A rainy and cold Friday afternoon didn't dampen down Ball State's offense late in the game, but it did shorten the Cardinals' weekend at Western Michigan.
Ball State (24-12 overall, 11-2 MAC) found itself behind 2-0 heading into the ninth on Friday but came from behind to force an extra inning, and the Cardinals capitalized on its opportunities to take a 3-2 win in 10 innings.
The showdown between the two top teams in the West Division was cut short, as both Saturday and Sunday's games were canceled due to wet and cold conditions. They will not be rescheduled.
The Broncos (17-13, 9-1 MAC) struck in the bottom of the third inning with two runs. With runners on second and third, Justin Carter's sacrifice fly to left field scored Andy Roy. Mark Abro scored WMU's other run when Travis May connected for an RBI single to left-center field.
Starting pitcher Mark Rasmussen allowed no runs on seven hits in seven innings for the Broncos, and heading into the ninth, Ball State was still searching for its first run of the game. The Cardinals finally crossed home plate when Chris Pestle and C.J. Webb drew walks to open the inning, and Pestle scored on Matt Singleton's RBI double.
"They were throwing a lot of strikes and keep us off balance," BSU coach Greg Beals said. "We didn't get that big hit we needed until later on in the game."
Phil Bednar, pinch running for Webb, scored on a Western error on Mike Sullivan's grounder, tying the game. With an opportunity to win the game, the Broncos' defense shut down the Cardinals when Jason Bucholtz grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Ball State faced a similar scenario in the 10th inning. Justin Rogers and Marc Franz walked, and Kyle Dygert's third single of the game loaded the bases. Rogers scored the winning run on Pestle's ground out to second base, and Erik Morrison picked up his NCAA-leading 12th save of the season in the bottom of the inning. Morrison's save tied Nick Witte's record from 1996 for most saves in a season.
"Erik's been rock solid," Beals said. "You can credit a lot of the success we've had [to him]. He's been a very integral part of that."
The Cardinals finished with nine hits to the Bronco's seven. Dygert's three singles led the Cards, followed by Sullivan's two base hits.
Richie Fralick (2-1) relieved starting pitcher Joe Ness in the seventh and picked up the win with three scoreless innings.
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