For the seventh time since the beginning of the 2007-08 school year, a Ball State University student athlete has been arrested for reasons stemming from alcohol use.
Junior baseball player Nathan Fields, 21, was arrested last Monday on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct, according to a police report filed to the Muncie Police Department. Both charges are classified as Class B misdemeanors, according to the Indiana Code. A Class B misdemeanor results in paying up to a $1,000 fine and up to 180 days imprisonment, according to the code.
Muncie Police were responding to a separate incident with a gun call early in the morning of May 5 when Fields approached the scene, according to police reports.
Fields was asked several times by police to leave the area before several confrontational words were spoken by Fields to the officers, according to the police report. The report also stated Fields was "unsteady on his feet," with "red and watery eyes" and had "the smell of an alcoholic beverage." Following the incident, Fields was arrested and transported to the Delaware County Jail where he registered a .23 blood alcohol content, according to police reports.
"Obviously it's disappointing when any of your guys get in trouble," baseball coach Greg Beals said. "Nate broke team policy, and his suspension went through this Monday."
Beals said there would also be an ongoing disciplinary process that would be used the rest of this season.
"[The arrest] cost Nate three games, and the rain-out would have made it four," said Beals, whose team lost a doubleheader to Northern Illinois University on Saturday before being rained out on Sunday.
Fields has started 34 of Ball State's 46 games this season in the outfield and is third on the squad with a .326 batting average and second with seven stolen bases in as many attempts. He has also recorded seven home runs and 33 RBIs.
Of the seven student athletes, Fields is the second baseball player to be arrested for reasons stemming from alcohol use this school year. On Jan. 25, senior outfielder Wayne Bond was arrested and released on charges of driving while intoxicated, according to Delaware County jail officials.
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