'Masterpiece' by O'Donnell carries Ball State baseball to MAC tournament title game

MUNCIE, Ind. — Trennor O'Donnell, after a night of two-hour stardom, wanted nothing more than to sleep.

Ball State baseball's senior ace gave his all against the formidable Mid-American Conference tournament hosts, No. 1 Kent State, and "Big Tex" delivered with a "masterpiece."

He pitched his first career complete game to lead the No. 2 Cardinals to an upset 6-1 victory and send them to the championship. O'Donnell's final stat line: 107 pitches, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K.

"Honestly, in my prayers, I was saying, 'We need him to pitch the best game of his life,' and he actually did it. He really did. He was sensational," head coach Rich Maloney said. "It was the best game he's ever pitched at Ball State and he picked the most important time to do it against the conference champion, Kent, who maligned us over the last weekend."

First round: Ball State baseball tops Central Michigan 7-6 in 'gritty' MAC first-round thriller

O'Donnell also notched one of his best performances of the season on May 12, when he tossed seven shutout frames against Miami (Ohio) with 11 strikeouts. Sandwiched in between his two stellar starts was a subpar showing at home against the Golden Flashes on May 18, when with the MAC regular-season title on the line, he was tagged for back-to-back homers and four earned runs in the second inning, ending his day prematurely as Maloney opted to concede the title and get O'Donnell some extra rest for the tournament.

That decision clearly paid dividends. O'Donnell said he felt physically and mentally ready for his moment throughout his week of preparation, knowing that he needed to give BSU length on the mound to have a chance at both beating KSU and saving some bullpen arms for the championship.

"I was very confident in myself going into it," O'Donnell said. "I think I had a little chip on my shoulder going out there and had something to prove, and I got the job done."

It was clear from the beginning that O'Donnell had his good stuff. He allowed a single in the first inning, only for sophomore catcher Hunter Dobbins to throw the runner out stealing, and O'Donnell put away 15 consecutive batters thereafter.

Maloney cited O'Donnell's fastball location as his primary advantage, as well as an emphasis on throwing more changeups. He hit his spots consistently with both pitches to get ahead of hitters, and his curveball often got Kent State batters off balance.

O'Donnell said he truly felt comfortable after the fifth inning. The offense provided him with a four-run cushion via a two-out rally against the MAC Pitcher of the Year, and when O'Donnell responded with his fourth straight 1-2-3 inning, he felt the win within reach.

"That was huge and a big confidence boost, and I was able to just pitch completely loose the rest of the game," O'Donnell said.

As O'Donnell, Ball State's top pitcher all season (2.98 ERA), kept KSU off the scoreboard until a two-out error in the ninth frame, the Cardinals' offense was also led by its top bat in fifth-year third baseman Ryan Peltier.

Peltier went 4-for-5 with two RBI, knocking in Ball State's first and fifth runs, each of which sparked more two-out RBI hits immediately afterward.

But unlike O'Donnell, who looked strong in two of his previous three outings before Thursday's start, Peltier was scuffling. He began his final campaign on fire, hitting over .400 midway through April, only to enter an uncharacteristic slump that saw Peltier earn just three hits and one RBI over the final 10 games of the regular season.

Maloney showed confidence in his star, though, be inserting him into the leadoff spot against Central Michigan in the first round, and Peltier rewarded Maloney's confidence with a hit and a run scored against Chippewas before exploding against KSU.

Peltier's performance headlined what has been an extremely productive two tournament games for the tope of BSU's lineup. Junior No. 2 hitter Decker Scheffler tallied a pair of hits in each outing, which yielded three total RBI, senior No. 3 hitter Adam Tellier has three hits and five RBI in the tournament and No. 4 hitter Dobbins had two hits and one RBI against CMU and rocketed a ball at KSU's third baseman that caused an error, leading to two runs and a 4-0 BSU lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Most of this success came against left-handed pitchers, which Maloney said have given BSU trouble all season. He attributed the turnaround to a shifted focus in the box.

"We've been working on, really, just hitting the ball up the middle because ... In the last two games we faced the two best left handers in the league — the Pitcher of the Year and the one who finished second, and we beat them both," Maloney said. "We didn't tear them up I wouldn't say, but we got hit and we scored runs, and that's what you got to do."

The challenge now for Ball State is carrying its momentum through an off day on Friday, during which Central Michigan and Kent State will battle for a spot in the championship.

Maloney, who organized a Wiffle ball tournament on Sunday and took the guys to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Monday to 'reset' their minds after the Kent State thrashing, contemplated doing something similar to ease the tension before Saturday.

But after consulting the team, he said they simply want to rest after an "exhausting" two victories. Friday's plan, as a result, will be a team breakfast, followed by a one-hour practice at 4 p.m., then a team dinner.

Maloney will also use the day to evaluate his pitching plan. Fifth-year Ty Weatherly is in line to start, yet Maloney said he makes a point to not get ahead of the moment and didn't decide beforehand how he'll play the matchup.

So he'll spend time considering strategy during his habitual trip to Starbucks, then with his staff and his players and likely make a decision after BSU's opponent is decided.

It's likely, though, that multiple Cardinals arms will be needed to win it all. Junior Ryan Brown, who earned the save against CMU, should be fresh. Junior Sam Klein threw 4.1 stellar innings in 67 pitches in that game as well and could be used, too, and Maloney previously mentioned sophomore Jacob Hartlaub as a potential difference-making arm out of the bullpen.

When asked about if he'd be willing to come out of the bullpen on Saturday, O'Donnell said, "Absolutely. I'm all in for the team ... If I'm able to do anything to help and get us to regional, that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

O'Donnell didn't hesitate to answer, embodying the sense of urgency Ball State has toward making its first NCAA Tournament under Rich Maloney, who's in his 18th year with the program.

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This group winning its first two tournament games isn't new either. The team hosted Central Michigan for two championship games last season, losing both in a heartbreaking finish to a historic year.

Maloney and his players hope the scar of that letdown leads to a breakthrough on Saturday, whether in the first championship game at 1 p.m. or the second attempt that even, if needed.

"I hope for our program sake we get get through this because we deserve it. We've been such a good team for so, so long and have been left out," Maloney said. "We can taste it.

"I'm just so proud of my guys and effort that they've given. I really would love to see them finish and be the team that takes Ball State further than it's gone in a long, long time because our program's really, really good and it's respected across the country, but the one thing has been holding us back is this moment. I hope our kids can realize that, and to see their name called on selection day it would be such a joy for all of us. They've worked so hard."

Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: MAC baseball tournament: Ball State tops Kent State to make title game