Ball State University Athletics
Friday, April 17
Kent, Ohio
6 PM
Ball State University
at
Kent State
Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics
Baseball on the Road for Series at MAC Leader Kent State
April 16, 2026 | Baseball
The Ball State baseball team is set to play a three-game series at Mid-American Conference leader Kent State starting Friday night at 6 p.m.
Saturday's contest is set for 3 p.m., while Sunday's start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Links to the video broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (18-18, 12-6 MAC) are coming off a rain-shortened 8-5 setback at Butler on Tuesday afternoon after taking 2 of 3 against Akron last weekend for their fifth series win in conference play out of six opportunities.
The Golden Flashes (26-9, 13-5 MAC), standing at first place by a game in the league standings, won 9-8 at Northern Illinois on Saturday but lost the series before beating Mercyhurst 14-2 in seven innings on Tuesday afternoon.
Head coach Jeff Duncan is in his 13th season in charge of Kent State, who was picked to finish second in the MAC preseason poll after claiming a share of the 2025 MAC regular season title with a 38-18 (23-7 MAC) record.
The Golden Flashes boast the top pitching staff in the conference in ERA (5.10), hits allowed per nine innings (8.56), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.33) and WHIP (1.37). Kent State has scored the second-most runs per game (8.4, No. 30 in NCAA Division I) and ranks third in the league in batting average (.288) and homers (42) so far this year.
Sophomore Sawyer Solitaria leads the Golden Flashes in OPS (1.058), home runs (10, fourth in the MAC), RBI (33) and runs scored (38, sixth in the MAC). Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Easton Tumis holds the top strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.25) in the MAC along with the third-most wins (five).
Ball State will next host Indiana at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
TIGHT AT THE TOP: There are six teams within a game of each other at the top of the Mid-American Conference standings entering this weekend.
Kent State (13-5) is in first place followed by five teams tied for second place with 12-6 MAC records: Ball State, Miami, Northern Illinois, Toledo, and Western Michigan. The Cardinals have road series at Toledo (May 1-3) and Northern Illinois (May 8-10) yet to come after playing at Kent State this weekend. Bowling Green, who is in seventh place at 8-10 in conference play, will be in Muncie for the regular season finale set May 14-16 at Shebek Stadium.
QUICK CARDINALS: Seniors Gavin Balius and Brett Griffiths are near the top of the national leaderboards in stolen bases and triples, respectively.
Balius has swiped 28 bags to pace the MAC and rank fifth in NCAA Division I, while Griffith's five triples are the fourth-most nationally. Justin Love (44 steals in 1997) and Zach Cole (nine triples in 2022) hold Ball State program records in those categories.
CLOSE CONTESTS WITH KENT: Two of the last three games in the series against Kent State have resulted in one-run decisions including a 2-1 win for Ball State in 10 innings back on May 3, 2025 in Muncie.
Senior Korbin Griffin hit a walk-off single in that game to give the Cardinals the victory. The Golden Flashes got payback with a 9-8 win on May 23 last year in the MAC Tournament.
CHAMBERS CHARGING: Senior John Chambers posted season-bests in innings pitched (7.2) and strikeouts (eight) while allowing only four hits and two runs in Ball State's 3-2 win against Akron last Saturday.
The right-handed pitcher ranks fifth in the MAC with four victories on the season and fourth at a 10.07 strikeouts per nine innings ratio.
COMEBACK CARDINALS: Ball State's 3-2 win over Akron on Saturday afternoon was its fourth this season when trailing entering the ninth inning.
The Cardinals came back from a 2-1 deficit to walk-off the Zips courtesy of a run-scoring single from Griffiths. The senior also had a two-run game-winning double on March 8 against Central
Michigan to help Ball State come back from a 10-5 deficit entering the final frame. The two wins at Western Michigan (March 21 and 22) also featured comebacks from down 6-3 and 4-3 going into the ninth, respectively.
HITS AND TAKING THE EXTRA BASE: Ball State enters this weekend's series at Kent State leading the MAC in triples (12) and ranking third in total hits (354) and home runs (354).
The 10 triples are 18th-most in NCAA Division I.
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH: The Ball State offense has been at its best in the seventh innings of games, scoring 46 runs total in that frame so far this season.
