HOUSTON - HBU erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, then held off Ball State for a 10-8 victory in the non-conference baseball series finale Sunday afternoon at Husky Field.

Senior first baseman Johnny Gonzales extended his hitting streak to seven games, going 3-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs for HBU (2-6). He enjoyed a monster weekend in which he went 9-for-11 (.818), reached safely in 13-fo-15 at-bats, with three doubles and a home run. Junior third baseman Jake Miller was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and junior catcher Todd Jackson was 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored twice.

Sophomore pitcher Jared Burch (1-0) made an emergency start after Jaron Roblyer was scratched late and picked up his first career win, allowing six runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts and three walks in six innings. Sophomore Chris Burns gave up two runs on three hits with a strikeout and two walks over the final three to notch his first save of the year.

Aaron Simpson went 4-for-5 with two triples, two doubles, two RBIs and run, while Ross Messina went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run for BSU (2-4). Justin Conant and Nick Powell each went 2-for-5 and scored run and Trenton Quartermaine scored twice for the Cardinals.

Chayce McDermott (0-1) took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 3.1 innings. Ty Weatherly, Tyler Ruetschle and Sloan Thomsen combined to give up five runs, four earned, in 1.2 innings. Lukas Jaksich shut down the Huskies over the last three innings, allowing two hits with five strikeouts.

Simpson led off the game with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Messina to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0.

BSU held that lead until the fourth when Gonzales stroked a one-out single, then senior rightfielder Brandon Bena followed with a single and Jackson tied the game with an RBI single. Miller followed with a two-run single to give the Huskies the lead. The rally was nowhere near over as junior centerfielder Christian Dumont and junior designated hitter Trevor Fonseca drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Junior shortstop Nathan Soriano lined an infield single off the pitcher to drive in a run, then junior leftfielder Ryne Edmondson drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 6-1. Gonzales capped the inning with a three-run blast to right for a 9-1 lead.

Ball State scored a run in the top of the fifth, but Fonseca's RBI single got the run back for a 10-2 advantage.

The Cardinals added three in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth, before Burns closed the door by shutting them out in the ninth to seal the win.

HBU returns to action when it faces No. 20 Texas A&M Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. at Blue Bell Park in College Station. The KKME Digital Radio broadcast with Russ Reneau will be available on HBUHuskies.com.