Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Muncie, Ind. - Ball State scored eight times in the first four innings and went on to defeat Valpo 15-3. Valpo's Brian Rzepka went two-for two at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Mike Arensdorff belted his third homer of the season.

Valpo (2-11) plated single runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings. In the fifth, Rzepka walked and eventually scored on a passed ball. The Crusaders scored again in the seventh when Rzepka hammered an RBI double to center field.

Arensdorff, who is hitting .310 overall, added his solo homer in the eighth.

Brad Miller, Ball State's first baseman, had an incredible day, hitting four home runs and finishing with seven RBIs. Miller keyed a three-run first for the Cardinals with a two-run shot. He duplicated his effort with another two-run blast in the third before adding a solo homer in the fifth and another two-run shot in the seventh.

Marc Franz went three-for-four with four RBIs and Mike Sullivan had three hits and scored three runs for Ball State (9-8).

Tom Starck (0-4), the first of five Valpo pitchers, suffered the loss. The lefty hurled 2 innings, allowing three runs and two hits, while fanning two and walking two.

Ryan DeGeeter (2-0) pitched 4 innings to earn the victory. DeGeeter allowed no runs and three hits, while striking out four and walking one.

Valpo hosts Butler on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at noon CST.