Baseball takes two out of three from defending MAC Tournament champion Ohio
After falling in a marathon game to Ohio on Saturday, the Central Michigan baseball team once again went the distance on Sunday, but it was the Chippewas who bolted to victory at the finish.
CMU defeated Ohio 13-11 in 13 innings to take two of three games in its final regular season road trip. After dropping a 5-4 decision in 14 innings on Saturday, Sunday's win gives the Chippewas a 14-33 record and an 8-10 record in the MAC. The team ranks above Western Michigan and Toledo in the MAC West division.
Head Coach Steve Jaksa called Sunday's victory a "really good team win."
I’m just really proud of how the guys competed all the way through the weekend," Jaksa said. "(Our guys) are pretty pumped. Coming back to win today and win the series was really good for our guys.”
The two teams combined for 39 hits and just two errors in Sunday's contest, the finale between the defending MAC regular season champion Chippewas and defending MAC Tournament champion Ohio.
"There’s a lot of pride on our side of the fence," Jaksa said. "I told the guys Thursday night this is our time. It’s a time we always play well.”
With the game tied at 10-10 in the 13th inning, freshman outfielder Daniel Robinson singled with one out to score redshirt freshman outfielder Dazon Cole and sophomore outfielder Daniel Jipping and send freshman infielder Jason Sullivan to third base.
The next batter, freshman infielder Jarrod Watkins singled down the left field line to drive in Sullivan and make the game 13-10.
The Bobcats picked up one run in the bottom half of the fourth extra inning, but senior right-handed pitcher Morgan Oliver allowed two runs on seven hits in the final six innings of the game to earn his first collegiate victory.
The Chippewas took the lead in the first inning of extras after sophomore infielder Zach McKinstry laced a RBI double. Ohio then hit a leadoff home run off Oliver in the bottom of the 10th to tie the game at 10-10.
CMU trailed 9-7 after six innings. Jipping doubled in McKinstry and Robinson singled in Jipping to tie the game at 9-9 with three innings to play.
Ohio led 3-0 heading into the top of the fifth inning when CMU put up five runs on the Bobcats.
After a RBI single by junior catcher Robert Greenman put the Chippewas on the board, sophomore infielder Zach McKinstry singled to center field to drive in two runs and tie the game at three.
Jipping copied McKinstry with a two-run single to center field of his own to score senior outfielder Ryan Heeke and McKinstry to give CMU its first lead of the game 5-3.
Ohio responded with five fifth-inning runs of their own off three different CMU pitchers.
Redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Pat Leatherman toed the rubber for four innings for CMU, allowing three runs on six hits. Three CMU pitchers combined to pitch one inning, while sophomore right-handed pitcher Colton Bradley and Oliver combined to pitch eight innings.
Oliver relieved junior left-handed pitcher Brady Williams. Jaksa said he took a risk in making the change and added he doesn't think Oliver, who is also an infielder, has thrown six innings in his life.
Robinson had three hits in seven at-bats, while Jipping and McKinstry had two hits each in six and four at-bats, respectively. The trio had three RBI each. Cole finished 1-for-6 with a run scored after going 5-for-7 in Saturday's contest.
Ohio (21-25, 6-12 MAC) recorded 21 hits and had five players with three hits or more each. Catcher Cody Gaertner went 5-for-7 with two solo home runs and four runs scored.
“The adversity was there and we were able to fight through it," Jaksa said.
CMU returns to Theunissen Stadium on Monday for a makeup game with Oakland. Game time is set for 4:05 p.m. Freshman right-handed pitcher Grant Wolfram (0-2, 7.78 ERA) will start for CMU, Jaksa said.
