Marc Franz's RBI double in the fifth inning proved to be the only run needed for Ball State as the Cardinals held on for a 1-0 win over Dayton on Wednesday at Ball Diamond.
Jason Bucholtz singled in the fifth, then advanced to second on a wild pitch by the first of five Dayton relievers, Kyle Lindsay. Franz knocked a double to score Bucholtz for the only run of the game.
Dayton (20-12) threatened a half-inning earlier when, with men on the corner bases, Cardinals pitcher Ritchie Fralick struck out shortstop Michael Massa to end the fifth. Left fielder Bryan Chandler reached third on a single by catcher Aaron Hepner, but it was the only instance in the game that a Flyers runner advanced beyond second.
Ball State's lone run was one of only two times the Cardinals advanced beyond second. Brad Miller advanced to third in the first inning after Franz singled and Bobby Getty slipped making the play in center field.
"You don't see many college games ending in 1-0," coach Greg Beals said. "If you throw strikes and the wind is blowing into the infield, it's going to be a low-scoring game."
Six pitchers took the mound for Ball State (21-10) to get work in in-between the weekend series, and none pitched for more than two innings. Luke Behning started and allowed one hit in two innings. No Ball State pitcher allowed more than two base hits.
"Both teams pitched pretty well," coach Greg Beals said. "There was one walk in the game. They didn't walk anybody; we walked one guy. We played good defense. We didn't make any errors."
The wind proved to be a big factor throughout the game, with both team's defenses often making tougher-than-normal plays. One such play came in the ninth inning when the game was still hanging in the balance. With Brandon Godzik on first after singling, a fly ball to second base was carried by the wind, forcing third baseman C.J. Webb to make the play and get the second out.
"The catch C.J. Webb made on the pop-up in the ninth inning was just a kid playing his tail off," Beals said. "The only reason why he caught the ball was because he was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing with a little extraordinary effort to get there, and he found himself in position to catch the ball."
Franz finished four-for-four with one RBI, and Kyle Dygert went two-for-four. Ball State finished with 11 hits to Dayton's six.
"The thing I was most impressed with is how we competed," Beals said. "There were some elements we had to deal with in order to compete today; we had to understand the wind and the fly ball wasn't going to be very good. Our guys did a great job with that."
Central Michigan visits Ball Diamond this weekend for a three-game series with the Cardinals. Friday's game is slated to start at 3 p.m., while the Saturday and Sunday games will start a 1 p.m.
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