Greg Beals can't quite put his finger on why his Ball State team has struggled of late in midweek games, including a 7-6 loss to Butler on Wednesday.
What he does know is that the Cardinals (16-14 overall, 6-3 Mid-American Conference) will be ready for their big weekend series at Central Michigan. The Chippewas (16-15), lead the the MAC West with a 5-1 mark, while BSU is tied with Eastern Michigan for second.
"I still have confidence," Beals said. "This team is very capable, there's no doubt about that.
"It all has to do with how your mental preparation is. For some reason, our guys have no problem getting up for conference games, but they go through the nonleague games like it's (just) exercise."
Central is making hitting look rather easy, though. The Chippewas are hitting a league-leading .333 with Jim Geldhof (.444) and Kurtis Wells (.426), the top two individuals in the MAC in both average and hits. Geldhof has also scored the most runs (51) and been successful on 14 of his 15 stolen-base attempts.
"Central's swinging the bats very well," Beals said. "They're putting up some very good numbers. They're not hitting for power as much as in the past. They're running more, trying to steal bases."
Ball State's team pitching (4.03 ERA) and fielding are both second in the MAC, and Beals is hoping those factors will counter the Chippewas' bats.
"Good pitching and good defense are supposed to beat good hitting," he said.
The Cardinals will likely start the dependable trio of left-hander Mike Johnston (2-3, 3.73 ERA), Joe Ness (5-1, 3.52) and Andrew Anderson (3-2, 3.92) on the mound. All three, as well as No. 4 starter Ryan DeGeeter (3-0, 1.45) are in the top 20 in the MAC with their earned run averages.
Meanwhile, Central's hitting has made up for its pitching staff's 5.80 ERA, which is 10th in the league.
"(Their) pitching looks decent," Beals said. "We'll score runs (though). I think we'll be fine. We're still working on our approach, trying to be more aggressive. Our hitting has less to do with our opponent than our own approach."
Mike Sullivan (.393), Marc Franz (.385, seven home runs, 38 RBI) and Brad Miller (.364, nine and 31) lead the way at the plate for the Cards.
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