Baseball hoping to build on early season success this weekend against Stetson
As temperatures in Mount Pleasant hang below freezing, the Central Michigan University baseball team will head to the Sunshine State this weekend.
The Chippewas will take on Stetson at 6:30 p.m. on Friday before a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Saturday in DeLand, Fla. The Chippewas will play their final game of the weekend at noon on Sunday.
Head Coach Steve Jaksa said the team’s defense in their first four games is what impressed him most.
“Every game was close. Our defense was pretty solid. That has to be our staple. We have to pitch well and play that defense,“ Jaksa said.
Sophomore pitcher from Lake Orion Nick Deeg will get the start on Friday for CMU.
Junior pitcher from Plainfield, Ill. Sean Renzi will start game one of the doubleheader Saturday and sophomore pitcher from Oregon, Ohio Jordan Grosjean will get the ball in game two. Freshman pitcher from Jenison, Pat Leatherman will start for CMU on Sunday.
“We are not going to stray,” Jaksa said. “Those guys pitched the ball well. We fully expect them to continue to pitch well.”
Senior outfielders Garrett Russini and Patrick Mazelka are the leaders offensively for Stetson.
Sophomore Mitchell Jordan returns as Stetson’s only pitcher from last season with at least seven starts. He posted a 3-8 record with a 5.64 earned run average last season.
Stetson finished 26-34 last season losing 2-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship game to Kennesaw State University.
CMU junior outfielder from Novi, Logan Regnier, the reigning MAC West Player of the Week, led the Chippewas last weekend with three triples and six runs batted in last weekend against Florida Gulf Coast.
“We just have to keep things rolling and keep doing what we’re doing,” said Regnier. “That’s all I would expect and hope we do this weekend.”
Jaksa said the team’s hitting approach in certain counts needs to improve while taking advantage the opposing pitching staff more often.
“There was a part of our game I thought we didn't exploit FGCU well enough whether we weren’t comfortable or didn't understand the expectations,” Jaksa said. “We addressed that. “
Senior from Canada Tim Black, the reigning MAC West Pitcher of the Week, appeared in two games against FGCU earning the save in Friday’s opener and throwing three scoreless innings in CMU’s 12-inning win Saturday.
CMU starters combined for 23.2 innings pitched last weekend and struck out 13 batters.
Senior infielder from Royal Oak, Pat Mackenzie, said keeping things simple will be key in having success against Stetson.
“Our expectations this weekend are simple and that’s keeping the momentum we built the first weekend going into the next one,” Mackenzie said.
