Women’s Golf Update

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Reporter: Zach Hughes

The Ball State women’s golf team placed 12 out of 17 this past Sunday at a tournament in Texas.

The women competed in the Claud Jacobs Challenge at Victoria Country Club in Victoria, Texas. They finished with an overall score of 983.

Victoria Country Club is a par 72, making 216 a par score for the individual player for a three-day tournament.

Meghan Perry led the Cardinals with a 242, which tied for 33 out of the 90-player field. Sarah Westaway tied for 48 with a 246 finish and Katie Windlan tied for 54 after scoring a 248.

Two other MAC teams participated in the event. Toledo placed 7, while Ohio placed 13.

Ball State will return to action at the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz., on March 9.

BSU vs. Southern Illinois

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Reporter: Andy Wright

 

The Ball State Men’s Swimming and Diving team finished their meet season with a 146-91 loss to Southern Illinois.

The event took place at LeWellen Aquatic Center on Senior Day, but the Cardinals could not send their seniors out on a high note.  Southern Illinois came out with three straight event wins in the 200 Yard Medley, the 1000 Yard Freestyle and the 200 Yard Freestyle, and they never looked back.  SIU went on to win 9 of the 13 events of the meet.

Ball State received great efforts from a senior class that has carried them all year.  Senior Chris Krupa won the 200 Yard Individual Medley (1:55.43) and placed second in the 100 Yard Butterfly (50.30). Senior Gavin McNeeley won the 100 Yard Breaststroke (58.49) in his only individual event on the day.  Senior Casey Schroeder won both the 50 Yard Freestyle (21.26) and the 100 Yard Freestyle (47.22).

The Men’s Swimming and Diving team concluded their meet schedule with the loss.  They finished with a record of 1-5 in dual meets, and they averaged a third place finish out six teams in invitational.  They now turn their focus to the Mid American Conference Championships in Oxford, Ohio from March 1 to March 3.

 

Women’s Basketball Falls to Bowling Green

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Reporter: Sean Stewart

MUNCIE, Ind. -The Ball State Women’s Basketball team (7-13 2-5 MAC) fell to Mid-American Conference leader Bowling Green (17-3 7-0 MAC) 63-52 Wednesday night. The Cardinals only lead of the evening was after thefirst basket of the game, and BGSU was on top throughout the rest of the contest. Impressive team defense and fluid ball movement on offense helped Bowling Green gain a 39-22 halftime lead. The Falcons were led by Senior guard Jessica Slagle who topped all scorers with 22 points.

Despite Duke University transfer and leading scorer Alexis Rogers only scoring 5 points and sitting out most of the game in foul trouble, the Falcons were able to handle the Cardinals with ease. Bowling Green’s largest lead of the night was 21 when the score was 51-30 midway through the 2nd half. Ball State had 10 players score the ball and they were led by Freshman Brittany Carter who chipped in 11 points. Ball State played poorly for the entirety of the game, and could not stop the high powered machine, in which Bowling Green brought to Muncie.

Kelly Packard and this young Cardinal team are next in action Saturday January 28 as they battle the second best MAC east squad, Miami University (15-5 5-2 MAC) in Oxford, Ohio. You can catch all the action on SportsLink radio and 91.3 FM. The matchup will also be streaming live online at  www.wcrd.net.

Men’s Basketball so far

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Reporter: Brad Huber

The Ball State basketball team has completed its first pass though the MAC West.  The Cardinals are 4-1 in conference play and are 12-5 on the season.  They have recovered nicely since losing at home to Eastern Michigan last Saturday.  The Cardinals continue to be lead by Jarrod Jones who is averaging 17 points a game.  He right now according to some NBA Draft Projecion websites is currently listed as an early 2nd round pick for the June draft.  The key stats that I have been following all season long have been free throw percentage, turnovers, and rebounding.  The Cardinals are 8-1 when they have out rebounded the opposing team and are 2-4 when being outrebounded.  The free throw has been a struggle at times so far this year.  The Cardinals are only shooting 67.6% from the free throw line, which is not very good.  The Cardinals are going to need to be able to make free throws if they want to win the close games down the stretch that is needed to make any tournament run.  The other key stat for the Cardinals this year is taking care of the basketball.  If they limit the mistakes and the turnovers they tend to win basketball games.  The Cardinals are 6-3 when committing fewer turnovers and although they are 3-2 when making more mistakes so far this season that is going to need to change.

