If they give you an out, you have to take it

The Braves beat the Astros last night 7-2. The Braves scored 4 runs in the 5th inning after a botched sacrifice by Houston first baseman Lance Berkman allowed the Braves to load the bases. Three straight hits later, Atlanta had scored all of the runs they needed. Derek Lowe was outstanding, as usual, giving up 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings. The bullpen continued their brilliance by shutting out the Astros the rest of the way. Omar Infante, Yunel Escobar, and Jeff Francoeur each had multi-hit, multi-RBI games. The two teams play at 340p today on FOX. It should be a good matchup as Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves and Roy Oswalt pitches for the Astros.

Ball State was shut down by EMU pitcher Corey Chaffins as they lost 6-5. BSU struck out 14 times, and the EMU Eagles scored all 6 runs off of Cardinals starter Brad Piatt. The Cardinals had the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, but could only get one run across. The two teams play again today at 305p.

Brownsburg was rained out again last night. They are scheduled to host Jasper today at 2pm. They also need to reschedule the game from Thursday (and Friday) against Westfield.

No games, so here's a stat update

Atlanta Braves (through 21 games)

Casey Kotchman - 798 OPS, 9 doubles
Chipper Jones - 929 OPS, .322 avg
Jordan Schafer - 854 OPS, 16 walks

Jair Jurrjens - 1.72 ERA
Javier Vasquez - 42 Ks in 32 IP, 4 QS
Rafael Soriano and Jeff Bennett - 0.90 ERA and 0.96 ERA

Ball State Cardinals (through 39 games)

Jeremy Hazelbaker - 1233 OPS, 26 SB
Kolbrin Vitek - 1216 OPS, 10 HR, 22 2B
Nate Fields - .301 avg, 28 SB

Brad Piatt - 4-1, 4.21 ERA
Morgan Coombs - 2.39 ERA, 5 SV
Kolbrin Vitek - 45K in 40.1 IP

Brownsburg Bulldogs (through 13 games)

Tucker Barnhart - 1307 OPS, 18 BB
Kevin Blessinger - 1289 OPS, 3 HR
Justin Hartnagel - 5 2B, 18 RBI

Dalton Wentz - 4-0, 5 SV, 0.60 ERA, 47 K in 23.1 IP, 8 runners allowed in 23.1 IP
Matt Duncan - 2-1, 28 K in 23.2 IP
Alex McGowan - 2-0, 16 K in 14 IP.

One inning can hurt you

The Braves lost to the Cardinals last night 5-3. The Cardinals had 6 hits in the 5th inning to score 4 runs. The Braves still struggled to get that clutch 2-out hit, leaving 6 men in scoring position with 2 outs. Javier Vasquez gave up 5 runs in 8 innings and only 95 pitches, 71 for strikes, but he pitched very well. Omar Infante had 3 hits filling in for a slumping Kelly Johnson. The Braves have the day off before hosting Houston on Friday. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves and former Brave Mike Hampton will pitch for the Astros.

Ball State scored 3 runs in the 5th and 6th innings to beat IUPU-Fort Wayne 10-3. The Cardinals had 11 hits and had a rare errorless game. BSU travels to Eastern Michigan for a three-game weekend series starting Friday.

Brownsburg didn't hit the ball very well last night, but when you have good pitching you don't have to have much of an offense. The Dogs beat Westfield 1-0. The run was scored after Dalton Wentz walked, was moved to third on a two-base throwing error, and scored on a wild pitch. That was all the starter Matt Duncan needed as he threw 6 innings of shutout baseball only giving up 4 hits. Wentz came through in the 7th inning for his 5th save of the year. Brownsburg now leads the HCC by a game over Westfield. The two teams are schedule to play today at BBurg, but it rained all night, so it may be pushed to Friday.

Clutch hits win ballgames

The Braves beat the Cardinals last night 2-1. On Monday, they left the bases loaded in the 8th and could not get the tying run home. On Tuesday, Matt Diaz singled in the 8th with the bases loaded to drive in two runs and give Atlanta the victory. Jo Jo Reyes threw 7 innings and only gave up one run. Peter Moylan threw one inning for the win and Mike Gonzalez threw the ninth for the save. The pitching staff only game up 3 hits to the league-leading Cardinals offense. The teams play the final game of the series tonight. Javier Vasquez will pitch for the Braves.

Ball State got beat by Purdue last night 14-6. The game was delayed 30 minutes at the start due to rain and was stopped after 8 innings due to more rain. The Cardinals host IUPU-Fort Wayne today.

It looks like most of the high school games got rained out last night. Brownsburg goes to Westfield to play today. The winner takes the lead in the HCC.

The better team won the ballgame

The Braves were defeated by the Cardinals last night, 3-2. The Braves played well, they just could not get the job done when they needed to. Atlanta left 4 runners in scoring position and St Louis scored all three of their runs with 2 outs. Casey Kotchman had 3 hits and Jair Jurrjens threw 6 innings and only gave up 2 runs. The two teams play tonight as Jo Jo Reyes pitches for the Braves.

If it doesn't rain anymore, Ball State (19-18) will host Purdue (17-21) today. The Cards beat the Boilers earlier in the season. On Wednesday, the Cards will host IPFW.

#3 Brownsburg beat Mooresville 10-8. They play Ben Davis tonight as long as the rain holds off. They also have a home/home against Westfield on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tonight, #1 Lake Central goes to #2 Crown Point in a battle of the top-two baseball teams in the state.

Not a bad week

The Braves lost to the Reds yesterday, 8-2. They won two of the three games in the series. Atlanta started the week 5 games behind in the division but ended the week only 2 games back. Anytime you can gain three games in a week, it's a good week!

Ball State won 3 of four last week, including a win against #23 Ohio State. They also took two of three games against Western Michigan. The Cardinals remain 2 games behind in the MAC West.

Brownsburg also won 3 of 4 games last week. They suffered their first loss on Saturday against Hamilton SE. It was the Dogs' fourth game in a row. They start another stretch of four games in a row on Monday against Mooresville. BBurg is a half-game ahead in the HCC standings. They will play second place Westfield on Wednesday and Thursday in a series that has huge conference implications.

These games were not pitchers duels

The Braves beat the Reds 10-2. Derek Lowe threw 7 innings, only giving up 2 runs. It was a game that had a lot going on. Three home runs, 2 ejections, 2 hit batters leading to bench warnings. It was also a beautiful 80 degree day with no clouds, as my sunburn shows. Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar had 8 of the Braves RBIs.

Ball State lost to Western Michigan 20-10 on a windy day in Muncie. TJ Baumet hit three home runs for the Cardinals. The teams combined to hit 12 home runs. The rubber game of the series is Sunday afternoon.

Brownsburg lost its first game of the season to Hamilton SE, 11-8. It was the fourth day in a row that the Dogs have played. Due to rain outs and rescheduled games, BBurg is in a stretch where they play 9 games in 11 days. That will wreck a pitching staff. After a required day off on Sunday, the Dogs go to Mooresville on Monday.