The Ball State University offense got its groove back as it beat Xavier University 14-4 Tuesday.
The Cardinals (22-14, 7-5 Mid-American Conference) collected 20 hits in the game and scored in all but one inning.
In the three games against Central Michigan University last weekend, Ball State had 21 hits. The offensive effort is what Ball State coach Greg Beals said he was most satisfied about in Tuesday's game.
"The win is nice, but the thing I'm really happy with is our offense bounced back and had a great approach offensively," he said. "We hit the ball very hard. Usually if you would see 14 runs in a Ball State game you'd think there were a bunch of windblown home runs, and that wasn't the case."
A catalyst to the offense against Xavier was third baseman Matt Stoeklen. The senior went 4-for-4 with a walk, two runs, four RBIs and a home run. Prior to Tuesday's game Stoeklen had gotten eight hits in his last 57 at bats, dating back to early March.
"It was a long time coming, I'll say that," Stoeklen said. "It feels great."
While Stoeklen started at third base against Xavier, he hasn't been starting half the time for the Cardinals in recent weeks. Beals said that had a lot to do with how everyone else on the team was hitting.
"Stoeks is very capable and one of our top returning hitters," he said. "Unfortunately for him getting off to a slow start early this year and with the number of guys we've had producing offensively, I had to give those guys opportunities. That limited my ability to give him the amount of at bats I would have liked to get him out of that slump."
Last year and for the first part of this season Stoeklen was the starting first baseman. He still sees time at first base but has played a lot of third base recently. Usually when Stoeklen is at third, normal starting third baseman T.J. Baumet gets the day off. However, against Xavier Baumet started at second base in place of Jeremy Hazelbaker.
The Cardinals aren't sure if they will stay with that alignment defensively, but Beals said it is a possibility.
"I'm not sure exactly whether or not we are going to stick with that," he said. "The bottom line is we have been struggling defensively, and we're just really trying to find whatever matchups, whatever combinations we can to improve things defensively. We will try to do some other things and then evaluate where we are at."
Ball State now plays at Purdue University Wednesday before going on the road to Western Michigan University hoping to keep their MAC West title chances alive. Before they can get to the Broncos, the Cardinals must first face the Boilermakers who won at the Ball Diamond 12-4 last season.
Stoeklen said the team will be looking to snag a win from another rival in the state of Indiana.
"Very much so, especially with them being an in-state rival," he said. "Hearing all those stories, Big Ten this Big Ten that, we're going to go there, play our best and hopefully come away with a win."
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