 

The Cardinals now are moving into the very tough East division and all the above stats are going to need to be improved.  Akron, Kent State, Ohio, and Buffalo all have a shot to win the MAC East.  This week the Cardinals host the 12-7 4-1 Akron Zips.  It will be a battle of teams who are leading their respective divisions.  The Cardinals have done a great job making up for the bad home loss to Eastern Michigan by taking care of business on the road with impressive wins at Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.  It is going to be crucial that the momentum is continued into the crossover portion of the schedule where West teams take on the East division and vice versa.   My goal for this team is if they can get through the East with no worse than a 4-2 record then the Cardinals will be put in position to try to win the MAC Conference Regular Season Championship and guarantee an NIT bid.  I believe the Akron game is a must win and then very winnable games against Bowling Green, Miami both at home and then if they can still one on the road against Kent State, Ohio, and Buffalo they will be in great position!

 

In my mind, between now and February 22nd the Cardinals will either keep themselves in position to win the MAC or play their way out of the hunt.  To make a golf analogy, it is Saturday, Moving Day to try to put yourself in position to win the Championship on the final day or in this case the final three games of the season.

RECAP- Men’s Swimming And Diving

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The Ball State Men’s Swimming and Diving team started off the new-year on a high note with a 181-87 victory over Eastern Illinois on Jan. 13, 2012 at Lewellen Aquatic Center. Ball State had not won any of its three previous dual meets this season; so it was important for the team to get their first meet win. Everyone on the team stepped up with strong swims as the Cardinals took first place in all sixteen events in an impressive and dominating performance in the pool.

Chris Krupa gave the cardinals three race victories in the 100 Yard Butterfly (50.34), the 200 Yard Butterfly (1:52.29) and the 200 Yard Individual Medley (1:58.38). Nick Stevens, Mike J. Weber, and Casey Shroeder all provided two individual race wins during the meet. Stevens took first in the 200 Yard Freestyle (1:46.15) and the 500 Freestyle (4:49.78). Weber got first in the 100 Yard Backstroke (52.72) and the 200 Yard Backstroke (1:56.86). Shroeder continued the Cardinals’ success with wins in the 50 Yard Freestyle (21.71) and the 100 Yard Freestyle (47.85).

The Cardinals next competition is the Butler Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind. on Sunday, Jan. 22. The Cardinals have fared well in invitationals this season with a third place finish in the IUPUI House of Champions and by claiming second place in the Doug Coers Invitational. The Cardinals will surely be ready for another exciting invitational on Sunday in Indianapolis.

Ball State Mens Tennis Looks to Open New Year with New Win

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by Nate Simson

Men’s Tennis looks to open the new 2012 with a win at Northwestern. Led by a sensational season by Dalton Albertin the number one singles player for ball state who had a win record in singles of 22-17. The Only thing that can stand in Ball State way is a skilled Northwestern team that participates in the Big Ten. How will coach Bill Richards play the 2011 MAC champs Ball State? Only time and experience will tell.

Women’s Golf Has Strong Finish

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Reporter: Zach Hughes

The Ball State women’s golf team finished in the top five in four of their five events this fall. That is the same amount they had all last season. The future is looking bright with five of the seven members being underclassmen. Freshman Jenna Hague led the Cardinals this fall with a 77.08 average. Katie Windlan, the lone Senior, is coming off a solid fall season in which she finished with one Top-10 and one Top-20 finish in five events. The women return to action Feb. 19 in Victoria, Texas. However, they do not return to Indiana until they participate in the Indiana University Invitational in Bloomington on April 14.

Men’s Golf Comes To A Close

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Reporter: Zach Hughes

The Ball State men’s golf team is currently in the off-season after a best finish of fourth in the fall. The team resumes competition on Feb. 13, looking to improve on the fall season. During the off-season, the team is allowed eight hours of practice each week at MD’s Golf Academy in Muncie. During the season, they will continue 20 hour a week workouts at either the Delaware Country Club or the Players Club.

