Ball State University Athletics
Thursday, April 2
Oxford, Ohio
3 PM
Ball State University
at
Miami (OH)
Photo by: Josh Brunette
Baseball Back on the Road for Three-Game Series at Miami Starting Thursday
April 01, 2026 | Baseball
The Ball State baseball returns to the road to play at Miami (Ohio) in its second Mid-American Conference away series of the year.
Thursday and Friday games are set for 3 p.m., while Saturday's contest is slated to start at 1 p.m. MAC series this weekend are on the Thursday through Saturday schedule with Easter being on Sunday.
Each game will be broadcast on Chatterbox, which requires a subscription, and links to the video streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
Ball State (15-12, 10-2 MAC) broke out the bats in a sweep of Ohio over the weekend before falling 13-12 on Tuesday afternoon against Xavier in Muncie.
Miami (17-10, 7-5 MAC) fell 14-11 at Kentucky on Tuesday night but took 2 of 3 games at Kent State last weekend including an 8-5 decision in 10 innings on Sunday to clinch the series win.
Brian Smiley is in his third season as the head coach of the RedHawks, who were picked to win the league in the MAC preseason poll after winning the regular season and tournament last year.
Miami boasts the top offense in the conference in walks (179), batting average (.296), hit by pitch (70, No. 7 in NCAA Division I), home runs (40), runs per game (9.2, No. 17 nationally) and slugging percentage (.504).
Redshirt senior Evan Appelwick is the top MAC batter in walks (33, No. 5 nationally), home runs (10) and runs scored (33). Redshirt junior Tommy Harrison has posted the most RBI (40) in the league along with a team-best .400 batting average.
Ball State's next scheduled game after this weekend is Tuesday evening at Indiana.
NO-NO FOR GARZA: Sophmore Brendan Garza tossed Ball State's first no-hitter since 2019 in a 10-0 win in seven innings over Ohio on Friday afternoon in Muncie.
The right-handed pitcher struck out seven and worked around two walks and two hits batsmen on his way to the no-no, which earned him a MAC Co-Pitcher of the Week honor. John Baker and Luke Jaksich combined on a no-hitter back in May 11, 2019 which was also against the Bobcats.
TOP OF THE PACK IN THE MAC: Ball State jumped to the top of the MAC baseball standings with a 10-2 record after the sweep of Ohio over the weekend.
The Cardinals have won each of their four conference series to begin the season after also getting off to a strong start in MAC play in 2025 when that team won its first seven league series of the campaign.
SLUGGING SEVENTEEN: The Cardinals' offense broke out for 17 hits in each game of the weekend sweep of the Bobcats and followed that up with 16 hits on Tuesday against Xavier.
As a team, Ball State slashed .459/.530/.730 from the plate with 12 doubles, three triples and four home runs across the three games against Ohio. An 8-for-14 showing for Ryan Muizelaar over the weekend including two homers and eight RBI earned him a MAC Player of the Week accolade, while Gavin Balius went 9-for-11 with one double, one triple and three stolen bases.
PINCH HITTING PROWESS: Ball State pinch hitters have come through for the Cardinals at a productive rate so far this season, batting .313 (15-for-48) compared to opponents' .125 (2-for-16) average.
Jack Bakus, DJ Scheumann and Kenskey Thomas pace the team with three pinch hits each, including a pinch hit grand slam for each already this year. Bakus hit his in the ninth inning of the March 21 comeback win at Western Michigan.
FINE IN THE NINTH: As showcased by the nine runs of offense combined in the Saturday and Sunday wins at Western Michigan, Ball State has been at its best in the ninth inning of games this year.
The Cardinals have scored 20 runs in that frame while allowing opponents to score only three times. The +17 run differential in the ninth is the second-best for Ball State in any inning behind the seventh (+18), while the 20 total tallies are the second-most in a frame behind 39 runs in the seventh.
DAVIDSON PROVIDES A SPARK: Junior utilityman Brady Davidson went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and four runs scored in Sunday's 17-7 win over Ohio in only his fifth start of the season.
The five-hit performance was the first from a Ball State player since May 7, 2024 when Decker Scheffler notched five against Butler. Davidson boasts a .538 batting average (14-for-26) with nine runs scored so far this year.
QUINN FOR THE WIN: Senior Owen Quinn boasts Ball State's top ERA (3.00), a mark that ranks fifth in the league.
