After a weekend that resulted in three losses for the Ball State University baseball team, coach Greg Beals decided not to give his team a day off like he normally does on Mondays.
The reason was he didn't want his players to get stuck on being swept and have it affect their play this week, he said.
"I didn't want our guys having 36 hours to sit before getting back out there," Beals said. "After a tough weekend, I felt it was good to do something together."
The Cardinals (21-14, 7-5 Mid-American Conference) will look to get back on track against Xavier University Tuesday.
One of the catalysts for the MAC's leader in a majority of the offensive categories has been senior Justin Rogers this year.
This season Rogers leads the team with a .346 batting average and .496 on-base percentage.
"The thing with Justin is he is a very talented hitter," Beals said. "He's got a great understanding of what he is doing as a hitter, the mechanics of hitting, and he's got a great swing."
Leading the Cardinals in batting average is nothing new for Rogers. He led the 2006 MAC Tournament Champion team with a .347 average as a sophomore; however, Rogers relapsed in 2007 with a .188 average.
Beals said a big reason for Rogers' struggles last season was the focus put on him by the opposing team.
"In [2006] he had all those seniors around him to take the pressure off," Beals said. "Last year he was the marquee guy in the lineup. He was the guy that the other team came in ready to stop."
Xavier is under .500 on the season at 16-20 but has had a 10-5 record in conference.
While Beals acknowledged the Musketeers are playing good baseball right now, he said he doesn't worry about what the other team is doing.
"I'm not worried about how good the team coming in to play us is; I'm worried about how good my team is playing," he said.
If the Cardinals play to their potential, Beals said, his team likely won't lose.
"That's one thing I've realized ... we will be very hard to beat if we play our game of baseball," he said.
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