Final Stats
MUNCIE, IN - Toledo (20-22, 7-13 MAC) suffered a 9-4 setback against Ball State (26-18, 12-7 MAC) on Saturday at the Ball Diamond.
The Cardinals did all their damage in a pair of innings, as they tallied five runs in the third and four more in the fifth to hand the Rockets their sixth-consecutive overall loss and 10th-straight setback on the road.
Tyler Pritchard (5-2) earned today's win in six innings of action and allowed two runs on nine hits with five strikeouts. BSU's Richie Fralick threw the final three frames in relief to collect his third save in 2006. UT sophomore Kyle Rawlings (6-3) was tagged with the loss and surrendered five runs (four earned) on four hits with three walks in only 2.2 innings.
The Rockets finished with a 14-10 edge in hits, but most were left on base, as they were guilty of stranding 11 runners. Senior Dan Stong (2-for-5, RBI), along with sophomores Jake Swint (2-for-4, 2 RBI, run scored), Scott Boley (2-for-5, run scored) and Sean Boley (2-for-3, run scored) each finished with multi-hit contests.
UT had the game's first scoring chance in the second frame, as they had runners on second and third with one out, but BSU's Pritchard recorded a strikeout and a groundout to kill the rally and keep the contest scoreless.
Toledo kept to its offensive attack in the third and opened the scoring on Swint's first home run of the season. The Westerville, OH native turned on the first pitch of the frame and launched a round tripper over the wall in right-center.
The lead did not last long, as the Cardinals exploded for five runs on four hits in the bottom of the third to take a 5-1 edge. After the first out had been recorded, the next five BSU hitters reached base and each came around to score to end the afternoon for Rawlings. The big damage in the inning was back-to-back two-run hits off the bats of Justin Rogers and C.J. Webb, who finished today's game going a combined 4-for-6 with five RBI and three runs scored.
Ball State continued to pour it on in the fifth frame with four runs, including a big three-run home run by Chris Pestle, to up its advantage to 9-1.
Toledo continued to fight hard and cut into the deficit in the sixth on a RBI by Stong. Scott Boley led off the inning with a double off the top of the wall in left-center, before Stong drilled a single through the right-side to collect his 20th run-batted in of the season.
The visitors did not go quietly in the ninth and scored a pair of runs on the strength of five singles, but could not get any closer. They had the bases loaded with only one out, but BSU's Fralick recorded a strikeout and a fly out to make the final score, 9-4.
These same two teams will wrap up their three-game series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
