My teams come up short in big games on Friday

The Brownsburg baseball team had a horrible outing against Hamilton SE. The defense made 6 errors and the offense failed to get a hit in a 14-0 drubbing. The teams play again this morning at 11am at HSE. Brownsburg is 11-1 overall and 4-1 in the HCC, tied for first with HSE, making today's game very important for the Bulldogs.

The BBurg softball team suffered the same fate as the baseball team, losing to Hamilton SE 11-0. The team is 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the HCC.

Ball State's baseball team had a chance to take control of the MAC West division on Friday. The game was tied at 3 after three innings. Central Michigan was able squeeze out a run in the 6th on a walk, sacrifice bunt, infield single, and an error to win the game 4-3. CMU's Jess Hernandez threw a complete game giving up 7 hits and walking one while striking out 7 Cardinals. BSU's Perci Garner picked up his first loss of the season, giving up 3 earned runs in 5-2/3 innings. The Cards are 16-21 on the season and 9-4 in the MAC. They are 2 games behind CMU in the MAC West standings, which makes today's double-header against CMU very important to the Cardinals.

Now for some good news, the Ball State softball team easily swept Bowling Green in a double header yesterday by scores of 17-4 and 12-3. Three single-season records were broken in this game by Cardinal players. Pitcher Elizabeth Milian broke her single-season mark for strikeouts of 204. She has 211 for the season. Jessie Ware broke the season record for runs scored (42) and total bases (93). Both could add on to those records as there are still 10 regular season games left plus the MAC tournament. The team is 30-13 and 8-4 in the MAC, tied with Central Michigan in the MAC West. Ball State hosts Toledo for single games on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday is "Think Pink" day. The team will wear pink jerseys and proceeds will go towards Cancer Services of East Central Indiana.

Big series this weekend

The Braves never had a chance last night as the Phillies scored 2 in the first inning and 3 in the third to take a 5-0 lead, winning the game 8-3. Derek Lowe pitched for the Braves, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings. Lowe has given up 4 or more runs in 3 of his 4 starts this year while never pitching more than 6 innings. Since April is usually one of his better months, this does not bode well for the rest of the season. The Braves stay in the division with a three game series against the Mets this weekend.

The Brownsburg baseball team has a big series this weekend as they play Hamilton SE on Friday and Saturday. HSE is 12-2 and Brownsburg is 11-0.

Ball State also has a big baseball series this weekend at MAC West leader Central Michigan. BSU is 18-38 all-time at CMU. The Cardinals are one game behind CMU in the MAC West division. Taking 2-of-3 would give the Cards the upper hand in the division with a tough series remaining against Toledo in the next few weeks.

It's OK when you get beat by the best, but not OK to lose to teams you should beat

The Atlanta Braves faced the 2-time defending NL champion Phillies and their starter Roy Halladay on Wednesday night. Halladay has been one of, if not THE, best pitcher in baseball over the past 5 years, so it was a tough task for the Braves. The Phillies won 2-0 in a game where the Braves had a few chances to get on the board, but could not get the important hits that they got over the last few games. The leadoff man got on in the sixth inning, but he was stranded there. In the seventh inning, a Chipper Jones single, a Brian McCann single, and a Jason Heyward walk loaded the bases with one out and the Braves down 2-0. Yunel Escobar, a great RBI man the past two years, grounded into a double play that killed the rally. It was a great baseball game, it was too bad that the Braves came out on the losing end.

The Ball State softball team struggled against Purdue on Wednesday and lost both games of the double header, 6-4 and 7-0. The team has now lost 4 games in a row. BSU returns to MAC play this weekend, hosting Bowling Green for two games on Friday and single games against Toledo on Saturday and Sunday.

The Ball State baseball team lost to Butler yesterday 10-5. The Cardinals used 6 pitchers in the game to set up the rotation for the weekend. This weekend, BSU travels to MAC West leader Central Michigan for games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Ball State is one game behind CMU in the MAC West.

Home runs lead Brownsburg and the Braves to victory

The Brownsburg baseball team scored in 5 of their 6 innings to beat Noblesville 7-2. Isaac Sampen gave up 2 runs in 5 innings to get the win. He also helped his cause with 2 home runs, including one that broke his bat. Alex McGowan got his second save in as many days and also hit his second home run in two days. The Dogs are now 11-0 on the season and 4-0 in the HCC. They have a big battle this weekend, as they play Hamilton SE (12-2) in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday. The two teams have the most wins in class 4A this season, so this should be a good battle.

Sometimes in this crazy world of ours, you see a result that boggles the mind. Yesterday's Brownsburg softball 1-0 victory over #9 Avon was an unexpected result, especially after Avon defeated BBurg 8-2 a few weeks ago. Emily Schaefer pitched a shutout on the mound while Nicki Meidinger had a solo home run to score the only run of the game. The Bulldogs are 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the HCC.

The Atlanta Braves used more ninth-inning heroics from Jason Heyward to defeat the Phillies 4-3 in 10 innings. The Braves were down 3-0 with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth. Chipper Jones walked, then Troy Glaus hit a two-run homer to make the game 3-2. Heyward then hit a solo home run to tie the game at 3. It was the second consecutive game that Heyward has had a hit in the ninth inning to win or tie the game. Billy Wagner pitched a perfect 10th inning, then Nate McLouth hit a homer to start the bottom of the 10th to give the Braves the win.

