LEXINGTON, Ky. - Twenty-four hours after recording the biggest win in school history, the Ball State University baseball team saw a reversal of fortune in the second round of the NCAA Regional.
The Cardinals managed just five hits and only got one runner past second base as the College of Charleston slaughtered BSU 11-0 on Saturday.
Starter Tyler Pritchard was unable to get going, giving up four runs and seven hits in three-plus innings.
"He was a one-pitch pitcher tonight," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "The offspeed stuff was not working, and against guys that can hit that's going to make it tough."
Nick Chigges pitched a masterpiece for the Cougars. He struck out 13, which was a career high for the junior right-hander. Chigges, the Southern Conference pitcher of the year, has thrown two consecutive complete games. He currently owns a 24 2/3 inning scoreless streak. Chigges upped his record to 11-1, while Pritchard dropped to 7-3.
"He was as good as we've seen all year," Beals said. "His slider was very tough. We were unable to stay off of it as it was breaking out of the zone. Every now and then you're going to run into a guy who's on and you're going to have a tough game."
Charleston got the ball rolling in the second and never looked back. The Cougars got back-to-back singles from Alex Garabedian and Graham Maiden. Ben Lasater followed up with a sacrifice bunt, advancing the runners up one base. After Phillip Coker popped out to catcher Matt Singleton, Joey Friddle laced a single to right field, scoring both runners for a 2-0 lead.
Charleston added one run in the third inning and two in the fourth to build its lead to 5-0.
The best opportunity Ball State had to score happened in the bottom of the fourth.
With one out, Brad Miller ripped a single to the left field gap. Left fielder Friddle bobbled the ball and then kicked it to the warning track, allowing Miller to reach third base. However, both Justin Rogers and C.J. Webb struck out to end the threat.
"The most difficult thing was that he had three or four pitches," senior second baseman Kyle Dygert said. "He had a curveball and a slider and he was throwing them all for strikes tonight. When you get a pitcher doing that, it's difficult to pick one out and try to put a good swing on it."
The Cougars added one run in the fifth, four in the seventh and one in the ninth inning.
"The biggest thing is to put this game behind us," third baseman C.J. Webb said. "We have to come out ready to play like we did on Friday. We got to show up to the yard and we can't worry about the games down the road."
The Cardinals will play the University of Kentucky at 2 p.m. on Sunday, in a first-round rematch of the NCAA Regional, where the Cardinals defeated the Wildcats 3-1.
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