Ball State, Kent State, Miami, and Bowling Green are all within a game and a half of each other at the top of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) standings. We are one week away from reaching the halfway point of conference play and all four teams are fighting neck-and-neck for the number one spot.

Meanwhile, Eastern and Central Michigan fall just outside of the top four and are each on disastrous losing streaks.

Toledo, Western Michigan and Ohio have also been stagnant in the seven-eight-nine spots.

Northern Illinois and Akron still round out the bottom of the standings but have been showing a bit more life as of late and could make a push forward soon.

1. Ball State (23-11, 10-2 MAC)

The Cardinals are back in first place after getting the brooms out against Eastern Michigan, beating the Eagles 13-2, 4-2 and 9-5.

Junior shortstop Dylan Grego had a standout performance for Ball State in the middle game of the series, coming up huge in the top of the 14th inning with an RBI single to break the tie. Grego is one of three Cardinals to start in all 34 games this season and is now the MAC leader in hits (49).

Ball State will head back home to Muncie to face Northern Illinois this weekend, with hopes of extending their first-place lead.

2. Kent State (19-11, 10-2 MAC) 

So far this season, it has been Ball State and Bowling Green going back and forth for first place, but could Kent State be primed to make its first appearance next week?

The Golden Flashes crushed Bowling Green 20-4 a few weeks ago to end the Falcons’ 11-game winning streak. Ironically, Kent State has won every game since then and has now reached an 11-game winning streak of their own.

Sophomore starting pitcher Jacob Bean had a career-best performance against Central Michigan on Saturday, throwing seven innings of shutout baseball with seven strikeouts, one walk and three hits.

Kent State will face Miami next in a battle of two hot teams who could move into first place.

3. Miami (17-15, 12-3 MAC) 

Miami beat Bowling Green in two out of three games but moved down in the standings due to Ball State and Kent State getting sweeps.

The RedHawks’ pitching staff held Bowling Green’s electric offense in check in the first two wins, giving up 6 runs and 18 hits total. The pitching improvement has been crucial to Miami’s recent success. Miami’s team E.R.A was north of nine earlier in the season, but it is now down to 7.45.

Miami faces Kent State this weekend in a matchup of the top two scoring teams in the MAC.

4. Bowling Green (21-9, 11-4 MAC) 

The Orange & Brown have fallen from the top to a season-low fourth place in the standings after dropping two games to Miami. However, the Falcons are still only 1.5 games back from Ball State and first place because the top of the MAC is so close.

Bowling Green’s bright spot of the week was a come-from-behind extra-inning win against Miami to close out the series. Sophomore Brady Birchmeier hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the Falcons the win.

Bowling Green takes on Western Michigan this weekend and then will face Purdue Fort Wayne in a rematch on Tuesday.

5. Eastern Michigan (13-15, 8-7 MAC)

The Eagles have slipped behind the MAC’s top teams after getting swept by Ball State, extending their losing streak to four games.

Eastern Michigan’s high-octane offense went into a weekend slump against the Cardinals, scoring just nine runs total over three games.

EMU will have to try and get their offense back on track against one of the MAC’s best pitching rotations in Toledo this weekend.

6. Central Michigan (11-21, 5-7 MAC)

The Chippewas have been an extremely inconsistent team thus far, going 1-6 in their last seven games after previously going on a five-game winning streak.

CMU lost all three games to Kent State and committed four errors in the process. This poor defensive performance has been present all season as the Chippewas’ 42 team errors are third in the MAC.

The Chippewas will travel southeast to take on a recently strong Akron team over the weekend.

7. Toledo (10-20, 5-10 MAC)

The Rockets dropped two of three games to last-place Akron to give the Zips their first MAC series’ win.

Toledo’s offense is still struggling heavily, getting shutout against Akron in the final game of the series and batting .207 as a team on the season. Toledo has scored three runs or less in the last eight games straight, going 1-7 over that span.

Toledo’s pitching staff will have to continue to carry the Rockets as they face Eastern Michigan next series.

8. Western Michigan (8-21, 4-8 MAC) 

WMU went 1-2 against the Citadel in their nonconference weekend series, keeping them stuck in eighth place in the MAC.

The Broncos’ biggest current struggle is power hitting; their nine-team home runs are the lowest in the MAC.

However, redshirt junior designated hitter/corner infielder Lucas Rick brought some offensive upside for WMU in the Akron series, collecting four hits and five runs batted in (RBIs) over the three games.

The Broncos will take on Bowling Green in a rematch of the MAC’s two best regular season teams in 2024.

9. Ohio (8-22, 4-11 MAC)

The Bobcats won one of three against Northern Illinois, marking their fourth straight 1-2 MAC series. Ohio was shut out in the opener and decimated 17-7 in the series finale, but they won the middle game 17-16 in a 12-inning shootout.

Sophomore outfielder Ben Slanker reached new heights in the win, collecting seven RBIs, two home runs, a double and a sacrifice fly. He is now the new conference leader in RBIs (45), home runs (14) and slugging % (.780).

Ohio will take on Marshall, VMI and Dayton over their next five-game nonconference stretch.

10. Northern Illinois (12-18, 3-9 MAC)

The Huskies won their first MAC series of the season against Ohio over the weekend, excelling on both the pitching side with a 5-0 shutout and the offensive side with 38 runs scored in the series.

Despite being in 10th place, the Huskies’ 49 team home runs are the best in the MAC. Both junior catcher/outfielder Logan Gregorio (12) and senior outfielder/first baseman Gavin Baldwin (11) rank in the top five for MAC home run hitters.

Northern Illinois will try to continue this recent success against first-place Ball State over the weekend.

11. Akron (9-23, 3-12 MAC)

The Zips won their first MAC series of the season against Toledo, beating the Rockets in two out of three matchups. Akron is now a respectable 3-3 in their last six games and slowly crawling back out of their early 1-9 hole.

Senior starting pitcher Jack Kelley had a stunning pitching performance in the series finale win, pitching eight shutout innings with seven strikeouts and only three hits allowed. He may have had a complete-game shutout if his pitch count wasn’t in the triple digits.

Akron will take on Central Michigan next in an attempt to climb out of last place.