Baseball Headed to Toledo for Weekend Series with Rockets

Friday, May 1

Toledo, Ohio

3 PM

Ball State University

Toledo

Jeremy Jones throws a pitch wearing a red jersey on March 31st against Xavier.

Photo by: Josh Brunette

Baseball Headed to Toledo for Weekend Series with Rockets

April 30, 2026 | Baseball

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The Ball State baseball team is heading back on the road to play a three-game series at Toledo starting on Friday at 3 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday contests are scheduled for 1 p.m., and each game at Scott Park will be broadcast on ESPN+. Links to the broadcasts and live stats can be found above and on the schedule page.

Ball State (21-23, 14-10 Mid-American Conference) won the middle game of its series against UMass at home last weekend, but the Minutemen took the first and last games of the set. The Cardinals had no midweek games scheduled due to it being final exams week.

Toledo (21-24, 15-9 MAC) beat Oakland 18-8 on Tuesday after taking 2 of 3 at rival Bowling Green last weekend. The Rockets begin the week tied for fourth in league standings.

Head coach Rob Reinstetle is in his seventh season in charge at Toledo for a program that was picked to finish fourth in the MAC preseason poll.

The Rockets are the top conference team in doubles (30, No. 6 in NCAA Division I), sacrifice flies (25, No. 22), hits (458, No. 30) and getting hit by a pitch (107, No. 3) offensively. Toledo's pitching staff has
the best strikeout per nine innings (9.7) mark in the league.

Redshirt junior Troy Sudbrook has hit the most doubles (26) in the nation while ranking second in the MAC in RBI (58, No. 14 in NCAA Division I), third in slugging percentage (.680) and sixth in batting average (.366). Senior right-handed pitcher Nathan Leininger is the ace of the staff paces the conference in ERA (2.59) while ranking second in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.55) and third in strikeouts (63).

Ball State's next game after this weekend is scheduled for Tuesday night at Purdue.

BAKUS COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Junior Jack Bakus hit a walk-off two-run homer on Saturday afternoon against UMass to give Ball State a 10-9 win over the Minutemen.

The blast was the second of the season for the first baseman, with both being of the pinch hit and go-ahead variety. Bakus came on in the ninth inning of the March 21 contest at Western Michigan to drill a grand slam and give the Cardinals a 7-6 edge in an eventual 8-6 win.

SPLIT WITH THE ROCKETS: Ball State and Toledo split four games against each other last year, as the Cardinals won 2 of 3 games in mid-March in Muncie before the Rockets got a 13-10 win in the MAC Tournament.

The last time the conference foes faced off at Scott Park in Toledo, the Rockets won the first two games of the set, but Ball State got a 4-2 win in the finale in late March 2024.

DOING DAMAGE AS THE DESIGNATED HITTER: Sophomore Brayden Huebner stands among the league leaders in multiple offensive categories entering this weekend.

The right-handed batter, who has slotted in as the DH and leadoff hitter for the balance of the season, ranks second in the MAC in slugging percentage (.707), third in doubles (14), fourth in runs scored (50), and seventh in batting average (.364).

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 34 bags to pace the MAC and rank fourth in NCAA Division I, while Griffith's five triples are the eighth-most nationally. Justin Love (44 steals in 1997) and Zach Cole (nine triples in 2022) hold Ball State program records in those categories.

GO GO GARZA: Sophomore Brendan Garza struck out five in 8.0 innings of three-run ball (two earned) to earn the win in Ball State's 11-3 victory in the series opener at Kent State on April 17.

The right-handed pitcher worked around traffic, stranding nine runners on base, and shut down the Golden Flashes' offense in the third through eighth innings to lead the Cardinals against the league's top team. Garza has gone at least 5.0 innings in 8 of his 11 starts and is sixth in the Mid-American Conference in innings pitched (62.1) largely thanks to complete games against Hawaii (Feb. 28) and Ohio (March 27) in addition to the performance at Kent State.

CHAMBERS CHARGING: Senior John Chambers has been a workhorse as of late for the Ball State pitching staff, going more than 5.0 innings in four straight starts and 5 of his last 6 appearances on the mound. Chambers had season bests in innings pitched (7.2) and strikeouts (eight) in Ball State's 3-2 win against Akron on April 11.

The right-handed pitcher has notched 56 strikeouts in 54.0 frames with a 4-4 record, 4.83 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 12 appearances (five starts) this year.

COMEBACK CARDINALS: Ball State's 10-9 win over UMass on Saturday was its fifth this season when trailing entering the ninth inning.

The walk-off home run from Bakus was the first of the year for the Cardinals, while senior Brett Griffiths delivered a pair of walk-off knocks earlier in the campaign (March 8 vs Central Michigan and April 11 vs Akron). 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.

SEVENTH INNING STRETCH AND NINTH INNING RALLIES: The Ball State offense has been at its best in the seventh innings of games, scoring 53 runs total in that frame so far this season.

The Cardinals have allowed 36 runs in the seventh this year for a +17 run margin. Ball State's best run differential in an inning is +25 (31-6) in the ninth largely thanks to the five comeback wins as mentioned above.