Leading 3-2 in the eighth inning, the baseball team came to bat looking to add some insurance runs against Valparaiso.

Instead, Central got a few more.

It sent 13 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs on eight hits on the way to a 13-2 win Tuesday at Theunissen Stadium.

The team had failed to put a runner on base in the first three innings and found itself down 2-0.

Coach Steve Jaksa said the team came out lackadaisical.

“I said to them, ‘Let’s make sure we play,’” Jaksa said. “It’s hard to score when you don’t put guys on base. But I thought our intensity picked up after that – we started swinging the bat.”

The eighth inning was highlighted by senior right fielder Tyler Stovall’s two-RBI triple to center field to put the game out of reach.

Freshman left fielder Matt Faiman had four RBIs in two at-bats in the inning and freshman right fielder Robbie Harman added two more on a double down the left-field line.

“A couple of guys were off their game plan,” said senior first baseman Sean Hoorelbeke. “We should be coming out with a different mindset. Skip fired us up and we were fortunate to put pieces together.”

Hoorelbeke went 2-for-4 with a RBI and extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

CMU started the game 0-for-10 against VU starter John Snelten, who entered with 10.04 earned-run average.

“I have to give the guy credit,” Hoorelbeke said. “He came at us, but we didn’t know much about him.”

Jaksa was able to settle his team down and get them back into the game.

“Early on we we’re quite as focused,” he said. “We have to make adjustments – whether it be squaring up or seeing a few more pitches. We just went to battle a little bit.”

The team responded by stringing together two hits and a walk in the fifth to tie the game 2-2. It added another hit and two more walks in the sixth to give it a one-run lead.

“I think the guys know we can be a good team,” Jaksa said. “They’ve just got to understand their job as players is to come ready to play.”

Sophomore right-hander Bryce Morrow lasted seven innings to earn his first win of the season. Sophomore right-hander Devan Kline pitched the rest to close out the game.

CMU plays next at 7:30 p.m. today at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“They’re winning their conference right now” Jaksa said. “I think we’ll come to play from the get-go.”

Jaksa said sophomore right-hander Jesse Hernandez will start on the mound.

sports@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: defaultuser