The right-handed pitcher was credited with the win Saturday vs Ohio after striking out five in 3.0 innings. Quinn has a 3-0 record and 21 strikeouts in 27.0 frames this season.
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Thursday and Friday games are set for 3 p.m., while Saturday's contest is slated to start at 1 p.m. MAC series this weekend are on the Thursday through Saturday schedule with Easter being on Sunday.
Each game will be broadcast on Chatterbox, which requires a subscription, and links to the video streams and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
Ball State (15-12, 10-2 MAC) broke out the bats in a sweep of Ohio over the weekend before falling 13-12 on Tuesday afternoon against Xavier in Muncie.
Miami (17-10, 7-5 MAC) fell 14-11 at Kentucky on Tuesday night but took 2 of 3 games at Kent State last weekend including an 8-5 decision in 10 innings on Sunday to clinch the series win.
Brian Smiley is in his third season as the head coach of the RedHawks, who were picked to win the league in the MAC preseason poll after winning the regular season and tournament last year.
Miami boasts the top offense in the conference in walks (179), batting average (.296), hit by pitch (70, No. 7 in NCAA Division I), home runs (40), runs per game (9.2, No. 17 nationally) and slugging percentage (.504).
Redshirt senior Evan Appelwick is the top MAC batter in walks (33, No. 5 nationally), home runs (10) and runs scored (33). Redshirt junior Tommy Harrison has posted the most RBI (40) in the league along with a team-best .400 batting average.
Ball State's next scheduled game after this weekend is Tuesday evening at Indiana.
NO-NO FOR GARZA: Sophmore Brendan Garza tossed Ball State's first no-hitter since 2019 in a 10-0 win in seven innings over Ohio on Friday afternoon in Muncie.
The right-handed pitcher struck out seven and worked around two walks and two hits batsmen on his way to the no-no, which earned him a MAC Co-Pitcher of the Week honor. John Baker and Luke Jaksich combined on a no-hitter back in May 11, 2019 which was also against the Bobcats.
TOP OF THE PACK IN THE MAC: Ball State jumped to the top of the MAC baseball standings with a 10-2 record after the sweep of Ohio over the weekend.
The Cardinals have won each of their four conference series to begin the season after also getting off to a strong start in MAC play in 2025 when that team won its first seven league series of the campaign.
SLUGGING SEVENTEEN: The Cardinals' offense broke out for 17 hits in each game of the weekend sweep of the Bobcats and followed that up with 16 hits on Tuesday against Xavier.
As a team, Ball State slashed .459/.530/.730 from the plate with 12 doubles, three triples and four home runs across the three games against Ohio. An 8-for-14 showing for Ryan Muizelaar over the weekend including two homers and eight RBI earned him a MAC Player of the Week accolade, while Gavin Balius went 9-for-11 with one double, one triple and three stolen bases.
PINCH HITTING PROWESS: Ball State pinch hitters have come through for the Cardinals at a productive rate so far this season, batting .313 (15-for-48) compared to opponents' .125 (2-for-16) average.
Jack Bakus, DJ Scheumann and Kenskey Thomas pace the team with three pinch hits each, including a pinch hit grand slam for each already this year. Bakus hit his in the ninth inning of the March 21 comeback win at Western Michigan.
FINE IN THE NINTH: As showcased by the nine runs of offense combined in the Saturday and Sunday wins at Western Michigan, Ball State has been at its best in the ninth inning of games this year.
The Cardinals have scored 20 runs in that frame while allowing opponents to score only three times. The +17 run differential in the ninth is the second-best for Ball State in any inning behind the seventh (+18), while the 20 total tallies are the second-most in a frame behind 39 runs in the seventh.
DAVIDSON PROVIDES A SPARK: Junior utilityman Brady Davidson went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and four runs scored in Sunday's 17-7 win over Ohio in only his fifth start of the season.
The five-hit performance was the first from a Ball State player since May 7, 2024 when Decker Scheffler notched five against Butler. Davidson boasts a .538 batting average (14-for-26) with nine runs scored so far this year.
QUINN FOR THE WIN: Senior Owen Quinn boasts Ball State's top ERA (3.00), a mark that ranks fifth in the league.
The right-handed pitcher was credited with the win Saturday vs Ohio after striking out five in 3.0 innings. Quinn has a 3-0 record and 21 strikeouts in 27.0 frames this season.
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Players Mentioned
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INF/OF
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UTIL
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UTIL
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OF
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