Solid pitching and some clutch hitting helped the Cardinals win Opening Day of the 2012 season, 4-3 over Dayton on Friday. This is the Cardinals first opening day win since defeating Middle Tennessee in 2005. The Cardinals took over the lead in the 6th inning and Dayton tied the game again in the 7th inning, but solid relief work by Jon Cisna and Devin Wilburn kept any more Dayton runs off the board and Mitch Widau hit a single to drive in the game winning run in the 9th inning.
The Good
- Cal Bowling: The senior may have only gotten a no decision, but he pitched well in 6.2 innings. He struck out 5 and only walked one while allowing one earned run.
- Widau: The senior second baseman had two hits, one of which was the game winner, and walked once.
- Cardinals batters: The Cardinals had ten hits as a team, Widau, left fielder Blake Beemer, and catcher Mitch Overly had two hits apiece to lead the Cardinals.
- Cardinals defense: The Cardinals struggled in the field at time last season, but had no errors in this game.
The Bad
- Right fielder Sean Godfrey was caught stealing
- Wes Winkle went 0-4 at the plate
- Dominick Catanzarite also was 0-4 at the plate
- The Cardinals stranded seven runners
Game Notes
- Catanzarite stole the first base of the season for the Cardinals
- Widau and shortstop T.J. Weir each hit a double
- Beemer drove in the first Cardinals run of the season
Go Cards!!
Filed under: Ball State baseball Tagged: | Ball State baseball, Dayton, Opening Day
