Everybody wins, even the Braves!!!!

Brownsburg baseball - Beat Pike 9-5. Levi Slawta started for the Dogs and pitched 5-2/3 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits. He did not get the decision. Ryan Rhodes got the win for BBurg pitching the final 1-1/3. He struck out 3 while giving up one hit and no runs. The team is 13-3 and 5-3 in the HCC. Their game today against Edgewood has been postponed due to a wet field.

Brownsburg softball - Beat McCutcheon 6-5. After falling behind 3-0 after two innings, the Dogs clawed their way back and took a 4-3 lead after five. Both teams were held scoreless in the 6th, but McCutcheon scored two in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. It seemed like the Dogs would fall an inning short, as they have so many times this year. But, Chelsea Vaught and Nicki Meidinger both got on base to start the inning. A single scored Vaught to tie the game. However, the Dogs recorded two outs sandwiched around a walk that loaded the bases. That brought Janikka Tillotson to the plate. A 3-2 count and a couple of foul balls later, Tillotson singled to right center to win the game for Brownsburg. Emily Schaefer pitched a great game and got the win. Vaught was 3-for-3 with a double. The team is 7-9 and 3-2 in the HCC. They play Harrison on Tuesday.

Ball State baseball - Kolbrin Vitek hit a three-run walk-off homer as the Cardinal beat Eastern Michigan 13-12 on a windy day in Muncie. Vitek had 3 hits (2 homers) and 4 RBI. Zach Dygert had a homer and 3 RBI. Ian Nielsen had 4 hits and Cody Elliott added 3 hits. The Cards had 18 hits as a team. The team is 21-21 and 12-4 in the MAC, a full game ahead of Toledo and Central Michigan in the MAC West. The Cards play EMU again today at 1pm.

Ball State softball - A lot of extra softball was played in Dekalb, IL on Friday afternoon. BSU beat Northern Illinois 10-7 in 10 innings in the first game and 7-6 in 8 innings in game two. Jessie Ware was 8-for-10 for the day, including hitting for the cycle in game one. Elizabeth Milian (24-5) got the win in game one, pitching 10 innings and giving up 6 earned runs. Audra Sanders (8-7) started game two and pitched 7 innings to get the win. Kim Mazzapica pitched a perfect eighth inning to get her first save of the season. The Cards are 34-13 and 12-4 in the MAC. They lead the division by one game over Central Michigan. BSU has clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament. They go to Western Michigan for single games on Saturday and Sunday.

Atlanta Braves - After a 9 game losing streak that saw them go from the top of the NL East to dead last in the National League, the Braves beat Houston 4-2. Jason Heyward and Nate McLouth homered in the game. Tommy Hanson pitched 8 innings and gave up 2 runs. Billy Wagner walked a batter in the ninth, but got a double play to finish the game. It was Wagner's second save of the season.

Brownsburg pitching struggles again in loss to Westfield

The Brownsburg baseball team lost to Westfield 13-11 on Thursday night. As was the case with the previous game on Wednesday, neither team had the pitching to keep the other team from scoring. Macklin Runyon took the loss for the Dogs. Alex McGowan homered for Brownsburg. The Dogs are a game behind Hamilton SE for the conference lead and tied with Westfield in second place. The Dogs play Pike on Friday and Edgewood on Saturday.

Ball State will try to continue their MAC series-winning streak against Eastern Michigan this weekend. BSU is 11-4 in the conference and has won all 5 series that it has played in the MAC.

The BSU softball team travels to Northern Illinois for a double header today. The Cardinals are tied for the MAC West lead with Central Michigan.

Brownsburg beats Westfield in a sloppy game

The Brownsburg baseball team took a 6-2 lead after three innings on Wednesday, only to lose that lead and fall behind 8-6. However, they scratched back to tie the game at 8 and won it with 2 outs in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI single by Alex McGowan. McGowan also got the win in relief. In all there were 17 runs, 24 hits, 6 hit batters, and 4 wild pitches (at least). It seemed like both teams struggled to throw strikes and it came down to a battle of attrition on the mound. The teams travel to Westfield tonight to complete the home-and-home series. Brownsburg is 12-2 and 5-2 in the conference, tied with Hamilton SE thanks to the 12-2 smashing that Zionsville laid on them last night.

