Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
8-8, 3-1
Eastern Michigan
4-14, 0-4
Cardinals Score 17 Runs at Blustery Shebek to Get Past Eastern Michigan
March 13, 2026 | Baseball
Ball State (8-8, 3-1 MAC) won its third straight home game and third straight game in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles (4-14, 0-4 MAC) remained winless in the MAC.
Battling blustery winds in the Muncie area that measured more than 50 miles per hour, heavy gusts blew out of the ballpark to center and right field -- contributing to a combined 30 runs on 33 hits by the Cardinals and Eagles. The Cardinals also were the beneficiaries of five EMU errors. Reliever John Chambers (2-3) fired 6.1 innings for Ball State and quieted the EMU bats after the fourth inning to earn his second win of the season.
Both clubs traded runs in the early going, with EMU leading 2-0 in the top of the first and Ryan Muizelaar's three-run blast to right field putting Ball State ahead in the bottom half. EMU answered with six runs in the second inning, combining three singles with a pair of Cardinals errors, and Ball State added two on an RBI grounder by Gavin Balius and a solo shot by Jacob Gillis. Eastern led 8-5 threw two innings, but the scoring continued.
In the third, EMU struck for two to begin the inning. Ball State got four when the first two batters reached on errors, then Kenskey Thomas belted a two-run homer to right, and Brayden Huebner scampered home on a wild pitch. The Eagles added another pair in the fourth, for a 12-9 advantage, and kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard despite a single and hit-by-pitch to lead-off batters Muizelaar and Brett Griffiths.
Ball State took control in the fifth behind Chambers, though. Responsible for the Eagles' four runs in the third and fourth, he allowed just one hit in the fifth and two in the sixth, and kept EMU scoreless for four straight innings. EMU's 1-2-3 seventh inning was the windy game's only half-inning with a minimum three batters.
Following EMU's scoreless fifth, Ball State batters went to work, sending nine Cardinals to the plate and scoring four, on five hits. Muizelaar's bases-loaded single drove in two Ball State runs and Gillis' sacrifice fly plated another. Thomas picked up his third RBI with a single to cap Ball State's scoring in the fifth. And after Gillis' double drove in Balius in the sixth, Thomas' second homer of the day -- a three-run, 448-foot no-doubter to right -- provided the proverbial nail in EMU's coffin in the seventh inning to deliver a 17-12 lead. The Eagles scored their final run in the ninth.
Thomas paced the Ball State hit parade with three hits and six RBI. Muizelaar added three hits and five RBI. Huebner, batting from the leadoff spot, batted 4-of=6 on the day. Gillis and Griffiths also added three hits as Ball State's first six hitters in the lineup combined to belt all 18 hits and bat .500 for the day (18-of-36).Â
Ball State and Eastern Michigan meet again Saturday at 1 p.m., for game two of the series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chambers, John (2-3)
L: Egan, Cole (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Zirwas, Devan 1 ; Hale, John 1 ; Borchardt, Nathan 2
HR: Crane, Tristan 1 ; Schechterman, Ben 1
RBI: Jellison, Bruce 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 2 ; Borchardt, Nathan 2 ; Crane, Tristan 1 ; Schechterman, Ben 2 ; Stecko, Ty 2
SF: Borchardt, Nathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Williams, TJ 3 ; Knupp, Keegan 1 ; Jellison, Bruce 1 ; Zirwas, Devan 1 ; Hale, John 1 ; Borchardt, Nathan 2 ; Crane, Tristan 1 ; Schechterman, Ben 1 ; Stecko, Ty 1 ; Weaver, Nick 1
SB: Schechterman, Ben 1
HBP: Zirwas, Devan 1 ; Stecko, Ty 1
Batting:
2B: Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Gillis, Jacob 1
3B: Huebner, Brayden 1
HR: Muizelaar, Ryan 1 ; Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Thomas, Kenskey 2
RBI: Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1 ; Kalk, Max 1 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 5 ; Gillis, Jacob 2 ; Thomas, Kenskey 6
SF: Griffiths, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffiths, Brett 2 ; Balius, Gavin 3 ; Kalk, Max 2 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 2 ; Huebner, Brayden 2 ; Gillis, Jacob 3 ; Sorgius, Kendric 1 ; Thomas, Kenskey 2
SB: Huebner, Brayden 1
HBP: Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Sorgius, Kendric 1
