Ball State baseball (11-10) closed out its home opening series March 20 with a 3-1 loss to Dayton (4-14).
The Cardinals won each of the first three games of the series by at least five runs, but head coach Rich Maloney said he expected the series finale to be closer.
"With the wind blowing straight in, I knew there was a chance that there could be a tight game," he said. "Certainly, to Dayton's credit, I thought they made a lot of nice plays."
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs.