Four games out of the final slot in the Mid-American Conference, the Ball State University baseball team is set for an important weekend series in Kalamazoo, Mich.
"To get in the tournament, we got to win nine of our last 12 games," coach Greg Beals said. "We're getting down to crunch time where we don't have many losses before we eliminate ourselves."
The Cardinals will be facing Western Michigan University today. The two teams sit in the bottom two slots in the MAC West Division. The Broncos are 6-6 in MAC games, 13-19 overall, while the Cardinals are 4-11, 15-25 overall.
Beals said the Broncos are a good hitting team, and their pitchers will be aggressive.
"We got to control their bats," Beals said. "[Nathan] Marquardt is their main guy, he's their go-to guy in their lineup. Their pitchers are going to be throwing a lot of strikes, putting a lot of pressure on our hitters. We got to either hit or be down in the count."
Beals said Brenden Stines will start Friday's game and will be followed by Ryan DeGeeter and Richie Fralick. Fralick is replacing Pritchard, who is still suffering from arm tendinitis.
Stines has been impressive in his last three starts. He has a 0.83 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings over the span. However, he has an 0-1 record in the three games.
"It's frustrating for the whole team," Beals said. "Seeing one of their guys go out and pitch extremely well and not get any run support."
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