Yes, it’s freezing outside and the last thing on your mind is America’s pastime. Walk outside in Indiana? Instant hypothermia. Buffalo, New York? I can only assume people have begun to eat their family members to maintain nutritional sustenance in this the winter of their discontent. Incidentally, they have somewhere in the neighborhood of six feet of snow and it’s still coming down. Tell me again why I should be concerned about global warming enough to stop buying F150s and Styrofoam coolers? Exactly. But I digress.
Yes, the weather sucks now, but it won’t always. Soon enough it will be sunny, warm, and delightful where I will authorize my sartorial choices with the “Suns out, guns out” mantra much to the delight of anyone in my general area. Assuming they bought a ticket. To the gun show. You know, because I’m sleeveless. And before you inquire, yes, I will ask them if they have purchased said entry to said attraction. But to go along with that tomfoolery, warm weather means baseball season and since it is America’s claim to fame (if you ignore most of the Caribbean, parts of Mexico, and large swaths of South America) you would do well to be kept abreast of the goings on around Ball Diamond. (Ed. Note: Heeheeheehee…. I said breast. But no time to laugh about it now.)
And what’s going on around Ball Diamond at this particular time is Ball State baseball has themselves a schedule for 2015. The Cards, last year’s MAC regular season champ, will start play February 13 in Wilmington, NC for the Buffalo Wild Wings Battle at the Beach event. I don’t even know what that is, but I do know it’s the day before Valentine’s day, there’s baseball to watch, and there’s wings to be had and if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
BSU’s release on the schedule…
Ball State’s baseball team, under the direction of head coach Rich Maloney, has announced its 2015 schedule.
“We are excited about the upcoming season and competing against so many outstanding programs,” Maloney said. “Our non-conference schedule will be foreboding in playing UNC-Wilmington, Kentucky, Elon, Coastal Carolina, West Virginia, Illinois twice, Indiana, Purdue twice, Northwestern and Maine. All of those programs have recently won their conference, played in NCAA tournament or have a storied tradition. We are doing this in hopes of preparing our team for the 27 game grind of MAC play. This is part of the journey to try and take our program to the next level.”
The Cardinals will open up at the Buffalo Wild Wings Battle at the Beach in Wilmington, N.C., Feb. 13-15, in a tournament with teams yet to be decided. Ball State will follow that tournament up with the Country Inn and Suites Elon Invitational in Elon, N.C., and the Chanticleer Classic in Myrtle Beach, S. C.
For a second straight year, Ball State will compete in the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., March 4-8 with Maine, Northwestern, Indiana and one team to be announced.
Indiana, which finished the 2014 season ranked 20th in the nation, will also visit Muncie, Ind., May 12, in a single game at Ball Diamond. Big Ten Conference foe Purdue will visit Ball Diamond March 25, and the Cardinals will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., April 22.
Once returning to the Midwest, the Cardinals will play at Dayton March 13-15, followed by the home opener vs. Rutgers March 18.
Ball State will open the MAC season March 20-22 at Bowling Green and open the home conference slate March 27-29 vs. Buffalo at Ball Diamond.
The Cardinals are scheduled to end the regular season at home vs. Northern Illinois May 14-16, with the MAC Tournament slated for May 20-24 in Avon, Ohio.
Under the direction of Maloney, Ball State completed last season with a 37-18 overall record, a 22-4 mark in MAC play and won the MAC Regular Season Championship.
Maybe I’m crazy (I’ve been called worse), but I think the Cardinals will be well worth your time to check them out this season. And frankly, there are myriad ways to spend an afternoon far worse than catching a baseball game. You can check out the entire schedule here and make your plans accordingly.
Filed under: BallStateBaseball |
Over The Pylon 
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