Opening on the road: Baseball begins Friday after disappointing end to 2015
With the football season long gone and only about a month of college basketball to go, the Central Michigan baseball season begins Friday.
CMU finished first in the Mid-American Conference last season, going 35-22 and 20-7 in conference play. The Chippewas went to the MAC Tournament as the number one seed with their eyes set on a championship.
The regular season featured multiple blowout wins, including an 18-3 home win against Eastern Michigan and a 14-2 win against Northern Illinois. With other dramatic finishes, like a six-run, bottom of the ninth inning comeback at the Clash at Comerica against Michigan State, the team had confidence heading into the tournament.
However, the Chippewas were swept out of Avon, Ohio. They were upset by the eighth-seeded Akron Zips (28-30) and fourth-seeded Toledo Rockets (25-33).
The MAC Preseason Poll was released Wednesday, predicting CMU to top the MAC West and finish second to Kent State in the conference.
Head Coach Steve Jaksa said his team is motivated for a championship in 2016.
"If we do the things we have talked about, we’ll have an opportunity to be playing for another championship," Jaksa said. "But you don’t play for a championship at the end of the year; you play for a championship right now with how you practice and how you prepare for Arkansas. For us, there’s excitement in the air.”
Sophomore pitcher Cal Djuraskovic, who transferred from Tiffin University, said the team knows what it needs to do to be successful.
"We knew what we did last year. All of the new guys — including me — coming in this year, we've got to fill our roles," he said.
Opening Day
CMU begins its 2016 campaign at 4:05 p.m. Friday with a three-game series at Arkansas. The team will then travel to Arizona, Florida and Ohio before coming home on March 22 for opening day at Theunissen Stadium against Bowling Green.
Since the Bowling Green game doesn’t count as a conference game, the MAC season begins for CMU on March 25 against Kent State. There will also be non-conference games against Michigan, Michigan State, Oakland, Notre Dame, Missouri State and Saginaw Valley State.
Notable matchups
Clash at Comerica rematch: The annual Clash at Comerica against Michigan State is April 13 in Detroit. The tradition began in 2011, with MSU winning in the first two seasons. The game was postponed in 2013 and was played in Mount Pleasant later in the season. CMU won in 2014 and 2015. The Spartans (34-23 in 2015) lost to the top-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini in the Big 10 Tournament last season.
At Oakland: While Oakland was 10-39 last season, one of those wins came against the Chippewas in Oakland, 5-3. A few costly errors made for Oakland to go out in front in the first inning. CMU returns to play the Golden Grizzlies on April 27.
At Ohio (three-game series)
The Bobcats opened the 2015 MAC season in Mount Pleasant, dropping two of three to the Chippewas. They ended the season as the MAC Tournament Champions. They earned their first NCAA tournament bid since 1997. Ohio's 36 wins last year was the second most in program history.
CMU travels to Athens May 6-8 for the three-game series.
Players to watch
Zach McKinstry, sophomore infielder
Last season, McKinstry was 12th in the MAC and second on the team in batting average, hitting .317 in 57 games played. He was also second on the team with 69 hits, third in triples with three and was third in total bases with 79, earning Second Team All-MAC Honors.
The Fort Wayne, Indiana native did all of that as a freshman and was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team. Of his 218 at-bats last year he struck out 32 times.
Sean Renzi, senior right-handed pitcher
As a junior last season, Renzi earned First Team All-MAC honors. He went 5-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 18 total appearances. After starting the year in the bullpen, Renzi worked his way into the starting rotation and became one of CMU's most reliable starters. He also did not allow a home run in his 65 2/3 innings pitched.
“(Moving to the starting rotation) kind of came up,” Renzi said. “We had some injuries and then some stuff got shifted around and I ended up starting. I’d started in the past so it was something I was ready to do.”
Daniel Jipping, sophomore, infielder/outfielder
Jipping had a strong freshman season for the Chippewas in 2015. He had a team-high six home runs, a .282 batting average and a .444 slugging percentage. Jipping was second on the team with 40 RBIs.
Along with McKinstry, Jipping was also named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team and was a First Team All-MAC selection.
