April 6, 2012

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State parlayed three Miami errors into five unearned runs, lifting the Cardinals to a 7-6 victory Friday afternoon at the Ball Diamond. Junior first baseman Kevin Bower paced a 13-hit attack with four singles.

Miami (15-14, 3-4) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first as five straight batters reached base. Ryan Brenner led off with a single, stole second and came home on Matt Honchel's single. After a walk to Bryce Redeker, Bower lodad the bases with his first hit. John Crummy drove in a pair with a single up the middle.

Ball State (6-20, 2-5) answered with three unearned runs in its half of the third. A leadoff single was followed by an error on Ryan Curl. A sacrifice fly put the Cardinals on the board before a single and double each brought home another run.

Each team scored a run in the fourth -- Miami's on an RBI double by Dan Walsh -- then Redeker hit his team-leading fourth home run of the year in the fifth to put the RedHawks up 5-4.

But disaster struck again in the fifth as BSU took the lead for good with three runs. A leadoff single and ground ball error put a pair of runners, setting up an RBI double. After a groundout that should have ended the inning, another double brought home the final two runs of the day.

Miami used a Marcus Makuch sacrifice fly in the sixth to close to 7-6, but left a runner in scoring position in three of the last four innings.

Mac Thoreson (3-3) took the loss despite allowing only two earned runs on seven hits over four innings. Cal Bowling (3-2) gave up 12 hits and six runs to Miami, but lasted into the eighth. Chris Maragon earned his second save, despite putting runners on the corners with two outs in the ninth.

The two teams meet against tomorrow at the Ball Diamond. First pitch is at 1 p.m.