Sunday's 6-4 victory the third-straight for Maroon squad in Fall World Series
The Maroon team remains perfect in the intrasquad Fall World Series at Theunissen Stadium after topping the Gold squad 6-4 Sunday afternoon.
The Gold squad was outscored 16-8 this weekend, after losing 4-3 Friday and 6-1 Saturday.
Central Michigan head coach Steve Jaksa said he saw a lot of good things this weekend out of his team, as well as areas that still need work at practice the next few days.
“Our time is short this fall for team stuff … we've got four games left and there were glimpses of some really good things (this weekend),” Jaksa said. “We have to pound the strike zone a little bit better; we have to protect a little bit better at the plate, and I thought we did some of that today and worked harder at doing those kinds of things today.”
Sophomore Dylan Rheault started the game for the Gold team Sunday, while freshman Jimmy McNamara got the nod for the Maroon squad.
Rheault pitched six innings and struck out seven hitters, giving up five hits. McNamara struck out two over 2 1/3 innings, allowing five hits. McNamara left in the third innings with an injury and was replaced by freshman Adam Aldred.
Gold was first to score in the third when sophomore Nick Regnier stole home on a wild pitch.
Jaksa said that having a good attitude and staying positive about game situations are an important part of being a good ball club.
“It’s the little things that make a big difference in these ball games and we need to continue to emphasize the detail of what it takes to be a really good ball club,” Jaksa said. “You have to have the ability to stay positive when things don’t go well. That’s the hardest thing to do, everybody has to do that, coaches, players.”
Maroon came back with three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth. Freshman Tyler Frank gave the squad a commanding 6-1 lead in the eighth, coming home on a passed ball.
Gold battled back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Senior Jordan Adams grounded out to score junior Noel Santos, and sophomore Cody Leichman scored on a wild pitch.
Freshman Adam Collins hit a single to right, scoring sophomore Tyler Huntey to cut Maroon's lead to two runs, but were unable to complete the comeback.
The victory for the younger team was its third in as many days.
Friday’s game lasted 10 innings and was highlighted by solid pitching from sophomores Sean Renzi and Jordan Foley, who combined to throw 16 strikeouts.
The winning run was scored in the 10th inning after freshman Morgan Oliver hit a sacrifice fly, which scored senior Kyle Henris, giving Maroon their first win of the fall season.
On Saturday, Maroon won their second–straight game over the Gold squad.
Sophomore Matt Trowbridge and junior Joe Ucho started the game. Trowbridge pitched 6 2/3 innings, while Ucho lasted four innings.
Freshman Zack Fields had the big hit in the game when his double in the fifth inning scored three runs to give Maroon a 6-1 advantage.
The team will practice the next two days to work on hitting, pitching and individual parts of the game before their game on Wednesday.
“There will be some individual things we work on in practice on Monday … working on the consistency of their swings and trying to clear their minds, so they can be consistent at their approach,” Jaksa said. “With pitching, we need to make sure that they stay aggressive in the strike zone and get after people, so we don’t give opportunities away.”
Maroon and Gold have four games left in their annual FWS with the next game at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday inside Theunissen Stadium.
