Musketeers Hit a Season-High Six Home Runs as Baseball Holds Off Ball State for Midweek Win

Tuesday, March 31

Muncie, Ind.

3:00 PM

Xavier University

Ball State

Musketeers Hit a Season-High Six Home Runs as Baseball Holds Off Ball State for Midweek Win

03.31.26 | Baseball

Box Score Season Stats Box Score

Musketeers head to Georgetown for three-game series this weekend

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

MUNCIE, Ind. - A season-high six home runs powered Xavier to a 13-12 win over Ball State on Tuesday at Shebek Stadium.

The Musketeers improved to 10-20 on the year, while the Cardinals moved to 15-12.

Xavier took a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo home run from Clay Burdette, then added a run in the third after Burdette got aboard on a single and scored on a single from Josh Stonehouse. BSU got a run back in the bottom of the frame, but the Musketeers added two in the fourth, with Jason Jelic getting on with a single, and Landon Mensik bringing him in with a home run to centerfield.

Ball State scored three in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 4-4 before a four-run frame in the fifth put Xavier back in front. Jorge Valdes got on with a lead off walk, and Stonehouse hit his ninth home run of the season to add two runs. Luke Hammond added another run with his second homer of the season to make it a 7-3 lead. Jelic got on with a single, moved to second on a walk from Landon Mensik and scored on an infield single from Tanner Thomas to wrap up the scoring for the inning.

The Cardinals picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 8-5, but another four-run frame pushed Xavier's lead to 12-5. Another lead-off walk for Valdes put one on for Burdette, who brought in two runs with his second home run of the day. Stonehouse made it back-to-back home runs with his second of the day and team-high 10th of the season. Carter Christenson got on with a walk, then scored on an error following a Mensik single to give Xavier the seven-run lead.

A five-run frame for the Cardinals pulled BSU within two, 12-10, headed into the seventh. Xavier pushed the lead back to three in the top of the inning after JD Crisp took a lead-off walk, moved to second on a single from Valdes, and third on a walk from Burdette. Stonehouse was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Crisp and give Xavier a season-high matching 13th run for the game.

BSU added runs in the seventh and eighth innings cut Xavier's lead to 13-12 going into the bottom of the ninth. After the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs, the Musketeer defense held BSU off the board to take the one-run win.

Xavier now heads to Tysons, Va., this weekend for a three-game series at BIG EAST opponent Georgetown, set to run Thursday, April 2, through Saturday, April 4.

AT THE PLATE

Xavier set a new season high for home runs (6) and matched its season highs for runs scored (13) and hits (16).
Josh Stonehouse went 3-4 at the plate, finishing with a career-best four RBIs and scoring two runs after hitting a pair of home runs, his first multi-home run game as a Musketeer. Stonehouse now has a team-high 10 homers on the season.
Clay Burdette went 3-5 with a walk, driving in three RBIs and scoring three runs after hitting a pair of home runs, giving him six for the season.
Landon Mensik finished 3-4 with a walk, bringing in two RBIs and scoring a run on his sixth home run of the season.
Luke Hammond (1-5) finished with an RBI and a run scored after hitting his second home run of the season.
Tanner Thomas (1-5) brought in an RBI with single.
Jorge Valdes recorded a pair of hits (2-5) and got on with a walk, scoring two runs.
JD Crisp and Carter Christenson each recorded a walk and scored a run.

on the mound

Owen Poole made the start, going 3.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with one strikeout.
Michael Murphy entered for the fourth, finishing with four runs allowed on three hits and two walks, with one strikeout in 2.0 innings. Murphy picked up the win, his first of the season.
Sam Hoeft entered in the sixth, going 0.2 innings with five runs allowed on four hits, walking one and striking out one.
Jon Wylie came in with two outs and one on in the sixth, going 1.0 inning with one run scoring on three hits and one walk, striking out one.
Jack DeTienne entered with two on and one out in the seventh, going 1.0 inning with one run allowed on one hit.
Trevor Geddes faced one batter in the eight.
Eli Bridenthal came in with two on and one out in the eighth, ending the inning by striking out the only batter he faced.
Joey Arend entered for the ninth inning and held BSU without a run despite the Cardinals loading the bases with no outs and picked up the save, his first of the season. He finished with 1.0 scoreless inning with one hit allowed and picked up a strikeout.