Good news, bad news, and no news

The good news - Ball State's baseball team beat Toledo to even the series at 1 each. BSU is tied with Central Michigan for the MAC West lead and is one game ahead of Toledo. BSU does have the tiebreaker on Central Michigan as they beat them in 2 of 3 games a few weeks ago. So, all the Cardinals have to do is win today to clinch the MAC West title and the #1 seed in the MAC tournament.

The bad news - The Ball State softball team lost to Tennessee in their first game of the NCAA regional tournament. The Lady Vols took a 3-0 lead after the first inning on a walk, a double, and a home run. UT added single runs in the fourth an fifth innings for the final margin. The Cardinals only managed 4 hits against Tennessee ace Ivy Renfroe. Alicia Barkley had two hits to lead the BSU offense. Elizabeth Milian took the loss, giving up 5 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3. The team faces an elimination game this afternoon against Louisville at 330p. If they win, they play the loser of the UT/Virginia game in another elimination game at 6pm.

Upset alert - Softball #7 seed Texas lost to BYU and East Carolina yesterday to be eliminated from the tournament. They are the only one of the top 16 seeds to lose a game so far.

No news - The Brownsburg baseball game against Fishers was rained out yesterday. The game is scheduled for this afternoon at 5pm. The Dogs (11-6 HCC) are a full game behind Westfield (12-5) in the HCC. Westfield plays Lafayette Jeff today. HSE (11-5) plays road games at McCutcheon and Harrison this afternoon. Another crazy day in the HCC.....

Brownsburg's week keeps getting worse

Brownsburg's baseball team lost their third straight game this week, falling to Fishers 4-2. The Dogs are now 21-6 and 11-6 in the HCC. They are a half-game behind Hamilton SE in the standings. Brownsburg hosts Fishers tonight for the final game of the regular season. HSE (11-5 in HCC) plays McCutcheon tonight and Harrison on Saturday. Westfield (11-5 in HCC) played Lafayette Jeff last night and plays them tonight, but I do not have a result from Thursday's game yet. McCutcheon still has an outside chance at the title at 10-7.

The Brownsburg softball team lost their 8th straight game, losing to Decatur Central 6-3. Tori Martin and Chelsea Terrell each had 2 hits. Janikka Tillotson took the loss on the mound. The Bullodgs finish the regular season with a record of 7-18. They play Ben Davis in the sectional next Tuesday at Pike High School.

The Ball State baseball team has their fate in their own hands as they travel to Toledo for a three-game series to finish the regular season. The Cardinals are one game ahead of Toledo and Central Michigan in the MAC West. The winner of the MAC West will most likely be the #1 seed in the MAC tourney. Today's game starts at 3pm.

The BSU softball team starts the NCAA tournament tonight at Tennessee against the host Volunteers. The BSU game will follow the Virgina/Louisville game that starts at 4pm.

Brownsburg swept by Zionsville

Brownsburg's baseball team has had a disappointing week so far. They started the week in first place in the HCC and were finishing the season with 4 games against teams that were under .500. Two of those games have been played, both losses by the Bulldogs, and now they find themselves in a 4-team fight for the conference title. Browsburg is 11-5 in the HCC, Westfield is also 11-5, Hamilton SE is 11-4, and McCutcheon is 10-6. Brownsburg plays Fishers on Thursday and Friday. Westfield plays two against Lafayette Jeff, Hamilton SE plays one game against Harrison and two against McCutcheon. McCutcheon only has the two games with Hamilton SE remaining. These next three days are going to be fun....

Brownsburg baseball loses a tough one

The Brownsburg baseball team suffered a tough loss at home to Zionsville last night 5-4. Macklin Runyon took the loss on the mound for the Bulldogs. Alex McGowan hit a 3-run homer, his 9th of the season, to account for most of the Bulldog runs. I can't find the result of the Harrison/HSE game from last night, so as of now BBurg is a half-game ahead of HSE in the conference. Brownsburg goes to Zionsville tonight then travels to Fishers on Thursday. The Bulldogs host Fishers on Friday to end the regular season.

The Brownsburg softball team lost their 7th straight game, losing to Franklin Central 11-1. In those seven games, they have been outscored 63-13. The Dogs finish the regular season tonight at Decatur Central (15-9).

The Ball State baseball team played Michigan last night and lost 16-10. BSU used 6 pitchers, with none of them throwing more than 2 innings. Starting Friday, the Cardinals go to Toledo to face the Rockets in a series that will decide the MAC West title and the #1 seed in the MAC tourney. Game one starts at 3pm on Friday.

The Ball State softball team travels to Tennessee to play in the NCAA softball tournament. The Cardinals will play at 630p on Friday against Tennessee. That game will follow the Louisville/Virginia game at 4pm. The regional tournament is double-elimination. The Cardinal softball team has set numerous team records including runs scored (338), hits (473), doubles (90), triples (35), RBI (293), batting average (.305), total bases (717), slugging percentage (.463), wins (43), strikeouts pitched (389) and fielding percentage (.975). (All data from www.ballstatesports.com)

Pitching staff bepth will decide the HCC baseball title, and Drew Storen makes his major league debut

Assuming most games were rained out yesterday, the Hoosier Crossroads Conference baseball title will be decided with four games over the next four days. The remaining schedule for the contenders:

Brownsburg (11-3 in HCC) - Zionsville (2), Fishers (2)

Hamilton SE (10-4) - Harrison (2), McCutcheon (2)

McCutcheon (9-5) - Avon (2), Hamilton SE (2)

Westfield (9-5) - Noblesville (2), Lafayette Jeff (2)

With the compressed schedule and the 10 innings in 3 days pitching limit, it looks like Thursday's games will show what each team has beyond their #1 and #2 starters. Brownsburg has the easiest schedule and has a one-game lead, so if they play the way they have all year they could win this thing!

Drew Storen made his major league debut with the Nationals on Monday night. Storen pitched 2/3 of an inning, getting a fly out, a hit batter, and a strikeout. He contributed positively as his .021 WPA would attest and was the only Nationals pitcher with a positive WPA last night.

One of Brownsburg's own gets the call to "The Show", and the current Bulldogs finish their season this week

The Brownsburg baseball team plays four conference games this week to finish the regular season. They play Zionsville on Monday and Tuesday and Fishers on Thursday and Friday. The Dogs are 21-3 overall and 11-3 in the HCC, one game ahead of Hamilton SE for the conference lead. McCutcheon and Westfield are two games back with a 9-5 conference record.

The Brownsburg softball team plays Franklin Central on Tuesday and Decatur Central on Wednesday to complete their regular season. The Bulldogs will travel to Pike next Monday for their sectional tournament game against #5 Ben Davis.

Ball State Baseball – swept Northern Illinois this weekend to take their conference record to 18-6. The Cardinals play Michigan on Tuesday before traveling to Toledo for a three-game series that will decide the MAC West division title. BSU is one game ahead of Toledo and Central Michigan in the MAC West.

Ball State Softball – Won the MAC Tournament with a 4-0 record. They earned a bid to the NCAA tournament and will travel to Tennessee to face the 15th seeded hosts from the Volunteer state. The tournament starts Friday and is a double-elimination format. Other teams in the Tennessee regional are Virginia and Louisville.

Brownsburg high school graduate Drew Storen was called up to "The Show" by having his contract purchased from triple-A Syracuse by the Washington Nationals. I believe he is the first graduate of my alma mater to play in the major leagues. Good luck, Drew!