Top moments in sports
The five best achievements in Ball State Athletics this decade
Staff Reports
Cardinal fans of every Ball State sport have had plenty of cheer over the last 10 years. Throughout all of the Mid-American Conference Championships and individuals performances, here are the five moments that stood out the most:
Baseball (2010 and 2019)
Of Ball State’s eight players taken in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, two were drafted in the last decade. In 2010, Kolbrin Vitek was drafted 20th overall by the Boston Red Sox after being honored as the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. He was also one of three finalists for the College Baseball Foundation’s John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award. Most recently, Drey Jameson was drafted 34th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. He was MAC Pitcher of the Year and set school records with 146 strikeouts and 14.33 strikeouts per nine innings.
RELATED: BASEBALL: Vitek agrees to contract with Red Sox; forgoes senior year at Ball State
RELATED: From Ball State Cardinals to Arizona Diamondbacks: Jameson reflects on MLB first draft pick
Then-sophomore John Baker pitches during the game against Dayton March 16, 2018, in Muncie. Baker pitched eight innings before Drey Jameson took over. Rebecca Slezak, DN
Women’s Golf (2011 and 2014)
The history of Ball State’s women’s golf program has been highlighted by Brittany Kelly and Jenna Hague. Kelly’s 2011 senior season was capped off by a 17-over-par performance in the NCAA Central Regional where she placed 63rd. She was the first Ball State Cardinal to be selected to an NCAA regional. Hague did one better in 2014, placing 60th and shooting 16-over-par in the same regional. The two missed playing with each other by just a year, as Hague arrived right after Kelly left.
RELATED: WOMEN'S GOLF: Ball State senior selected to compete in NCAA Regionals
Jenna Hague takes a swing during the Cardinal Classic on Sept. 23. Hague finished first in two events for the fall golf season. Bobby Ellis, DN File
Football (2013)
The Cardinals haven’t made a bowl game since 2013. After winning seven of their eight conference games and 10 games overall, Ball State was selected to play in the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, against Arkansas State. The game was tied at 10 through the first half. A back-and-forth second half ended with an Arkansas State touchdown in the final minute to seal the win, 23-20.
RELATED: Ball State loses thriller to GoDaddy Bowl opponent Arkansas State, 23-20
Keith Wenning said he feels like a freshman again with the Baltimore Ravens. Johnathan Miksanek, DN File
Men’s Basketball (2017)
Through the Cardinals’ first six games of the 2017-18 season, the team was 2-4. After rattling off three straight wins, Ball State had a date with No. 9 Notre Dame Dec. 5 in South Bend, Indiana. The Cardinals led by five at halftime. With 15 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 77, Tayler Persons dribbled the ball past half court. Coming off a screen, Persons let a 3-pointer fly and sunk it, leaving almost nothing on the clock. Notre Dame’s full-court shot missed, and the Cardinals had upset the Fighting Irish on the road.
Ball State redshirt senior guard Tayler Persons shoots a layup while being guarded by Miami University redshirt sophomore guard Milos Jovic during the Cardinals' game against the Redhawks Jan. 22, 2019 in John E. Worthen Arena. Persons scored 11 points. Paige Grider, DN
Track and Field (2018)
During her junior year, Regan Lewis became the first Cardinal since 2008 to qualify for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the first to do so in the high jump since 1984. She placed 10th in the event after successfully clearing 1.78m (5'-10") to earn All-America Second Team honors.
Sophomore Regan Lewis runs up to the high jump pit runs the during the Ball State Challenge on April 15, 2017 at Briner Sports Comlex. Lewis finished second in high jump. Terence K. Lightning Jr., DN file