The ETSU baseball team defeated Ball State on Tuesday 9-8, but then lost the second half of the series, 2-6, on Wednesday at Cardinal Park.
The hero of the first game was catcher Caleb Moore who went 3-4 with two doubles. He also shutdown the Cardinals in the ninth as he took the mound and threw a perfect inning.
When the game was close in the ninth, and Ball State needed a hit, Moore closed the deal and rose above the pressure to get his third save of the year.
“Closing and up by one run has to be the biggest rush, when everyone’s looking at you, and it’s your game to win or lose,” Moore said.
ETSU’s bats were hot throughout the game, getting four doubles on the day.
The Bucs took advantage of wild pitching by the Cardinals as three ETSU batters were hit in the fourth inning.
Four players crossed the plate in that inning. Senior Tim Turner surrendered a three-run homerun in the top of the fifth to Ball State third baseman Marc Franz making the score 7-5, but the Bucs would get two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning making the score 9-5, and they would need them.
The Cardinals scored three more runs in the game, but they could not catch up with Moore’s 90 mph fastball in the ninth.
ETSU Coach Tony Skole was very pleased with the performance of Moore and he was happy to get the win against such a talented Ball State team.
“Caleb was great for us today, he’s just a special athlete,” Skole said. The Cardinals were picked to win the MAC conference and coach Skole knows the magnitude of the win.
“This is a big win for us. Ball State is a great program,” Skole said. “They are well coached, and they have a lot of tradition.”
ETSU would go on to lose the next day against the same Ball State club. Freshman David Yates suffered his first loss of the season as the Bucs offense could only manufacture two runs in a 2-6 ball game.

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