OXFORD, Ohio – The Ball State baseball team rallied for four runs in the fourth inning to gain a 5-4 lead and had runners at the corners with two outs in the ninth inning trailing by one but fell 7-6 to Miami on Saturday at McKie Field.
Brayden Huebner hit two home runs for the Cardinals (15-15, 10-5 Mid-American Conference) including a solo shot in the third inning and a go-ahead three-run blast in the fourth, but the RedHawks (20-10, 10-5 MAC) hit a two-run homer in the sixth and a solo in the eighth frame to take the series finale.
Jacob Gillis tied the score at 6-6 in the seventh on an RBI single to plate Huebner. After Miami’s Carson Raether hit a home run in the eighth to take the lead, Ryan Muizelaar and Gillis hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the ninth to give the visitors runners on first and third base, but a groundout to shortstop stopped the rally attempt.
Muizelaar tallied three hits, and Gillis and Brett Griffiths (two doubles) joined Huebner as Cardinals with a pair of hits each.
The hosts got two RBI from Tommy Harrison, Matt Buffington and Diego Cruz. Austin Berggren (2-3) struck out three and got the final three outs for the RedHawks to be credited with the win.
John Chambers started on the mound for the Cardinals and struck out six in 5.1 innings of six-run ball. Zander Bretza (0-1) followed in relief and allowed one run in 2.2 frames to suffer the loss.
Ball State’s next game is scheduled for Tuesday night at Indiana.