Chippewas defeat No. 21 Michigan for first time since 2011
After playing four games in a row from Friday-to-Monday, the Central Michigan baseball team rested up on Tuesday for its midweek matchup against the Michigan Wolverines.
The Chippewas topped the No. 21 ranked Wolverines 8-7 on Wednesday, earning their first win against Michigan since 2011. CMU is now 16-33 and 8-10 in the Mid-American Conference.
"(The win) keeps the momentum going," said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. "I told the guys that I thought we played really well. We just gotta keep coming out and playing the same way. It's not always gonna be easy and you gotta keep playing. Now we gotta keep it going."
CMU scored in the first inning on a wild pitch. After a four-run third inning and a three-run fourth, the Chippewas led 8-0. As this was going on, the Wolverines were still without a hit.
Freshman pitcher/outfielder Dazon Cole allowed a run in the top of the fifth due to a wild pitch, but the Wolverines were still hitless. That drought would end in the top of the seventh after a base hit by Michigan right fielder Jonathan Engelmann.
Michigan managed to score four runs in the seventh inning and two in the eighth to make it a one-run game heading into the final inning.
Although he gave up two hits in the inning, junior reliever Jordan Grosjean struck out three batters in the ninth to preserve the CMU victory.
Cole started for the Chippewas. He didn’t give up any hits, but did hit five Wolverines and walked four more. He threw 83 pitches by the time he was pulled.
"We wanted him to go as far as he could and that's as far as he could go," Jaksa said. "I didn't even know his pitch count. For me, it was his delivery. He couldn't quite get his delivery back together. As well as he pitched for three innings, he just got out of sync in the fourth and couldn't get back in sync."
At the plate, Cole recorded a sacrifice RBI bunt in the third inning and an RBI single in the fifth inning. He now has a hit in eight of his last 11 games he's had an at-bat in.
The Chippewas will be back at Theunissen for a nine-game home stand to end their regular season starting on Friday with a three-game series against Miami (Oh).
