Ball State plays the University of Idaho first on today followed by another match based on results. Ball State is in the top half of the bracket and with four nationally-ranked teams.
The Cardinals (7-14) have played one of the hardest schedules in the country this year and the Bobcats (2-16) were a welcome relief from the top-15 teams that have populated Ball State's schedule.
Coach Joel Walton schemed everything right to prevent Cal State Northridge's All-American middle attacker Jacek Ratajczak from having a big night. The coach and Ball State, though, just couldn't stop the other starting middle attacker Kevin McKniff in the three-game loss.
Ball State goes up against teams of different levels of competition, including NCAA Division II, Division III and teams from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Coach Randy Heisler expects nothing short of a breakout performance by the team as a whole.
The Matadors went on a 16-7 run to close out game one after being down 15-14. History repeated itself in game two with tied score of 11 all before the Matadors ended the match on a 19-13 spurt.
Sophomore Kylee Johnson was the only one that had much success on the day for Ball State. Johnson and Katherine Rist claimed the only doubles victory for the team, winning 8-6 against Bowling Green's Katia Babina and Jade Johnson. Later on, Johnson earned a three-set victory in the No. 4 singles match over Maddy Eccleston (6-4, 2-6, 6-2) and won the only point on the day for Ball State.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Ball State University gymnastics team finished in fifth place in today's Mid-American Conference Championships.
To qualify as an Academic All-MAC candidate, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and participate in 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence, however, are not eligible.
Kolbrin Vitek's phenomenal performance gave Ball State University a 4-0 victory at Ohio University in game two of a doubleheader.
Gauntlett Eldemire hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to give the hosts a 4-2 win in Game One against Ball State. Reliever Scott Brothers (1-1) served up the long ball and took the loss.
Ball State's team won't be the only one looking for a repeat in the event. Last season, as an individual, junior Anthony Novak earned medalist honors in the Cardinal Collegiate, carding a 144. Fellow junior Eric Steger counted as the best Ball State team finisher in the tournament, finishing in third place with a 146.
Ball State travels to Ohio for a three-game series, ready to start playing MAC competition.
No. 3 California State University Northridge has not loss to school out of the rankings all year, but Ball State University coach Joel Walton still has high hopes tonight at Worthen Arena.
The Ball State University gymnastics team will find out what it is capable of when it travels to Bowling Green, Ohio, at 2 p.m. Saturday to compete in the MAC Championships. The seven MAC schools with gymnastics programs will come together to vie for the championship. Although Ball State has not competed with more than four teams in a meet this season, the team is trying to remain focused on its performance.
Cal State Northridge (15-6) was No. 1 in the country earlier in the season. Ball State (12-7) is looking to win its first match against a ranked team this year. Everyone on the Cardinals agrees that a raucous crowd will be needed to knock off the Matadors.
Ball State (17-6), which received a vote in Tuesday's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top-25 poll, heads into today's doubleheader at the University of Dayton a winner of 15 of its last 17 games.
Pavia has also excelled as the Cardinals' No. 1 singles player; he defeated Butler University's Ben Raynauld in a barnburner, 6-7 (5), 6-4 (14-12), Saturday at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center. In all this season, Pavia is 11-2 at both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles.
The Ball State University women's golf team is keeping their spring season consistent, finishing another tournament in sixth place.
Each week, The Ball State Daily News sports staff picks its PPQ — the player, play and quote of the week. And, with the help of our online readers, the weekly fan choice is also featured. To vote in next week's poll, be sure to visit Monday's online edition of The Ball State Daily News.
The Ball State University softball team kept on rolling Wednesday evening, taking care of business with a doubleheader sweep at the University of Dayton. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 19-6 and have now won 17 of their last 19 games.
