Baseball Hits Early Grand Slam but Falls to Merrimack in Swig & Swine Classic Opener; Saturday's Games Pushed up to 11 AM and 3 PM

Friday, February 20

Charleston, S.C.

Noon

Ball State University

3-2

Merrimack

1-1

Merrimack

Ball St.

Photo by: Caden Vincent

Baseball Hits Early Grand Slam but Falls to Merrimack in Swig & Swine Classic Opener; Saturday's Games Pushed up to 11 AM and 3 PM

February 20, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Ball State baseball team got a grand slam to take an early lead but fell 9-5 to Merrimack on Friday afternoon at the Swig & Swine College Classic at Shipyard Park.

Jacob Gillis blasted a ball over the left center field fence for a bases clearing home run to put the Cardinals (3-2) ahead 4-1 in the bottom of the first inning.

Brett Griffiths tacked on an RBI single in the fourth frame to score Gavin Balius and extend the edge, but Merrimack (1-1) scored six times in the fifth inning and once each in the seventh and eighth to take the first game of the weekend in Charleston. Christian Scanlon and Matt DeShiro hit two-run homers in the fifth to tie the score before the Warriors scored twice more in the frame on bases loaded walks to gain a 7-5 advantage.

Both teams are scheduled for a rematch on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Gillis went 3-for-4 with the four RBI on the day for Ball State, while Griffiths notched three hits as well including a double. Balius, Ryan Muizelaar and Kenskey Thomas had one hit each.

Junior Keegan Johnson started for the Cardinals and struck out four in 4.1 innings while allowing five runs. John Chambers (1-1) followed in relief and suffered the loss with two runs surrendered in two-thirds of a frame.

Merrimack's Colby Barker (1-0) came on in relief to earn the win, allowing one unearned run in 3.1 innings of work with five strikeouts. Nick Hunkele got the last nine outs for the Warriors, striking out three, to be credited with the save.

"We were outplayed in every facet," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "We didn't earn the right to win today. They player more hungry than us."

Ball State is scheduled for two games on Saturday consisting of contests against George Mason at 11 a.m., and Seton Hall at 3 p.m. The schedules for each game were pushed up by an hour from the original start times.