Things to watch for this spring:

  • Captain Tony Lazzara is looking to improve on his career low score of 67 from the fall
  • Tyler Merkel managed two top-10 finishes this fall after being named 2011 MAC Co-Freshman of the Year last spring
  • Seniors T.J. Carpenter and Zac Treash look to improve as they enter their last semester as Ball State golfers
  • Sophomore Connor O’Neal will be returning from a wrist injury that has sidelined him since early September

Men’s Swimming Participates in Doug Coers Invitational

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Reporter: Andy Wright

After two meet losses to the University of Evansville and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The Ball State Men’s Swimming and Diving squad rebounded by placing second out of five teams in the Doug Coers Invitational with a score of 553.5 points. Grand Valley State won the invite with a score of 753.5 points. Lewis University finished third with a score of 248 points, the University of Findlay placed fourth with 187 points, and Valparaiso University followed in a close fifth with 184 points.

The Cardinals were consistent throughout the entire invitational. They began the invitational with a win in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:25.83), and finished it with a victory in the final event, the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (3:10.50). The Cardinals had at least one swimmer place in the Top five in 15 of 18 swimming events, and in 8 of those events the Cardinals had multiple swimmers place in the Top 5.

Senior Gavin McNeeley, Senior Chris Krupa, and Senior Casey Schroeder all had strong showings for Ball State. McNeeley won the 100 Yard Breaststroke (59.11), the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:10.01) and placed third in the 50 Yard Freestyle (22.12). His achievements helped earned him the MAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week. Chris Krupa dominated the butterfly events with a win in the 100 Yard Butterfly (52.02) and a second place finish in the 200 Yard Butterfly (1:56.26). Casey Schroeder continued his strong showings in the sprint freestyle events with a victory in the 50 Yard Freestyle (21.84) and finished third in the 100 Yard Freestyle (47.75).

The diving for Ball State was significantly better during the invite. Sophomore Jake Brehmer won the two diving events with a score of 233.60 points in 1 Meter Diving and a score of 213.45 points in 3 Meter Diving.

Ball State continues action at the Eastern Michigan Invitational in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Friday Dec. 2 and Saturday Dec. 3. 

MEN’S BASKETBALL OPENS UP WITH WIN AGAINST TAYLOR

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Reporter: Brad Huber
Editor: Brandon Pope

The 2011-2012 Ball State basketball season opened up on Monday night as the Cardinals battled Taylor in an exhibition game. The Cardinals started off hot on a 16-0 run. The Cardinals lead 40-19 at half time. Taylor tried to battle back and in fact went on a 10 to 4 run to start the 2nd half to cut the lead down to 13 early in the 2nd half. The Cardinals did a great job of battling back and keeping the pressure up and was able to pull away for a 72 to 47 win over Taylor. In my mind some of the very bright spots included the play of sophomore guard Jessie Berry. He was extremely aggressive especially in the 2nd half, driving to the basket and not afraid to draw fouls. He had a game high of 22 points. In my opinion, Berry as well as Jauwan Scaife needs to be scorers for this team to be successful.

 

Berry said, “I definitely believe my confidence is at another level. Coach Taylor installed his trust in me to be aggressive and to attack the rim.“

 

They give the Cardinals a great outside presence and are not afraid to drive the ball either. Scaife was the player who really got things going early scoring 13 of his 15 points in the first half.

 

A few negatives I noticed from the game Monday night was the play of Jarrod Jones. He did have a quiet 16 points, but in my view he is not aggressive and is passive around the basket. He needs to be mean and go up strong with the basketball to either dunk it or draw a foul. The Cardinals I believe need to do a better job of trying to get to the foul line on a regular basis. They only shot five free throws the entire game. I do understand it was an exhibition game and officials may have been lenient, but I believe the number of free throw opportunities is going to be the difference some nights of winning or losing the basketball game. They need to go to the free throw line more than their opponent. The Cardinals will be facing the 16th ranked Arizona Wildcats on Sunday night to open up the season.

 

Coach Billy Taylor said in his postgame press conference about Arizona. “We really look at it as the next game and our biggest game. Arizona game is our next game and we look forward to giving the guys the best opportunity to be successful.”