Ball State's baseball team began the 2003 season with a new coach and high hopes of winning the Mid-American Conference championship. It ended differently as the team was knocked out trying to scrap and claw to stay alive in the MAC tournament.
Ball State faced two-time MAC defending champion Kent State in a rematch of last season's championship match. The only difference in this game was that both teams began the double-elimination tournament with first-round losses, facing each other in the loser's bracket.
With Kent State hosting the tournament, Ball State was already at a disadvantage. However, the team was prepared, aware that this matchup was the talk of the tournament. In fact, coach Greg Beals, an assistant coach at Kent State last year, hoped for it.
"This is the matchup we were looking for," Beals said. "We knew we would eventually have to go through Kent State."
Ball State All-MAC selection Brian Lynch took the mound in search of his ninth win of the season. Lynch performed for 10 innings play, working a complete game despite taking his fourth loss of the season.
Despite his seven-strikeout outing, Lynch gave up a two-out single on an 0-2 count to Eric O'Brien, which was the game winner. It was the only mistake Lynch made during the entire game that he might regret.
For the second consecutive game, Ball State was without MAC Player of the Year Brad Snyder. Snyder was still suffering from a concussion he received in the final regular season game of the season.
However, the team has had plenty to cheer about both on the field and off. Besides having the most valuable player in the conference for this season, other highlights brightened the first season as head coach for Beals. Ball State was a leader in many statistical categories, especially offensive ones. The team also won another MAC West division title, its fifth won or shared in the last six years.
The team scored 20+ runs in a game on two occasions. The first was a 24-2 home victory against Central Michigan. The second occurrence involved Anderson in a 30-12 home victory. The following day, Ball State defeated Butler in a close 6-5 game at Victory Field in Indianapolis. About a week later, the team faced a 16th-ranked team in Notre Dame, winning 6-1 on the road.
The individual success of Snyder and others helped the collective goal of the team. Five players had double-digit hitting streaks, with two having streaks of 14 games. Marc Franz ended his season with a still-active streak of 10 games.
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