Friday, April 29
Muncie, Ind.
3 p.m.
Central Michigan University
28-11, 21-2
1
at
7
Ball State
26-14, 20-4
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
Ball State
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
4
X
7
5
1
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Falls In Opener Of Showdown Series At Ball State
4/29/2022 7:21:00 PM | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. – Round 1 goes to Ball State.
Tyler Schweitzer got the better of Central Michigan's Andrew Taylor in a classic pitcher's duel on Friday as the Cardinals downed the Chippewas, 7-1, in the opener of a big four-game Mid-American Conference series at the Cardinals' First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
The loss ended CMU's record MAC win streak at 21 games and its overall win streak at 18. CMU is 28-11 and leads the league at 21-2; second-placed Ball State (26-14) is 20-4, 1 ½ games back. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday (noon) and then close the series on Sunday (1 p.m.).
Taylor (6-3) struck out 13 and allowed three hits, the big blow a two-out three-run homer by Zach Cole in the seventh inning that broke a scoreless tie. It marked Taylor's fourth-consecutive game in which he has registered a double-digit strikeout total.
Schweitzer (7-2), a junior left-hander, struck out six, walked five and limited the Chippewas to one hit – a second-inning Justin Simpson single – through seven innings.
"Good pitcher's duel obviously," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "I thought (Taylor) dominated the game – one of the most-dominant performances I've seen, but he had one chopper for a base hit, an intentional walk, and a fly ball to left field.
"He threw seven good innings. I think that's as long as he's gone all year. He had everything working. Like I said, he controlled the game, but they hit one fly ball, the wind pushed it out a little bit, and you tip the cap (to Ball State). They did what they had to do. He threw the heck out of it."
The Cardinals added four insurance runs in the eighth off relievers Ben Vitas and Jake Jones.
CMU drew eight walks and stranded 10 baserunners. The Chippewas got their lone run in the eighth when they walked the bases loaded and Drew Lechnir hit a one-out sacrifice fly.
Reliever Sam Klein ended the threat with a strikeout.
"You give Ball State credit," Bischel said. "They took the swings when they needed to. It was a good ball game. We just didn't hit enough balls hard. There's a reason that their guy has a 2 ERA and is going to be a pro next year. We've got some guys on, just didn't cash them in.
"You look at the last month, we set the league record for consecutive wins and you're probably going to lose at some point. That's a part of baseball; usually you don't go undefeated. Now we've just got to respond. Just got to play better tomorrow."
Tyler Schweitzer got the better of Central Michigan's Andrew Taylor in a classic pitcher's duel on Friday as the Cardinals downed the Chippewas, 7-1, in the opener of a big four-game Mid-American Conference series at the Cardinals' First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
The loss ended CMU's record MAC win streak at 21 games and its overall win streak at 18. CMU is 28-11 and leads the league at 21-2; second-placed Ball State (26-14) is 20-4, 1 ½ games back. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday (noon) and then close the series on Sunday (1 p.m.).
Taylor (6-3) struck out 13 and allowed three hits, the big blow a two-out three-run homer by Zach Cole in the seventh inning that broke a scoreless tie. It marked Taylor's fourth-consecutive game in which he has registered a double-digit strikeout total.
Schweitzer (7-2), a junior left-hander, struck out six, walked five and limited the Chippewas to one hit – a second-inning Justin Simpson single – through seven innings.
"Good pitcher's duel obviously," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "I thought (Taylor) dominated the game – one of the most-dominant performances I've seen, but he had one chopper for a base hit, an intentional walk, and a fly ball to left field.
"He threw seven good innings. I think that's as long as he's gone all year. He had everything working. Like I said, he controlled the game, but they hit one fly ball, the wind pushed it out a little bit, and you tip the cap (to Ball State). They did what they had to do. He threw the heck out of it."
The Cardinals added four insurance runs in the eighth off relievers Ben Vitas and Jake Jones.
CMU drew eight walks and stranded 10 baserunners. The Chippewas got their lone run in the eighth when they walked the bases loaded and Drew Lechnir hit a one-out sacrifice fly.
Reliever Sam Klein ended the threat with a strikeout.
"You give Ball State credit," Bischel said. "They took the swings when they needed to. It was a good ball game. We just didn't hit enough balls hard. There's a reason that their guy has a 2 ERA and is going to be a pro next year. We've got some guys on, just didn't cash them in.
"You look at the last month, we set the league record for consecutive wins and you're probably going to lose at some point. That's a part of baseball; usually you don't go undefeated. Now we've just got to respond. Just got to play better tomorrow."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tyler Schweitzer (7-2)
L: Taylor, Andrew (6-3)
S: Sam Klein (8)
Batting:
RBI: Lechnir, Drew 1
SF: Lechnir, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marsee, Jakob 1
SB: Shepardson, Aidan 1
HBP: Shepardson, Aidan 1
Batting:
2B: Amir Wright 1
HR: Nick Powell 1 ; Zach Cole 1
RBI: Amir Wright 1 ; Nick Powell 3 ; Zach Cole 3
SH: CJ Horn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Amir Wright 2 ; Trenton Quartermaine 1 ; Nick Powell 1 ; Hunter Dobbins 1 ; Zach Cole 1 ; Justin Conant 1
CS: Amir Wright 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
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