Baseball can’t complete sweep in 15-7 loss to Ball State
The Central Michigan University baseball team fell behind early and could not complete its sweep of Ball State University Sunday.
The Cardinals defeated CMU 15-7 in a Mother’s Day series finale at Ball Stadium in Muncie, Ind. With the loss, the Chippewas fall to 32-19 on the season and 17-7 in the Mid-American Conference.
The Chippewas outscored Ball State 39-7 through the first two games in the series. Their 21-2 victory on Saturday earned them the MAC West title and a top three seed in the MAC Tournament, which is May 20-23 in Avon, Ohio.
CMU struggled from the start to get any production and the pitching staff surrendered eight runs through the first four innings.
The Chippewas got on the board in the fifth inning. Sophomore first baseman Alex Borglin smacked a three-run home run to score junior third baseman Joe Houlihan and freshman shortstop Zach McKinstry.
CMU combined to score four runs in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth inning, junior outfielder Logan Regnier doubled and freshman designated hitter Daniel Jipping was hit by a pitch. McKinstry then tripled to clear the bases and cut the Cardinals’ lead to 14-5.
In the ninth, senior catcher Tyler Huntey singled, which set up a triple by senior center fielder Nick Regnier. His brother Logan singled him in to make the game 15-7. Jipping struck out on a foul tip to end the game.
Offensively, the Chippewas were led by Borglin, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs on the home run and a walk. McKinstry also went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Huntey went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a walk.
The Chippewas used six pitchers in the contest. Junior southpaw Adam Aldred (4-3, 3.64 ERA) started and took the loss, pitching 3 1/3 innings and giving up six hits, five earned runs, while striking out three and walking none.
Freshman right-hander Sean Martens, junior righty Connor Kelly, sophomore right-handed pitcher Jordan Grosjean, junior lefty Jimmy McNamara and senior closer Tim Black combined to throw 4 2/3 innings of relief, giving up 10 earned runs on nine hits and five walks.
None of the Chippewas’ relievers struck out a batter, and Martens and Grosjean failed to record an out. Three of the six Chippewa pitchers allowed more runs than they recorded outs.
Ball State scored three runs in the first inning to grab the early lead and then scored five runs each in the fourth and sixth inning to put the game out of reach.
CMU will return to Theunissen Stadium for its home finale Tuesday with Michigan State University. The game is slated for a 3:05 p.m. start.
The Chippewas travel to Western Michigan University next weekend for their final series before the MAC Tournament. A sweep over the Broncos would guarantee the MAC regular season title.
