Ball State Stifles Bucs' Offense in 7-2 Victory

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Over the first eight innings, the Ball State pitching staff held the CSU offense to one extra-base hit on the way to a 7-2 victory over the Buccaneers on Tuesday. CSU mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth inning that loaded the bases, but a pair of groundouts ended the comeback attempt. Junior Kory Morian and redshirt-freshman Nick Chinners led the Buccaneers with two hits each.

Freshman Anthony Markham got the starting nod for CSU (5-8) on the mound, going 5.2 innings in the first start of his collegiate career. He gave up five hits and walked six batters while allowing four runs in the loss, giving him a 1-1 record on the season.

For Ball State (6-6), Kolbrin Vitek gave up just one run and struck out nine batters over six innings to pick up his second win of the season. He allowed seven hits and walked one batter during the outing. Five different Cardinals recorded runs batted in for the visiting squad on offense.

After three scoreless innings, Ball State broke the deadlock with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Wayne Bond led things off with a double and Justin Rogers gave the Cardinals two men on by drawing a walk. Heads up base running allowed Bonds to advance to third on foul out to right field, giving the visitors runners on the corners.

Without a swing of the bat, Kory Benbow picked up an RBI when Markham balked to advance both runners, bringing home Bond. After a wild pitch moved Rogers over to third, Benbow drove him home with a single through the left side that put Ball State in front 2-0.

The Cardinals added to their lead with four runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a six-run advantage. Leading off the inning, Dean Anna belted a solo shot over the wall in right center field to make it a three-run game. After a base running error gave Ball State one out, the visiting team began to spray the ball around while scoring three two-out runs.

Rogers got it started with a single and, after a fly out made it two down, advanced to second when Benbow was hit by a pitch. Jeremy Hazelbaker then brought Rogers around to score with a single to right field. Pulling a double steal, an errant throw to second base allowed Benbow to score to put Ball State ahead by five. Zach Dygert concluded the rally with a single to left field that brought Hazelbaker in to score.

CSU ended the Cardinals’ shutout bid with a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-1. Morian put himself in scoring position with a one-out double through the left side of the infield and scored when Antolik drove a single to left field, his 10th RBI of the season.

A two-out double by the Cardinals’ Ryan Chenoweth in the top of the eighth inning restored Ball State’s six-run advantage. Facing that deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Buccaneers loaded the bases with one out. Freshman Taylor Blake brought one run home with a groundout to the shortstop, but a second groundout ended the comeback.

The two teams will conclude their mid-week series with a final game at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

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