Ball State baseball (31-22-1, 18-12 MAC) looks poised to make a similar run to their 2023 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament Championship after dismantling the Toledo Rockets (25-31, 16-14 MAC) primarily off of the performance of the Cardinals ace, junior lefty Merritt Beeker. 

Beeker, the reigning MAC pitcher of the year, tossed nine full innings against the Rockets, stalling their offense by striking out twelve of Toledo’s batters, allowing only one hit and run.  

His dominant mound performance was helped along by senior infielder Micheal Hallquist, who, with the score 2-1 in the seventh, smoked a home run over the left field wall. This grew BSU’s momentum, allowing them to bring two more runs across home plate in the seventh. 

Toledo’s only run came from freshman infielder JP Wagner after he hit a hard ground ball that allowed enough time for his teammate to score a run. 

Ball State is the reigning MAC Tournament Champion and will look to continue its path to the crown on Thursday, May 22, against Western Michigan. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m.  

Falcon Media Sports Network’s (FMSN) Tyler Kavalecz and Chas McNeil will continue providing on-site coverage of the entire tournament on FMSN’s X account.