Cold bats drop baseball three games behind Eastern Michigan
An earlier start time than expected did not benefit the Central Michigan baseball team.
Following a 6-1 loss on Friday night, the Chippewas' second game against Eastern Michigan was moved from 3 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. due to the weather forecast.
CMU mustered just two hits and was held scoreless in a 3-0 loss to the Eagles on Saturday in Ypsilanti. The loss sends the Chippewas (11-32, 5-9 Mid-American Conference) to three games behind EMU in the MAC West Division standings.
Head Coach Steve Jaksa said the time change had no effect on his team going into today's game.
“This is baseball," Jaksa said. "(Time changes) happen all the time. (EMU) had to do the same thing. Change of time has nothing to do with a player changing (his mindset).”
The Chippewas' offense garnered one hit against EMU starter Augie Gallardo. The right-hander hurled seven innings and struck 10 CMU batters on four walks. Sophomore shortstop Zach McKinstry broke up the no-hitter with a single in the fourth inning.
“We swung at a lot of pitches out of the zone today, which is just somewhat uncharacteristic for us," Jaksa said.
Jaksa added Gallardo featured a fastball away from the hitters, a breaking ball, a slider and a change-up and was able to mix them well.
Junior second baseman Alex Borglin provided CMU's only other hit, which was in the eighth inning off EMU reliever Matthew Beaton. CMU left six men on base. Three Chippewas struck out two times each and senior first baseman Zack Fields went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
“My assessment is we swung at too many pitches out of the zone today," Jaksa said. "I haven’t put my finger on to exactly why we did that. If I could of, I would have fixed it at the time.”
Junior southpaw Nick Deeg threw 7 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits to go along with three walks and five strikeouts. He surrendered a two-run home run to EMU catcher Jeremy Stidham in the sixth inning. Deeg fell to 2-7 this season, and his resume includes a complete game last Saturday against Toledo and a nine-inning performance in a 10-inning loss at Northern Illinois on April 9.
“I hope he continues to throw just like he did the last two weeks," Jaksa said. "Today, from the get-go, he was good.”
Freshman right-handed pitcher Michael Brettell relieved Deeg and allowed an unearned run on two hits with a strikeout.
In the field, senior third baseman Joe Houlihan committed his 13th error this season, while senior Dylan Goodwin was also given an error. The Eagles did not commit an error.
The Eagles (17-22, 8-6 MAC) compiled eight hits, with three players having two hits each.
CMU will look the avoid the three-game sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. Redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Pat Leatherman (0-4, 4.21 ERA) will take the hill for CMU.
“Pat needs to throw well for us," Jaksa said. "We need to play good defense behind him and we need to swing the bats better than what we did today. Our approach wasn’t what it needed to be today. We need to have a better approach tomorrow.”
