double put men in scoring position. Balius grounded to short, but an errant throw scored both runners and advanced Balius to third. He scored on Ryan Muizelaar's sacrifice fly to right field, as Ball State took the lead and never looked back. The Cardinals added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and took a 5-1 lead into the eighth.
The run support was all that Burden needed. He scattered five hits with six strikeouts over six frames, and only twice allowed two base runners in an inning. Only one runner reached second base, past the first inning when the Hatters scored their only run against him. Jeremy Jones picked-up a three-inning save while fanning six and facing just 13 batters.
The Cardinals cap their four-game opening weekend when they battle Minnesota on Sunday morning.
Garza and the Cardinals were the beneficiaries of 12 free passes via walk or hit by pitch in the day's first game against St. John's. The Cardinals also scored a pair of runs on wild pitches, scoring three in the first, three in the third and leading 7-0 before giving Garza an 8-2 victory. Garza did his part by striking out five over his five innings pitched. He only allowed three hits and allowed just two walks of his own.
Ball State got two hits apiece from Tommy Landsnes, Preston Murphy and Gavin Balius, and eight different runners scored the Cardinals' runs.
In the nightcap, Ball State blitzed the homestanding Hatters in the fifth inning by chasing starter Ethan Phillips. Charlie Keller walked for Ball State and Huston Dunn's double put men in scoring position. Balius grounded to short, but an errant throw scored both runners and advanced Balius to third. He scored on Ryan Muizelaar's sacrifice fly to right field, as Ball State took the lead and never looked back. The Cardinals added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and took a 5-1 lead into the eighth.
The run support was all that Burden needed. He scattered five hits with six strikeouts over six frames, and only twice allowed two base runners in an inning. Only one runner reached second base, past the first inning when the Hatters scored their only run against him. Jeremy Jones picked-up a three-inning save while fanning six and facing just 13 batters.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garza, Brendan (1-0)
L: Batuyios, Chris (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Murphy, Preston 1
RBI: Murphy, Preston 1 ; Balius, Gavin 2 ; Landsnes, Tommy 2 ; Keller, Charlie 1
SF: Keller, Charlie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Huebner, Brayden 1 ; Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Colligan, John 1 ; Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Murphy, Preston 1 ; Thomas, Kenskey 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 1
SB: Perkins, Maalik 1 ; Huebner, Brayden 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1
HBP: Colligan, John 1 ; Thomas, Kenskey 2
Batting:
3B: Rodriguez, Lewis 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Lewis 1 ; LeGrande, Jon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wright, Chaz 1 ; Rodriguez, Lewis 1
CS: Rodriguez, Lewis 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
6
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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INF
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