Ball State sports: Feb. 16-18 weekend in review

<p>There was a large crowd Feb. 17 as number two ranked Ball State's men's basketball took on Toledo who is ranked first in the MAC West. Ball State won 99-71 in Worthen Arena, which has a capacity of 11,500. <strong>Eric Pritchett, DN</strong></p>

There was a large crowd Feb. 17 as number two ranked Ball State's men's basketball took on Toledo who is ranked first in the MAC West. Ball State won 99-71 in Worthen Arena, which has a capacity of 11,500. Eric Pritchett, DN

It was another busy, but successful weekend in Ball State sports this weekend.

Here's everything that happened the weekend of Feb. 16-18 for the Cardinals athletic teams.

Men's basketball

The men's team didn't just beat Toledo — a team that's only lost to one other conference opponent all — it dominated them. Four different Cardinals' finished with more than ten points, including a pair of freshman, Ishmael El-Amin and Zach Gunn, who finished with their career highs of 18 and 16 points apiece, respectfully. With the win, Ball State extends its season-best conference winning streak to four games.

READ: Does dominating Toledo win make Ball State the hottest MAC team?

READ: Cardinals rout Rockets with punishing paint presence

GALLERY: Men's basketball vs. Toledo 2018

Women's basketball

Ball State was able to pick up its third straight victory after a dominating 72-50 victory over West Division opponent Northern Illinois. Junior Jasmin Samz led all scorers with 18 points and three other Cardinals finished the game in double digits in terms of scoring. Defense was the different maker, however, as Northern Illinois 21 committed turnovers resulted in 16 points for Ball State.

READ: Ball State women's basketball causes havoc on Northern Illinois offense

Men's volleyball

After a slow start in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play, Ball State is back on track after knocking off No. 8 Lewis and No. 6 Loyola-Chicago in a weekend home sweep. The Cardinals swept the Flyers on Friday night, due to a consistent effort preached over the past few weeks. Ball State followed that up the next night with a 3-1 win over Loyola-Chicago in a tighter match.

READ: Ball State fires on all cylinders in sweep of No. 8 Lewis

READ: Ball State caps momentous weekend with 3-1 win over No. 6 Loyola-Chicago

GALLERY: Men's volleyball vs. Lewis University 2018

GALLERY: Men's volleyball vs. Loyola 2018

Track & Field

Ball State picked up three events wins and had 12 career-best performances during its Ball State Tune-Up on Friday. In the weight throw, senior Adrienne Mayfield took first with what was not only her career-best throw of 17.18m, but was the fourth-best individual effort in Ball State program history. Other top finishers included Bryeana Byrdsong in the 200m dash and Cayla Eckenroth in the 300m run. The Cardinals also had 19 top five finishes in the four-team meet.

GALLERY: Ball State Tune-Up 2018

Gymnastics

Coming into the meet, No. 42 Ball State and No. 38 Iowa were separated by just three spots in the national rankings and it showed. Iowa came out on top 195.775-194.825 as a major floor deduction held Ball State back. The team's sole top performance came from sophomore Bri Slonim who finished with a score of 9.825. Second place finishes came from Jordyn Penny (bars, 9.825), Tia Kiaku (floor, 9.825) and Baylee Bell (beam, 9.775).

READ: Ball State gymnastics falls to Iowa on the road

Softball

Ball State played only half of its anticipated games this weekend at the Troy Cox Classic. After severe weather put a literal damper on its Friday games against Oklahoma and Boston, Ball state returned with a pair of one-run wins against Boston (6-5) and New Mexico State (3-2) later in the day.

Baseball

The Cardinals are 2-2 to start the season after winning two games against Umass Lowell and dropping another two to Morehead State. A walk-off win from junior Griffin Hulecki on Saturday in a 4-3 victory over UMass Lowell, saved what could've been a losing weekend for the Cardinals. 

Men's tennis

It was yet another close win for Ball State, who edged out Lipscomb — a team that it hadn't beat in four — 4-3 at home. The tight win even left head coach Bill Richards scratching his head, saying, "We haven't had too many years where we have had so many close wins in such a short period of time." The Cardinals victory would come down to the fourth and fifth courts, where Conner Anderson and Chris Adams both came out victorious.

READ: Ball State men's tennis keeps on winning behind Chris Adam and Conner Andersen

Women's tennis

Ball State is now 5-3 early in the season after splitting a pair of matches last weekend to the University of Illinois - Chicago and Western Kentucky, both at home. On Friday the Cardinals dominated the Flames with a 7-0 victory at home. On Sunday, however, Ball State dropped a heartbreaker to Western Kentucky, 4-3.  

Contact the sports section with comments at sports@bsudailynews.com or on Twitter at @dn_sports.

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