If Ball State University baseball coach Greg Beals wins his 200th game Wednesday at Indiana State University, it will be a total team effort just like he wants each win to be.
With 199 wins, Beals will lead his team into Terre Haute for a nonconference match-up against the 13-9 Sycamores. The Cardinals, 11-9, will start senior right-hander Adam Quinn on the mound, but Beals said he will pitch just two innings. To get the rest of his pitchers work, Beals will limit each of them to a set number of innings.
"Everybody will get a little time," Beals said. "The rest will get some work but since Adam's a senior, we'll call on him to be the starter."
Freshman Justin Warrington and Cal Bowling will likely get a couple of innings as well.
The game will be Beals' first attempt at No. 200, but it's not something he's paid much attention to.
"It wasn't something I knew about," Beals said. "My wife and brother knew and mentioned it over the weekend. It's not a coach Beals thing. It's a Ball State baseball thing."
Beals will become the fifth coach in program history with 200 wins. Leading the way with 323 is former coach Pat Quinn, now associate athletics director, who said he never knew about any of his milestones before he hit them.
"My main focus was getting as many wins for the good of the team," Quinn said. "It indicates success and longevity."
Quinn said Beals has continued the success Ball State has long enjoyed in baseball.
"Ray Louthen built the program," Quinn said. "Rich Maloney took the program to a new level, and Beals has continued that."
Standing in the way is an Indiana State team that is much improved than those that the Cardinals have played in recent years, Beals said.
The Sycamores have scored 172 runs this season, 38 more than the Cardinals. Of the runs, 66 have come at home, leading to a 5-2 record in Terre Haute, including an 11-2 defeat of Indiana University.
"They've got a strong offensive ball club," Beals said. "They're a much improved team. They've done that through junior college recruiting."
Indiana State has lost eight of its past 12 games after starting the season 9-1.
"We're not looking a whole lot into their recent losses," Beals said. "They had a tough weekend with Creighton, which is a conference opponent for them."
Ball State is coming off opening the Mid-American Conference season with a series win against the University of Akron but will return to the road where it has a 5-7 record.
"It's the same game," Beals said. "We know most of our games are on the road, so I don't see that as being a major issue."
Ball State will need to keep its edge after winning two of its last three games as it heads into a weekend series against MAC-favorite Kent State University.
"Baseball players like to keep their timing," Beals said. "We'll run the same lineup out there to keep them sharp."
Five things to watch for1. Coach Greg Beals is one win from becoming the fifth baseball coach at Ball State with 200 victories.
2. Ball State leads the Mid-American Conference with 45 stolen bases, and junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker has a conference-high 13.
3. In last year's meeting, right fielder Ryan Chenoweth hit a walk-off home run to win the game 14-13 in 10 innings.
4. Both teams have played Austin Peay State University and Indiana University. Indiana State split the two games while the Cardinals won both.
5. The game can be heard online at wisu.indstate.edu/
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