Baseball to Play at Western Michigan this Weekend; Friday Series Opener Moved to Grand Valley State Field in Allendale

Friday, March 20

Allendale, Mich.

3 PM

Ball State University

Western Michigan

Photo by: Caden Vincent

Baseball to Play at Western Michigan this Weekend; Friday Series Opener Moved to Grand Valley State Field in Allendale

March 19, 2026 | Baseball

Watch Friday Watch Saturday Watch Sunday Listen Friday Listen Saturday Listen Sunday Live Stats Friday Live Stats Saturday Live Stats Sunday

The Ball State baseball team hits for the road for its first Mid-American Conference series away from Muncie this year when the Cardinals play at Western Michigan starting Friday.

Friday's 3 p.m. series opener has been moved to Grand Valley State's baseball field in Allendale, Mich., due to the field conditions in Kalamazoo. Saturday and Sunday games are still scheduled to take
place at Western's home field at Robert J. Bobb Stadium and start at 1 p.m. Links to the video and audio broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (10-9, 5-1 Mid-American Conference) fell 14-10 to Butler at home on Wednesday afternoon after sweeping Eastern Michigan over the weekend in a trio of high-scoring games.

The Broncos (9-9, 5-1 MAC) scored 42 runs over three games to sweep Ohio last weekend in Athens before having a planned Tuesday contest with Bethel University canceled. Western took 2 of 3 games at Akron to begin the conference season and currently join Ball State in a five-way tie for first place in the MAC standings.

Billy Gernon is in his 16^th season as the head coach of the Broncos, who were picked to finish sixth in the 12-team MAC preseason poll.

Western Michigan leads the league in double plays turned (18), fielding percentage (.978) and sac bunts (13) so far this year.

Junior Tanner Mally is the NCAA Division I leader in batting average (.544) and on base percentage (.656) and leads the MAC in runs scored (25) early on in the season.

Next up for Ball State on the schedule is a Tuesday evening game at Southern Indiana.

GILLIS HITS THE GONG: Junior Jacob Gillis first baseman hit a pair of two-run home runs in the late innings against Butler on Wednesday and ranks near the top of the Mid-American Conference leaderboards in multiple offensive categories.

Gillis ranks third in the MAC in homers (seven), fourth in total bases (48) and eighth in slugging percentage (.686) in his first season with the Cardinals. The junior paces Ball State in batting average (.357), on base percentage (.427) and slugging percentage (.686) so far this year.

QUINN FOR THE WIN: Senior Owen Quinn boasts Ball State's top ERA (1.89), a mark that ranks second in the league and No. 61 nationally.

The right-handed pitcher came out of the bullpen and tossed 5.1 innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts to earn the win in Saturday's 9-4 decision over Eastern Michigan. Quinn has struck out 14 in 19.0 frames this season.

FEELS SO SWEEP: Ball State got the bats going in a three-game sweep of Eastern Michigan, tallying 38 runs, or more than 12 per game, during the series with the Eagles last weekend.

The Cardinals posted eight innings with multiple runs across the set on their way to coming back from 2-0 deficits after the top of the first inning of each game. Big numbers in the fifth frame (six runs) Saturday and seventh Sunday (seven runs) led the way to the comeback wins.

GRIFFITHS GETS GOING: Senior shortstop Brett Griffiths collected game-winning hits both March 7 and March 8 against Central Michigan to help Ball State win the series against the Chippewas.

A walk-off two-run double to left center finished off an 11-10 comeback win for the Cardinals on that Sunday a day after Griffiths blasted a go-ahead solo homer in an 11-6 victory on Saturday. The senior tallied five hits including a double, triple and home run and five RBI during the weekend set.

GETTING THE GREAT LAKES STATE OVER WITH: Ball State plays each of the three Mid-American Conference schools from Michigan in the first three series of conference play.

After playing Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan to begin MAC play, the Cardinals play Western next. Following the series with the Broncos, Ball State will have 19 games remaining against teams from Ohio, seven from Indiana and three each from Illinois and Massachusetts.

BALIUS BATS AND RUNS: Senior Gavin Balius collected a hit in each of the last three games and has at least one in 17 of 19 games played this year. Balius leads the Cardinals in stolen bases (18) and hits (25) through the first month of the season.

The Flushing, Mich., native has collected multiple hits in four games and multiple steals in six games so far this year. Balius leads the league and ranks sixth in Division I entering the weekend with the 18 steals.

GARZA GOES THE DISTANCE: Sophomore Brendan Garza surrendered only two hits and two walks and didn't allow a runner to advance past first base, in a complete game shutout in Ball State's 1-0 win at Hawaii on Feb. 27 on his way to a MAC Pitcher of the Week recognition.

This was Ball State's first complete game since Merritt Beeker allowed one run in 9.0 frames in May 2024 against Toledo at the Mid-American Conference Tournament and first nine-inning shutout in five years (John Baker against Western Michigan in a 2-0 win on March 19, 2021).