Spring sports teams fight for conference tournament bids
With one week of classes remaining this semester, spring has arrived in Mount Pleasant. But Central Michigan's spring athletic teams are in the hunt to punch a bid to conference tournaments.
Three of CMU's teams — softball, baseball and lacrosse — are all on the bubble, fighting for a spot in the postseason.
Here's where each team stands and what to watch for in the coming weeks:
Softball
Record: 20-22-1 (7-9-1 in MAC play)
Position in MAC: Ninth
Games to go: Seven (six in MAC play)
The Chippewas picked up a crucial series win over the weekend in Muncie against Ball State and have won five of their past six games.
Head Coach Margo Jonker’s team took a 1-0 victory in Friday’s series opener with the Cardinals, dropped the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, but won the nightcap 9-2.
The weekend-series win keeps CMU’s Mid-American Conference Tournament chances alive, moving its record to 20-22-1 overall and 7-9-1 in MAC play.
CMU is in ninth place in the conference standings with seven games remaining on its schedule. Only the top eight teams advance to the May 11-14 MAC Tournament.
The team has two conference series' to go, one against Eastern Michigan (18-26, 8-9 MAC) — who CMU trails by a half game — on April 29 and 30 and one at Northern Illinois (31-13, 12-5 MAC) May 6 and 7.
The team gets a break from MAC competition when it plays a nonconference game against No. 2 Michigan on April 27 in Ann Arbor.
Baseball
Record: 10-30 (5-7 in MAC play)
Position in MAC: Fifth
Games to go: 16 (12 in MAC play)
Head Coach Steve Jaksa's 10-30 Chippewas exit the weekend with a conference-series win against Toledo at Theunissen Stadium, but fell out of its fourth-place tie, Sunday.
Entering Sunday, CMU and Eastern Michigan, who CMU has an upcoming three-game series with starting April 29 in Ypsilanti, were both 5-6 in the MAC with a .455 win percentage. However, CMU's loss and an EMU extra-inning win Sunday drops CMU into fifth place.
The team's 16 remaining games include four conference series — two on the road and two at home.
Lacrosse
Record: 5-9 (1-5 Atlantic Sun)
Position in A-Sun: Seventh
Games to go: Two (both in A-Sun play)
After a 13-9 loss Friday at Kennesaw State and 11-7 loss at Mercer, CMU lacrosse finds itself the odd team out of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with two games remaining this season.
Only the top six teams advance to the conference's postseason tournament. A win Friday would have given CMU a 2-3 conference record, which would've tied KSU (5-9, 3-3 A-Sun) for sixth place.
CMU's loss on Sunday at Mercer solidifies CMU's seventh-place position in the A-Sun standings, essentially eliminating the Chippewas from making the A-Sun Tournament in the program's inaugural season.
CMU finishes its schedule with a pair of home games April 29 and May 1 against second-place Old Dominion and last-place Howard.
