Late Rally Falls Short for Baseball in Series Finale with UMass

Sunday, April 26

Muncie, Ind.

Noon

Ball State University

21-23, 14-10

UMass

14-22, 10-14

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UMass	0	4	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	8	11	1
Ball State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	6	10	1

Nate Bartlett in a red uniform on the pitchers mound throwing a pitch during the Ball State baseball game on Sunday vs UMass.

Photo by: Madeline Howell/Ball State Athletics

Late Rally Falls Short for Baseball in Series Finale with UMass

April 26, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team rallied in the final two innings but fell 8-6 to UMass in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Shebek Stadium.

The Cardinals (21-23, 14-10 Mid-American Conference) tallied three runs in both the eighth and ninth innings but left two runners on in the final frame as the Minutemen (14-22, 10-14 MAC) took the series win.

The visitors scored four runs in the second inning, three in the third and one in the seventh to build an 8-0 advantage, but Ball State got runs batted in from Jacob Gillis, Brady Davidson and Kenskey Thomas in the eighth inning to make the score 8-3. Gillis walked with the bases loaded in the ninth, and Davidson hit a two-run single, but UMass got out of the inning as the first baseman snagged a sharp ground ball and stepped on the bag to escape with the win.

Davidson went 4-for-5 with a double and three RBI on the afternoon.

Alex Burden (1-5) started on the mound for the Cardinals and allowed four runs in 1.1 innings to be hit with the loss. Jeremy Jones had a productive performance in relief for Ball State, striking out four in 6.0 frames of one-run ball.

Sam Perry (1-0) earned his first win of the year for UMass thanks to 7.0 shutout innings pitched.

"Our boys battled back, we just dug too big of a hole early to overcome," Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said.

The next scheduled game for Ball State is Friday afternoon at Toledo.