Going into its three-game series at Louisville last weekend, Ball State knew it was in for a tough test. Louisville was ranked in three of the four major college baseball polls and expected to compete for the Big East championship this season.
What Ball State found in Louisville was everything it expected. Ball State (3-12) was swept, extending its losing streak to a season-high five games. But despite being outscored 36-14 by Louisville, Ball State coach Alex Marconi is confident his team got a valuable lesson in its last games before the start of Mid-American Conference play this week.
"I think we're actually in a pretty good position even though we didn't win any of these games," Marconi said. "We just faced a team better than any we'll face in conference.
"What we see in the MAC will be less talented than what we just saw and that will help us be a little more prepared."
Marconi said Louisville (14-6) was the best all-around team Ball State has played this year. Louisville's hitters especially made their presence felt, jumping out to big leads in the last two games of the series. Sunday, Louisville scored eight runs off starter Chris Marangon in the first inning. All eight came with two outs, and Marconi removed Marangon from the game before he could get the third out.
Coming into the game, Marangon had allowed just five runs in 14 2/3 innings and had been one of Ball State's most reliable pitchers. Marconi said Marangon made mistakes up in the strike zone Sunday and Louisville took advantage.
"He left the ball up to better hitters," Marconi sad. "That's the best group of hitters we've faced all year, collectively as a team. It's different when you have to bear down on everybody in the lineup."
Once Louisville had taken a sizeable lead, Ball State's hitters found it difficult to climb out of the hole. Ball State could manage just seven runs in 19 2/3 innings against Louisville's starting pitchers, meaning half its runs came when the game was already well out of reach.
Right fielder Blake Beemer agreed that Louisville's pitchers were the best Ball State has faced this spring.
"They threw multiple pitches for strikes," Beemer said. "They not only had good velocity, but they threw the ball where they wanted it to go."
Ball State also played without second baseman Mitch Widau on Saturday and Sunday. Widau, who leads the team with a .304 batting average, suffered from a back injury this weekend, Marconi said.
"I wanted to rest him," Marconi said.
The loss of Widau was lessened by the return of third baseman Tim Issler, who led the Cardinals in batting average last season. Issler had missed seven straight games with an eye infection before returning Friday as a pinch hitter. He returned to the starting lineup Saturday and Sunday.
With the hardest part of Ball State's nonconference schedule behind it, Beemer said he and his teammates are ready to embrace the start of MAC play Friday at Akron.
"I think we have enough older guys to know it really is a new season," he said. "Come Friday, everybody is 0-0 and anything can happen in a three-game series with teams from your conference."
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