Matt Hitt stood up out of his catcher's stance and stuck his left arm straight out. With the score tied at four and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning Sunday, Ball State had runners on second and third. The play for Eastern Michigan was to intentionally walk Blake Beemer to create a force out at any base. Four easy tosses from right-hander Joe Battistelli to Hitt and it would be up to Billy Wellman to bring home the winning run.
Battistelli's first throw, however, sailed past Hitt's glove, careening toward the backstop. With that, Brandon Estep was off, racing home from third base, sliding in safely. As one, the Cardinals (11-26) exploded out of the dugout, mobbing Estep just in front of the pitcher's mound.
Estep - and T.J. Weir, who drove in the tying run - was the game's unlikely hero as Ball State walked off with a 5-4 victory in 10 innings at Ball Diamond. Estep admitted he is not the fastest on the team, but knew he had to get across the plate any way he could.
"As soon as I saw it go back, I went, I went," Estep said. "In that situation, I'm the winning run. I have to get in there."
Two batters earlier, Estep had almost been the goat. With one out, runners on second and third and Ball State trailing 4-3, he hit a ground ball to Eastern Michigan third baseman Ben Magsig. Estep said he thought he had grounded into a game-ending double play.
Instead, Magsig fielded the ball and stepped on third base, getting the lead runner but giving Ball State another chance.
"It was hit slow enough, I thought [it wouldn't be a double play]," coach Alex Marconi said. "I'm not terribly surprised that he did that. He just went and got the sure out."
Ball State made sure it didn't waste the opportunity. Weir hit a line drive down the left field line, allowing Mitch Widau to score the tying run from second base. When left fielder Daniel Russell bobbled the ball, Estep and Weir each advanced a base, setting up the attempted intentional walk.
Weir said Battistelli had been throwing a lot of strikes so he wanted to be aggressive at the plate. He fouled off the first pitch before hitting a change-up up the left field line for an RBI single.
"I was thinking, 'Put it in play, make something happen,'" Weir said. "Not necessarily drive the ball with the wind blowing in, but just put it in play."
The walk-off wild pitch was reminiscent of Ball State's 7-6 loss to Central Michigan last season at Ball Diamond. In that game, Cardinals right-hander Michael Sandman threw a wild pitch during an attempted intentional walk that allowed the Chippewas to tie the game in the ninth inning.
"That's karma from last year," Weir said.
The wild ending Sunday allowed left-hander Nestor Bautista to pick up his first career victory. He pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief and got a key double play to send the game into extra innings.
Ball State's real pitching star of the day, however, was right-hander Jacob Brewer. He pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing three runs on four hits. The only time Brewer was really in trouble was the sixth inning, when he loaded the bases with a two-out walk. Russell followed with a bases-clearing triple that tied the game at three.
After Russell's hit, Brewer settled back down and pitched two more innings. It was the kind of start Marconi knows Brewer is capable of.
"He's starting to get more consistent," Marconi said. "While it wouldn't be fair to expect that every time out, it was a very good start for him and is another step in the right direction."
Sunday's victory also gave the Cardinals an important series victory. The occasion was big enough that Beemer, a team captain, brought out his shaving cream to celebrate. During Estep's post-game interview, Beemer snuck up on the freshman and smeared shaving cream all over his face with a towel. After Beemer's sneak attack, Marconi, sounding somewhat surprised, asked Beemer where he had gotten the shaving cream.
"You brought it here?" Marconi said.
"Today was the first day I had it," Beemer said.
Just past the halfway point in the conference season, everything is beginning to come together for Ball State. Even the ingredients to a proper postgame celebration.
Read More
Delta baseball defeats Yorktown in extra innings to become Delaware County champions
By Zach Carter / 6 days agoThe Eagles defeated the Tigers 5-2 in extra innings to win the Delaware County baseball tournament. It's the first time Delta has won the event since 2017.
'I'm grateful and proud:' No. 6 Ball State falls to No. 1 Miami in MAC Championship title game
By Zach Carter / 6 days agoThe No. 6 Cardinals fell to the No. 1 Redhawks 8-0 in the MAC title game. It's the farthest the Cardinals have advanced in the tournament since 2015.
'Building into something great:' Ball State softball advances to the MAC title game for the first time since 2015
By Zach Carter / May 10, 2024No. 6 Ball State defeated No. 5 Central Michigan, No. 4 Toledo and No. 2 Ohio Friday to advance to the title game of the Mid-American Conference Championship. The Cardinals will face the No. 1 Miami Redhawks. If Ball State was to win, a second game will need to be played due to the Redhawks undefeated tournament record.
