Spectacular Day at Shebek Stadium Dampened by Late Chips Rally

Friday, March 6

Muncie, Ind.

1 PM

Ball State University

5-7, 0-1

Central Michigan

6-5, 1-0

Central Michigan

Ball State

Photo by: Caden Vincent

Spectacular Day at Shebek Stadium Dampened by Late Chips Rally

March 06, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Final Stats

MUNCIE, Ind. -- On a sunny day at Shebek Stadium with the thermometer reaching nearly 80 degrees, Ball State used three home runs to continue extending its lead -- until an eighth-inning rally by visiting Central Michigan handed the Chippewas an 8-7 victory in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.

A first-pitch temperature of 68 degrees was heightened for the game's 322 spectators, when the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning to complement a welcomed break in East Central Indiana's rainy, dense fog. Jacob Gillis' sacrifice fly to left field drove in Brayden Huebner with the game's first run, and a 1-out single by Ryan Muizelaar plated two more. The Chippewas got on the board to begin the fourth inning, but Huebner doubled to drive in Thomas Kenskey for a 4-1 lead.

In the sixth, as the temperature rose nearly 12 degrees, CMU scored another run on a sacrifice fly, but again the Cardinals matched their tally when catcher Max Kalk hit his first homer of the season, to right field. Just like in the sixth, CMU scored a pair of run on Cole Prout's 2-run blast, but Ball State matched the effort with a pair of home runs -- by Huebner and Gillis -- to maintain a 7-4 advantage.

Huebner proved to the Cardinals' batting star. He entered the day with just two hits in this season's early going, but he batted 3-of-3 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and two RBI.

Ball State got another yeoman's effort from Brendan Garza who tossed 6.1 innings and fired six strikeouts before leaving with the lead in the seventh. Reliever John Chambers retired the final two CMU batters in the seventh inning and got a lead-off strikeout to start the eighth, when trouble struck. Logan Keilen singled to start the CMU eighth and Drew Loikits lofted a high fly to deep centerfield. Ball State right fielder Charlie Keller made a play on the ball in front of center fielder Gavin Balius, but muffed the catch and sent both runners to second and third. After a walk to load the bases, a single by Bryson Webb scored two runners to narrow the score to 7-6 and chase Chambers. Following a strikeout by Cardinals' reliever Zander Bretza, Prout hit a two-run single that cleared the bases and gave CMU its only lead of the contest.

The Chippewas and Cardinals resume action Saturday at 1 p.m., with a finale scheduled for Sunday at 1.