This weekend's matchup is a showdown between the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference West Division. No. 2 Ball State (24-11 overall, 10-2 MAC) travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a date with top-seeded Western Michigan (17-12 overall, 9-0 MAC).
Both teams come into the weekend after blowout wins. Western Michigan swept Eastern Michigan last weekend, including a 9-1 win on Sunday, while Ball State powered past Indiana, 17-4, hitting six home runs and connecting for 21 hits.
"This is a big weekend for both teams," junior first baseman Brad Miller said. "We're just going to go in there and try to keep on this roll we're on -- hopefully take a couple of games and put some losses in their column and try to get back on top."
The Broncos have had the easier conference schedule to date, having swept the three lowest-seeded teams in the division in Toledo, Northern Illinois and EMU. Ball State won two of three against preseason favorite Central Michigan last weekend and took two of three against Akron. The Cards swept Bowling Green and NIU earlier in the season.
Tony Scheffler leads the Broncos with a .343 batting average, while Justin Carter leads in RBI (31). Carter is also second in the conference in slugging percentage at .635. WMU enters the weekend hitting .294 as a team.
Dan O'Brien has a 2-2 record in seven starts and holds a 2.65 ERA, which is the fifth best in the conference.
"They're a good team," assistant coach Clint Albert said. "It's tough to win nine games in a row. They're doing things right, obviously. They've had some timely hitting, and they've been pitching pretty well."
Ball State's power has recently awoke, with 10 home runs in the past four games. Brad Miller connected for four in that time span and now has five for the season.
Erik Morrison is two saves away from breaking the school record for most saves in a season, which was set in 1996. Morrison currently has 11, leading the MAC.
Joe Ness is also approaching the school record books. Ness is nine strikeouts away from entering the top ten in career strikeouts. He currently has 170 and is 12th on the all-time list.
Eric Earnhart has been sidelined with an ankle injury but has pinch hit in recent games. Coach Greg Beals said he's hopeful that Earnhart will be available to play this weekend at full strength.
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