A five-hit shutout by Kolbrin Vitek on Sunday assured Ball State University of an elusive sweep against Northern Illinois University at Ball Diamond.
The sweep kept Ball State in sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference, a game ahead of the University of Toledo and Central Michigan University. While Ball State (27-24, 18-6) has won 11 consecutive MAC series dating back to last year, it hadn't swept a team since taking three games from Miami University at the beginning of April.
The Cardinals honored four seniors Sunday in their final home game. Catcher Zach Dygert was the lone senior in the lineup, going 0-for-2 with a walk. Dygert did score one of Ball State's two runs in the 2-0 victory.
Vitek (3-4) struck out eight Huskies and needed only 104 pitches to complete the game. He also threw out a runner at home, thwarting an attempted squeeze play that kept Ball State in the lead in the eighth inning.
Vitek's shutout was the first by a Cardinal since May 14, 2005, when Ben Snyder shutout Marshall University. Ball State hadn't even had a complete game since 2006 when Snyder accomplished the feat against Western Michigan University.
Ball State won the series opener in dramatic fashion Friday. First baseman Ian Nielsen hit a walk off home run with two outs in the ninth inning to defeat the Huskies 7-6.
Saturday, the Cardinals cruised to victory behind a good pitching performance from Cal Bowling (6-3). The sophomore allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings to remain undefeated in the MAC.
Ball State will visit Toledo beginning Thursday for its final three regular season games before next week's MAC Tournament. This is the second straight year the Cardinals will face the Rockets at the end of the year with the MAC West title on the line. Last year, Ball State took two games in Muncie to win the division crown.
This year, however, Central Michigan also remains in the mix. It will host fourth-place Eastern Michigan this weekend.
Because of tiebreakers, Ball State only needs to win its series at Toledo to take its second straight MAC West title home this year.
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