What to Watch For: Baseball's first-round MAC Tournament matchup with Akron
The Mid-American Conference Baseball Championship Tournament is May 20 through 24 in Avon, Ohio. (Photo courtesy the Mid-American Conference)
What: First round of the MAC Baseball Tournament
Who: No. 1 Central Michigan vs. No. 8 Akron
Where: All-Pro Stadium in Avon, Ohio
When: 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday
What turned out to be a mostly successful and at times even dominant regular season for the Central Michigan University baseball team has culminated in a regular season Mid-American Conference Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in this week's MAC Baseball Tournament.
The Chippewas finished the 2015 campaign 35-20 and 20-7 during MAC competition. CMU will look to keep the momentum going against its first-round opponent, the University of Akron at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at All-Pro Stadium in Avon, Ohio.
The bottom-seeded Zips snuck into the tournament after limping to a 13-14 MAC finish, punctuated by a demoralizing 3-2 loss to Kent State University in extra-innings on Saturday. If Akron would have won, the Chippewas would be facing Western Michigan University on Wednesday instead of Akron.
CMU ended its regular season with a three-game sweep of Western Michigan–who enters the tournament as a the No. 7 seed–after five solid innings of pitching from junior pitcher Adam Aldred in the Chippewas' 2015 finale.
CMU and UA did not face one another during the 2015 regular season. The last time the two teams met, the seventh-seeded Zips defeated CMU during the first round of last year's MAC Tournament before falling in the championship game against Kent State.
Hitting
As a team, the Zips hit .270 at the plate during the regular season. By comparison, CMU averaged .286 and hit 23 home runs to Akron's 13. The Zips also finished with the fifth-worst fielding percentage in the MAC, committing 81 errors.
Senior Joey Havrilak is UA's best hitter, with a .340 batting average, 30 RBIs and five home runs this season.
CMU's leader on offense has been second baseman Pat MacKenzie, whose .353 batting average and timely hitting in key situations has been the difference in several of CMU's marquee conference wins this year. His 49 walks are the sixth-most in the nation and the highest in the MAC.
Outfielder Daniel Jipping has produced the most power in CMU's lineup. His six home runs and .458 slugging percentage have created a challenging balance of precision and strength in CMU's order for opposing pitchers to deal with.
Only two other Zips, sophomore Brian Lees and senior Darius Washignton hit better than .300 during the regular season. Such a top-heavy batting order presents a favorable matchup for CMU probable starting pitcher junior Sean Renzi.
Pitching
After starting the year in the Chippewas' bullpen, Renzi emerged as CMU's most reliable starter and has earned the No. 1 spot in the rotation heading into the postseason.
The junior right-handed starter finished the year 5-1 with a team-best 2.17 earned run average and pitched 58 innings in 17 appearances.
If the Chippewas can gift Renzi with a lead, closer Tim Black, who struck out 24 batters during his 11 saves this season should have no trouble shutting the door on the Zips' offense.
Junior pitcher John Valek (6-6, 3.07 ERA) will likely get the start for Akron. Valek was 6-6 during the regular season with an earned run average of 3.07. During his last start against Kent State, Valek gave up seven runs on nine hits during his six innings of work.
What's Next
The MAC Tournament is a double-elimination tournament, meaning a team must lose twice to be eliminated.
Should CMU defeat Akron on Wednesday, the Chippewas will take on the winner of Toledo and Ball State at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Should CMU lose to the Zips, the Chippewas will fall to the losers' bracket wherein they would take on the loser of BSU and the Rockets in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Stay with Central Michigan Life for full coverage of the 2015 MAC Baseball Tournament.