Ball State's baseball team edged closer to .500 with a 12-5 defeat of Indiana State last night. BSU scored 6 runs in the first two innings to take a 6-1 lead that they never relinquished. The 12-run, 13-hit effort was led by TJ Baumet's 3 hits, 3 runs, and 3 RBI. Brad Piatt got his first win of the season in pitching 5 innings of 1-run ball. The Cardinals are 17-19 on the season and travel to Butler for a afternoon game on Wednesday. Butler is 9-21 this season.

Brownsburg baseball keeps on rolling

The Brownsburg baseball team kept on winning as it defeated Noblesville 5-2. Matt Bowman pitched 6-2/3 innings to get the win. He struck out 9 batters and allowed no earned runs. Alex McGowan struck out the final batter to get the save. The Dogs are 10-0 on the season and 3-0 in the HCC. They host Noblesville at 530p tonight.

Late innings important for Ball State and the Braves

Ball State and Buffalo played a crazy game yesterday afternoon with Buffalo winning 11-7 in 11 innings. BSU led 5-4 after 7 innings when Buffalo scored two in the top of the 8th the lead 6-5. The Cardinals came back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 6. However, in the top of the 9th, Buffalo scored two more runs to take a 8-6 lead. A dramatic two-run homer by BSU's Zach Dygert tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. Buffalo broke through with 4 runs in the 11th and Ball State did not have an answer in the bottom of the inning. TJ Baumet and Cody Elliott each had 3 hits while Dygert had 3 RBI. Kolbrin Vitek started on the mound and threw 5 innings of 1-run ball and struck out 7 batters. The bullpen gave up 9 earned runs in 6 innings. BSU is 16-19 overall and 9-3 in the MAC, one game behind Central Michigan in the MAC West. The Cardinals host a good Indiana State team (23-10) on Tuesday.

The Ball State softball team took a 3-0 lead after one inning, but could not hold on to that lead as they fell to Kent State 6-5. A 5-run fifth inning by Kent State gave them a 6-3 lead after 5 innings. After a scoreless sixth inning, Ball State pushed two runs across in the top of the seventh, but left the tying run on second base. Cardinal pitcher Elizabeth Milian had one of her worst outings of the year, giving up 6 runs in 6 innings while only striking out 4. She is 20-4 this year. The team is now 28-11 and 6-4 in the MAC, a game behind Central Michigan and Northern Illinois in the MAC West. The team hosts a double header with Purdue on Wednesday.

The Braves scratched and clawed their way to a win over the Rockies yesterday thanks to Jason Heyward. With the Braves down a run in the bottom of the ninth, they had the bases loaded and a 2-2 count on the young phenom. Heyward eeked a ground ball through the left side of the infield to score Martin Prado and Brooks Conrad to win the game. Heyward also walked twice in the game and had a Win Probability Added (WPA) of 1.028, which means he contributed more than a game's worth of wins in the game. I don't remember ever seeing a single-game WPA that high. He now leads the majors in WPA with 1.67.

Busy day for my sports teams

Brownsburg's baseball team traveled to Madison to play Silver Creek and the host school. The Dogs had no problems in either game. Macklin Runyon got the win in a 12-2 defeat of Silver Creek. Levi Slawta pitched for the victory in a 10-0 game against Madison. BBurg is now 9-0 on the season. They play Noblesville (6-3) on Monday and Tuesday and an 11-1 Hamilton SE team on Friday and Saturday. All four games are big games in the HCC.

The Brownsburg softball team traveled to Lawrence Central for an invitational. They beat Logan Elm (OH) 11-4. Krystal Sherril got the complete game win, giving up 4 earned runs while striking out 3. Nicki Meidinger and Astrid Koose each had 3 hits in the game. In the other game, the Dogs lost a close one to Lawrence North 13-12. Emily Schafer started the game and gave up 11 earned runs in 4 innings, but ended up with a no-decision. Janikka Tillotson pitched the final 3 innings in relief, gave up one un-earned run and got the loss. Meidinger was solid at the bat, once again, as she had 3 hits and scored 3 runs. Shayne Zoller had 4 RBI for the Bulldogs. The team is now 4-7 on the season. They travel to Avon on Tuesday and Hamilton SE on Friday. Both games are HCC games and both teams are ranked in the latest softball coaches poll.

The Ball State baseball team fell behind 5-0 after two and a half innings, but scored 6 runs over the next 4 innings to beat Buffalo 6-5. Cal Bowling had a tough day on the mound, giving up 5 runs in 3-1/3 innings. Derek Grabner pitched 4-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win. Aaron Hammons pitched the ninth to get his third save of the season. Cody Elliott homered for the Cardinals. BSU is now 16-18 and 9-2 in the MAC and are tied with Central Michigan for the division lead. They finish the series with Buffalo today at 1pm.

The BSU softball team lost to Kent State 3-2. Elizabeth Milian threw well for the Cardinals, giving up 3 hits. However, all three hits were solo home runs that were the scoring for the Flashes. The Ball State offense could only scratch out 4 hits. The final game of the series is today at Kent State. The Cards are 28-10 overall and 6-3 in the MAC. They still lead the MAC West by a game over Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.