A significant chunk of the Ball State baseball team's offense is missing from last season, but the Cardinals offense showed no sign of the loss in its appearance at the Governor's Cup in Evansville.
The Cardinals won their first two games of the season, but fell short of winning the Cup by losing to Evansville in the championship game late Sunday evening.
The team scored 25 runs in the three games at the tourney, which featured six teams from around the state of Indiana: Butler, Indiana State, IPFW, Valparaiso, Evansville and Ball State.
"I think we did a lot of things differently by producing offense in different ways than we did last year," head coach Greg Beals said.
In its first game, BSU defeated Valparaiso 12-2, propelled by a late-inning spurt. With a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning, the Cards totaled 10 runs in the following three innings to clinch the victory.
Sophomore centerfielder Mike Sullivan led the team, batting 2-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs.
Starting pitcher Mike Johnston got his first win on the season, allowing two runs and three hits through 5 2/3 innings.
"I'm encouraged about how we pitched and played defense," Beals said about the game. "We got hits when we needed to get hits to score runs."
The second game saw a less potent offense, but the team still dominated in a 6-2 victory over Indiana State.
Giving up both runs in the first inning, sophomore starting pitcher Joe Ness controlled the rest of the game, allowing five hits in his final six innings to get the win.
Sophomore Brad Miller hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning while Sullivan added a two-out RBI double to put away the Sycamores.
Closer John Pettibone notched his first save of the year, working out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth inning.
In the championship game the Cards were not so fortunate, losing the game in the final inning 8-7. Evansville scored with one out in the ninth inning on a walk-off two-run single.
Ball State had a 7-1 advantage after the fifth inning, including home runs by Matt Singleton and Lucas Fry.
Senior Andy Anderson made the start and hurled six innings without allowing an earned run, while Pettibone received the loss for the team in his relief work.
"We had good starts from all three of our starters," Beals said. "Anderson was particularly sharp today. We just didn't do a very good job today with our bullpen."
Ball State heads next to Conway, S.C. where it faces Coastal Carolina, Furman, Seton Hall and William & Mary this weekend.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
