Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
14-11, 9-2
Ohio
5-21, 3-8
Cardinals Beat Bobcats 14-7 for Second Straight Win over Ohio to Start Series
March 28, 2026 | Baseball
The Cardinals (14-11, 9-2 Mid-American Conference) got one run in the first frame on an RBI single by Ryan Muizelaar to plate Brett Griffiths and two in the second including an RBI single by Brayden Huebner to knot the score at 3-3 entering the third inning.
Maalik Perkins punctuated a two-run bottom half of the third with an RBI knock, and Muizelaar extended the edge for the hosts to 6-3 in the fourth on another run-scoring safety. Huebner hit a two-run homer in the fifth frame to give the Cardinals an 8-3 advantage.
Ohio (5-21, 3-8 MAC) tallied two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to draw within a run at 8-7, but Ball State rallied for six scores in the bottom of the seventh including run-scoring hits from Griffiths (double), Jacob Gillis (double), Preston Murphy (two-run double) and Max Kalk (single) for what proved to be the day's final offense.
Huebner went 4-for-6 on the day with three RBI, and Muizelaar and Gavin Balius each had three hits to lead a Ball State lineup that collected 17 knocks for a second straight game.
Keegan Johnson started for the Cardinals and struck out six in 3.1 innings of three-run ball. Owen Quinn (3-0) followed and collected five punchouts in 3.0 frames to be credited with the win. Zander Bretza shut down the Bobcats from there, striking out seven in 2.2 innings to earn his second save of the year.
Hunter Winston (1-2) was the starting pitcher on the negative side of the decision, as he allowed five runs on six hits in 3.0 frames to suffer the loss for the Bobcats. Third baseman Dylan Shepherd led Ohio with three hits on the afternoon.
"Encouraged by our pitchers striking out 18 guys, several players had good offensive days and we made no errors," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. "Great team effort!"
Ball State has a chance at a series sweep in the Sunday finale at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Quinn, Owen (3-0)
L: Winston, Hunter (1-2)
S: Bretza, Zander (2)
Batting:
2B: Shepherd, Dylan 1 ; Boyd, Cameron 1 ; Hill, Cam 1 ; Fox, Sean 1
3B: Shepherd, Dylan 1
HR: Stack, Tyler 1 ; Hill, Cam 1
RBI: Henson, Will 1 ; Boyd, Cameron 1 ; Stack, Tyler 2 ; Hill, Cam 2 ; Fox, Sean 1
SF: Henson, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shepherd, Dylan 1 ; Boyd, Cameron 1 ; Shirley, Colton 1 ; Wilson, Grant 1 ; Stack, Tyler 1 ; Hill, Cam 1 ; Fox, Sean 1
PO: Palinski, Max 1
Batting:
2B: Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Bakus, Jack 1 ; Murphy, Preston 1
HR: Huebner, Brayden 1
RBI: Perkins, Maalik 1 ; Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Kalk, Max 1 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 2 ; Huebner, Brayden 3 ; Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Murphy, Preston 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffiths, Brett 3 ; Balius, Gavin 3 ; Stokes, Taber 1 ; Kalk, Max 1 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 1 ; Huebner, Brayden 2 ; Gillis, Jacob 1 ; Colligan, John 1 ; Davidson, Brady 1
SB: Balius, Gavin 1 ; Huebner, Brayden 1
HBP: Griffiths, Brett 1 ; Balius, Gavin 1 ; Muizelaar, Ryan 1
