Most great stories start with the phrase “It was a dark and stormy night”, and the Mid-American Conference (MAC) began in a similar way, except it was a dark and stormy day.
Ball State baseball (36-20, 21-9, 1-0) had an extremely up-and-down game against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (20-29, 12-18, 0-1) that was broken up by an over three-hour long rain delay.
Before the downpour, the Cardinals opened the game with the decision to start freshman pitcher Brendan Garza, who started in just his fifth collegiate game against the Eagles, who struck out the second least in the conference.
Despite giving up a hit to his first batter, Garza proved his strength in his start with three straight strikeouts to shut out EMU in the first.
The momentum continued to tip in the way of Ball State, with junior infielder Dylan Grego and senior utility Nick Husovsky combining for back-to-back doubles, which would bring Grego home and crack the goose egg on the scoreboard, putting the Cardinals ahead by one.
Bats would remain hot in the third inning for Ball State, who tacked on two more runs when junior left fielder Blake Bevis smacked a three-run homer that brought Husovsky home.
The hot start for the Cardinals would cool as the clouds rolled in, and Eastern Michigan picked up speed, scoring five runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead as the heavens opened and the game was put on hold.
Eastern Michigan tallied a run as a walk was brought in with the bases loaded, which would be fully cashed in on when junior infielder Cooper Vance hit a hard double into deep outfield, scoring three at once.
Over three hours, the two teams had to put their battle on hold as the rain and lightning would not stop.
Out of the break, however, there was a tangible energy shift with Ball State sprinting ahead of the Eagles in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game five to five when Grego singled to center field for a run, and Husovsky popped up, allowing enough time to have the tying run cross.
“I think it was huge after the rain delay to come right and get two runs,” Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. “I think that the guys came ready to play, and they did a heck of a job.
From this point, the wet turf became too cool for the hot bats of the three and six seeds, with four of the final five innings ending scoreless.
The lone outlier for the game was a sacrifice fly ball from Grego that put Ball State in position to win.
“Hats off to Eastern. They played a great game, and fortunately for us, we were one better,” Maloney said.
From the start of his appearance right before the rain delay, junior righty John Chambers pitched a near-perfect game, allowing just four hits in a shutout of the Eagles during his time on the mound, which resulted in a win for Ball State.
“I did everything for my team; I love them all,” Chambers said. “During the weather delay, we had fun together, and I’m fighting for another day to hang out with them.”
With the loss, Eastern Michigan becomes the first team to enter the loser’s bracket of the MAC Tournament, as they will face the loser of Thursday’s first game between Bowling Green and Toledo.
Ball State’s future is also set as they have a game now scheduled for game five of the tournament versus the two-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes.
“We are going to play a great Kent team, there’s no question about it, and it’ll be a matchup between two really good teams, and we look forward to the opportunity to compete,” Maloney finished.
Falcon Media Sports Network will continue to have broadcasts for all of BGSU’s MAC Tournament games, with live updates and content to be released surrounding the other tournament games.
