Baseball's offense has rebuttal; Theunissen homers in win
The CMU baseball team scored 14 consecutive runs Tuesday afternoon at Theunissen Stadium en route to a 14-9 win against Wayne State.
It improved its home record to 11-2 after losing its last two to Ball State in Mount Pleasant.
The Warriors got off to a 5-0 lead in the second inning, but CMU responded in the bottom of the second, scoring seven runs.
Coach Steve Jaksa said the way his team responded sparked the entire afternoon.
“They got a couple of hits there and put up a five-spot, but we were able to come back,” Jaksa said. “It’s a new day and it’s a new game, and we have to get our guys playing well and feeling good about themselves.”
The Chippewas’ 14 runs all came between the second and sixth inning, and all were unanswered. Sophomore Nate Theunissen went 4-for-4 with two walks and a three-run home run that sailed over the right-center scoreboard. He finished the day with five runs batted in and leads the team with six home runs and 36 RBIs.
Junior Bryce Morrow (2-2) picked up his second win of the season after relieving starter Matt Faiman in the second inning.
Morrow pitched 4 and 1/3 innings and struck out the first batter he faced to end the five-run second inning for Wayne State.
But the offense was what won the game.
“It was patience at the plate, for sure,” Theunissen said. “When you see it real well, you have more patience, and I was just looking for a good pitch to hit.”
After Theunissen’s homer in the third inning, CMU added two more in the fourth and one in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 14-5 lead.
Faiman stayed in the game to be a designated hitter after being relieved by Morrow and finished with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Theunissen said there is resiliency throughout CMU’s lineup, and it was on full display in the win.
“Everybody one-through-nine, and guys coming off of the bench, want their shot to produce for the team,” Theunissen said. “Nobody wants to let anybody down.”
The win ends a two-game losing streak where CMU scored just four runs combined in the losses to Ball State.
The team is tied for first place in the Mid-American Conference with an 11-4 record. However, CMU has one more non-conference game before it starts a weekend series against Northern Illinois.
It plays at 3 p.m. Thursday at Oakland University in Rochester.