The Brownsburg softball team had a really good game and a really bad game so far this week. On Tuesday, they lost to Mooresville 14-1. Brownsburg had 6 hits in the game, compared to Mooresville's 15 hits and 5 walks. On Wednesday, the Dogs flipped the script by beating Lafayette Jeff 13-0. Brownsburg had 14 hits and 5 walks while holding Jeff to 4 baserunners. Nicki Meidinger was 4-for-4 with 2 RBI. Krystal Shirrell was 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and 4 runs scored. Emily Schafer pitched the shutout only allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. The Dogs are 6-9 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

The Ball State baseball team scored six runs in each of the first two innings in a 18-1 win over Huntington. The team is 20-21 overall and 11-4 in the conference, tied for the MAC West lead. They host Eastern Michigan this weekend.

NCAA Baseball Seeding Projections

Here's how I see the NCAA baseball seeds shaping up through games of Sunday, April 25:

1. Texas
2. Arizona State
3. Coastal Carolina
4. Virginia
5. Florida
6. Arkansas
7. Georgia Tech
8. UCLA
9. Louisville
10. TCU
11. Florida State
12. LSU
13. Miami
14. South Carolina
15. Arizona
16. Vanderbilt

The first 13 are pretty solid with the last three seeds fighting Alabama, Oklahoma, CS Fullerton, Ole Miss, and Clemson for the remaining positions.

The regionals start on June 4th.

My 500th post!

The Atlanta Braves had a tough week. From Sunday to Sunday, they were 2-5. That doesn't seem so bad. But, when they won one game in the bottom of the ninth and the other game in extra innings after tying the game in the bottom of the ninth, then it looks like they were outplayed for all but three innings during the week. The team only allowed 21 runs in 7 games, so pitching is not the problem. However, only scoring 15 runs in those 7 games will not be enough to compete. It's still early in the season and most everyone will revert to the mean at some point during the season. Let's just hope it happens sooner rather than later.

The Ball State softball team took a 7-5 lead into the sixth inning against Toledo on Sunday afternoon, but gave up 7 runs in the inning to fall behind 12-7. The Cardinals would not give up on "Think Pink" day as they scored 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Toledo lead to 12-10. BSU held Toledo scoreless in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, the Cardinals' Amanda Carpenter hit a three-run homer to win the game. The Cardinals are 32-13 overall and 10-4 in the MAC. They are tied with Central Michigan atop the MAC West.

Saturday was a better day

The Brownsburg baseball team lost a close one to Hamilton SE, 2-1. Isaac Sampen took the loss and Alex McGowan hit a solo homer for BBurg's only run. The loss takes the Bulldogs to a 11-2 record and 4-2 in the HCC. The conference has a few clear front-runners (HSE and BBurg), however there are 5 teams that are .500 in the conference so there is still some sorting to do over the next few weeks. The Dogs have a few days off before playing 6 games in 7 days starting on Wednesday when they host Westfield.

Ball State's baseball team swept a huge double-header at Central Michigan on Saturday. In game one, BSU scored 3 in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead. Both offenses were held scoreless until the bottom of the ninth when CMU scored two runs with only one out. Aaron Hammons came in and got the final two outs to secure the 3-2 victory and notch his 4th save of the season. Kolbrin Vitek pitched 6 innings of shutout ball for the win. In game two, all of the scoring was in the first four innings as the Cardinals took a 5-2 lead after four and held on for the win. Cal Bowling pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 runs to even his season record at 3-3. Heath Riley threw two shutout innings of relief and Aaron Hammons pitched the ninth to get his 5th save of the season. BSU is now 19-21 on the season and 11-4 in the MAC. They are tied for the lead in the MAC West with Central Michigan, although BSU has the tiebreaker. Toledo is a half-game back of those two teams with a game against Northern Illinois on Sunday.

The Ball State softball team continued its offensive explosion by beating Toledo 10-1, making it the third straight game that was called by the mercy rule. The Cardinals scored 3 in the first and 7 in the second to put the game away. Elizabeth Milian threw 4 innings to get the win and is 23-5 this season. The top five hitters in the Cardinal lineup were 9-for-13 with 8 runs scored and 7 RBI. BSU is 31-13 overall and 9-4 in the MAC. The Cards are a half-game behind Central Michigan in the MAC West with a game left today against Toledo. Today is "Think Pink" day at the ball park with donations going to Cancer Services of East Central Indiana.