The Cardinals have allowed 30 runs in the seventh this year for a +16 run margin, which is its second-best in any inning behind the ninth at +17 (22-5).
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Saturday's contest is set for 3 p.m., while Sunday's start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Links to the video broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.
The Cardinals (18-18, 12-6 MAC) are coming off a rain-shortened 8-5 setback at Butler on Tuesday afternoon after taking 2 of 3 against Akron last weekend for their fifth series win in conference play out of six opportunities.
The Golden Flashes (26-9, 13-5 MAC), standing at first place by a game in the league standings, won 9-8 at Northern Illinois on Saturday but lost the series before beating Mercyhurst 14-2 in seven innings on Tuesday afternoon.
Head coach Jeff Duncan is in his 13th season in charge of Kent State, who was picked to finish second in the MAC preseason poll after claiming a share of the 2025 MAC regular season title with a 38-18 (23-7 MAC) record.
The Golden Flashes boast the top pitching staff in the conference in ERA (5.10), hits allowed per nine innings (8.56), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.33) and WHIP (1.37). Kent State has scored the second-most runs per game (8.4, No. 30 in NCAA Division I) and ranks third in the league in batting average (.288) and homers (42) so far this year.
Sophomore Sawyer Solitaria leads the Golden Flashes in OPS (1.058), home runs (10, fourth in the MAC), RBI (33) and runs scored (38, sixth in the MAC). Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Easton Tumis holds the top strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.25) in the MAC along with the third-most wins (five).
Ball State will next host Indiana at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
TIGHT AT THE TOP: There are six teams within a game of each other at the top of the Mid-American Conference standings entering this weekend.
Kent State (13-5) is in first place followed by five teams tied for second place with 12-6 MAC records: Ball State, Miami, Northern Illinois, Toledo, and Western Michigan. The Cardinals have road series at Toledo (May 1-3) and Northern Illinois (May 8-10) yet to come after playing at Kent State this weekend. Bowling Green, who is in seventh place at 8-10 in conference play, will be in Muncie for the regular season finale set May 14-16 at Shebek Stadium.
QUICK CARDINALS: Seniors Gavin Balius and Brett Griffiths are near the top of the national leaderboards in stolen bases and triples, respectively.
Balius has swiped 28 bags to pace the MAC and rank fifth in NCAA Division I, while Griffith's five triples are the fourth-most nationally. Justin Love (44 steals in 1997) and Zach Cole (nine triples in 2022) hold Ball State program records in those categories.
CLOSE CONTESTS WITH KENT: Two of the last three games in the series against Kent State have resulted in one-run decisions including a 2-1 win for Ball State in 10 innings back on May 3, 2025 in Muncie.
Senior Korbin Griffin hit a walk-off single in that game to give the Cardinals the victory. The Golden Flashes got payback with a 9-8 win on May 23 last year in the MAC Tournament.
CHAMBERS CHARGING: Senior John Chambers posted season-bests in innings pitched (7.2) and strikeouts (eight) while allowing only four hits and two runs in Ball State's 3-2 win against Akron last Saturday.
The right-handed pitcher ranks fifth in the MAC with four victories on the season and fourth at a 10.07 strikeouts per nine innings ratio.
COMEBACK CARDINALS: Ball State's 3-2 win over Akron on Saturday afternoon was its fourth this season when trailing entering the ninth inning.
The Cardinals came back from a 2-1 deficit to walk-off the Zips courtesy of a run-scoring single from Griffiths. The senior also had a two-run game-winning double on March 8 against Central
Michigan to help Ball State come back from a 10-5 deficit entering the final frame. The two wins at Western Michigan (March 21 and 22) also featured comebacks from down 6-3 and 4-3 going into the ninth, respectively.
HITS AND TAKING THE EXTRA BASE: Ball State enters this weekend's series at Kent State leading the MAC in triples (12) and ranking third in total hits (354) and home runs (354).
The 10 triples are 18th-most in NCAA Division I.
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH: The Ball State offense has been at its best in the seventh innings of games, scoring 46 runs total in that frame so far this season.
The Cardinals have allowed 30 runs in the seventh this year for a +16 run margin, which is its second-best in any inning behind the ninth at +17 (22-5).
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