Down 2-1 after the second inning, the Ball State University bullpen shut down the University of Dayton's offense for the final seven innings, allowing the Cardinals to claim a 4-2 victory Wednesday.
Adam Quinn, Brenden Stines, Brad Piatt, Aaron Hammons, Heath Riley and Kyle Heyne combined to pitch the final seven innings in which the Flyers plated no runs and collected six hits to seven strikeouts.
"We've leaned on that bullpen all year long, we feel it's the strength of our ball club," Ball State coach Greg Beals said. "Part of having a strong bullpen is using them. We have these midweek games where we use all of them."
As usual, Heyne was the last of the seven pitchers used by the Cardinals in Wednesday's game. He picked up his fourth save of the season and third in four games. Heyne has pitched in each of the Cardinals' last four games, having one day of rest in that span. While he admitted to being tired, he said, it's worth the strain if the team wins.
"It's something I love doing, I like to do it, and I'll do it as long as we are winning," Heyne said. "When we are winning, it's fun to go out and compete and throw in those situations, even when you are tired."
One of the key moments in the Cardinals' sixth consecutive victory came in the seventh inning. With the wind blowing in, making it difficult for either team to score, Justin Rogers dug in at the plate of a 2-2 tie. Dean Anna had led off the inning with a double and was on third after an error by Dayton allowed Wayne Bond Jr. to reach first safely. Bond then stole second setting the stage for Rogers single to right field that allowed both runners to cross home plate.
"It's just a situation we practice everyday ... just pull the ball, get it on the other side and let the other guys score," Rogers said.
Beals has said throughout the season good baseball players will get big hits in big situations, and Rogers was able to do that as the runs proved to be the deciding margin.
While the Cardinals did come up with the hits when they needed them, Beals said, he wasn't overly happy with his team's offensive performance.
"The only thing I feel good about is we were able to get four doubles and get some extra base hits," he said. "I didn't feel we hit the ball as hard as we should have. I was a little bit concerned, and I feel like with the wind blowing in [Wednesday], it affected our confidence a little bit."
While Beals said he is glad to have won the last six games, don't expect him to be content with how his team is playing.
"It's nice to have a win streak, but it's nicer to be in a win streak and know you can play better baseball," he said. "We can play better than we have played, especially these last [few] days. It's nice to be winning, but it's nice to know from a coaching standpoint we still have things we can work on. We can still improve."
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