The hitting, often an area of want for Ball State this season, was there. However, the Cardinals' league-best defense failed them in a 16-13 loss to Division II Findlay at Ball Diamond.
Ball State (14-11) committed six errors, which led to 10 unearned runs for the Oilers (14-16). Three of those miscues came in the sixth inning, when Findlay scored nine runs to take the lead for good.
"Our defense was the most disappointing thing," BSU coach Greg Beals said after watching his team's five-game winning streak get snapped. "You can't spot a team 10 runs. We got 16 hits. That could've been better, but I'd like to think that 13 runs is enough."
Findlay's 15 hits and 16 runs were both season-highs for BSU opponents. The Cards had given up nine runs three times.
Findlay shelled Ball State starting pitcher Billy Salazar for seven runs (six of them unearned) in the first three innings, including a first-inning grand slam by Josh Lamb.
Another freshman, Richie Fralik, relieved Salazar and held the Oilers scoreless for two innings, and BSU moved ahead 11-7. In the fifth inning, Jon Dollinger recorded his first career hit with a pinch-hit homer, and Marc Franz added a two-run blast to left field.
But the Oilers got to Fralik (1-1) in the sixth, as their first nine batters got on base and came around to score.
Erik Morrison relieved Fralik and did not yield an earned run over four innings, but the Cards couldn't keep up their earlier pace on offense. Jason Bucholtz scored on Jon Byerly's ground out in the bottom of the sixth and James Nowicki singled in Dollinger. The Cards then left two runners on both the eighth and ninth.
While giving credit to the Oilers, Beals also said his team did not play to its potential, something he believes has happened all too often.
"This team has a serious problem with competing amongst themselves," Beals said. "They play to the level of their opponents. We had trouble with it over Spring Break, and obviously today we had problems."
Dollinger added two singles after his homer. Nowicki and Brad Miller also rapped three hits, while Franz batted in three runs.
Beals said his team is better off forgetting the upset completely than trying to learn much from it.
"Take a shower; just get it all off," he said. "There's nothing you can take out of it. There's a Division II team that wanted to win. They swung at everything close and got a ton of hits, and we helped them."
Ball State will look to wash away some of Tuesday's disappointment when it plays host to Xavier at 3 p.m. today.
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