The tables have turned. The back-to-back Mid-American Conference (MAC) champions Ball State Cardinals (13-3, 2-1 MAC) have been used to having a target on their back over the past two seasons. However, after Sunday’s loss against the Toledo Rockets (12-3, 3-0 MAC), they’ll be doing the hunting instead of being the hunted from here on out.
In Ball State’s first home series of the 2023 campaign, the Cardinals were able to bring out the brooms as they swept Central Michigan. “There's something special about this team when we're playing at home,” head coach Lacy Schurr said. “You know, this is my third season [as Ball State head coach] and there's something about being at home. If we have strikes and outs left on the board, we're still in the game.”
At the halfway point in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) season, Ball State men’s tennis (10-7, 2-3 MAC) is left with some work to do if they want to make the postseason conference tournament. After Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Bulls (6-6, 2-3 MAC), the Cardinals are tied with Buffalo for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament.
March 24-26, Ball State Baseball (17-6, 8-1 MAC) and Eastern Michigan (10-10, 4-5 MAC) competed in a three-game Mid-American Conference (MAC) weekend series, where the Cardinals defeated the Eagles in each contest. Ball State has won eight in a row and returns to action March 28 at home at 3 p.m. against Southern Indiana (7-16, 0-2 OVC).
Ball State Men's Volleyball (14-8, 7-3 MIVA) swept Lindenwood (9-9, 6-4 MIVA) 25-19, 25-18 and 25-17 in conference action at home March 25.
While the Cardinals (13-8, 6-3 MIVA) may not have played their best volleyball Friday, they played well enough to earn a four set (25-13, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21) victory over Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) rival Quincy (7-14, 0-9 MIVA).
“Even though their (Binghamton) record is not good, they have good players. Everybody has good players,” Richards said. “It’s the kind of match every coach worries about. But our guys handled it really well. I was not only pleased with the way we played, but what our mentality was.”
Coach Rifanty Kahfiani is calling this weekend “the toughest” Mid-American Conference (MAC) matches that Ball State Women’s tennis (14-2, 2-0 MAC) will have to face.
“We’re very united as a team, and that really helps when we’re competing,” Pfister said. “We just stay in our own little bubble, and we just support each other.”
“As you come through the curtain, it's fun to come out and hear the roar of the crowd,” Casazza said. “It is kind of like being on the team, I guess it is how [the players] come out onto the floor with the crowd cheering for them. When we come down the hallway, they're not cheering for us, but you kind of get into the feeling of a big crowd and a lot of fans supporting the same team and that's kind of exciting.”
Bases loaded with two outs in the fourth inning. Freshman second baseman Dylan Grego steps up to the plate. Grego takes the first pitch. The next pitch he sees ends up beyond the center field fence to put the Cardinals up 12-0.
“Our conference is very tough. We played 10 conference matches. We could win every one, or we could lose every one. There is so much balance in our league,” Richards said.
Ball State Women's Basketball (26-9) fell to Memphis (22-10) 79-62 in a second round Women's National Invitational Tournament matchup that saw the Cardinals season end. Graduate student Thelma Dis Agustsdottir broke the record for most 3-pointers made in program history in defeat.
Ball State Women's Basketball (26-9) was defeated by Memphis (22-10) 79-62 in the second round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament, ending the Cardinals' winningest season since 2008-09. Three takeaways break down how it happened.
Ball State Baseball (13-6, 5-1 MAC) defeated Toledo (9-9, 3-3 MAC) in all three games in the MAC opponent's weekend series. The Cardinals return to action March 22 against Butler (2-15) at 3 p.m. in Muncie, Indiana.
Ball State tied its fifth-best score in program history and tied its best finish at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship since 2002 with a score of 196.325 to finish second March 18 at host Kent State. It is the seventh runner-up finish in program history for the Cardinals and the first since 2016.
After Ball State men’s tennis dropped their opening Mid-American Conference (MAC) matchup against Western Michigan Friday, head coach Bill Richards had one message for his team: “How you come back from a loss really defines you as a player, defines you as a coach, defines you as a team,” Richards said. Sunday, the Cardinals (9-6, 1-2 MAC) responded with a 5-2 win over the Northern Illinois Huskies (11-4, 3-1 MAC). Coming in, the team knew what was at stake after their 0-2 start.
Even though the two Delaware County teams came up short, they both had successful seasons. Before this year, Wapahani had never even won a regional. The Raiders were also the Delaware County Tournament champions.
It all started Saturday, with a 7-0 sweep of the Western Michigan Broncos (9-4, 0-1 MAC). Ball State (12-2, 1-0 MAC) has now won ten matches in a row dating back to Feb 3.
In the first game, the Cardinals fell 4-3 after the Golden Flashes hit a walk-off double. As a team, the Cardinals (11-12, 1-1 MAC) only had five hits. But the second game was a much different story as they launched a season high of 16 hits to win 15-9.
