Broncos score in ninth inning to win 2-1, end Chippewas' three game winning streak
Neither offense could generate a run through eight innings Thursday in Mount Pleasant.
It wasn’t until the top of the ninth with the bases loaded where Western Michigan broke the scoreless tie and ultimately won the game over the Central Michigan baseball team at Theunissen Stadium.
After a single and wild pitch to lead off the inning, CMU pitcher Jordan Grosjean intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases. Grosjean rallied to get the next two batters out, but Broncos’ pinch hitter Tanner Allison hit a grounder that trickled out of the infield and brought in the winning runs.
The Chippewas (19-35, 10-12 Mid-American Conference) made things interesting in the ninth inning after a lead-off single and bunt single. CMU brought in one run off a fielder’s choice ground ball, but freshman Jarrod Watkins popped out to left field to end the rally and give the Broncos the 2-1 victory in game one.
“I don’t think our approach was nearly as good as it has been. Going down the stretch we’ve had a much better approach and I didn’t feel we quiet had that edge today,” said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. “We got a couple two-out triples, but couldn’t get those two-out knocks.”
Both starting pitchers produced dominating performances. CMU’s Sean Renzi went seven innings and struck out four batters while surrendering no walks. WMU’s Keegan Akin was pulled sooner — potentially due to the MAC Tournament coming up — but was equally as impressive. The junior pitched five innings, striking out six, while giving up three hits.
The Broncos (18-29, 11-11 MAC) out hit the Chippewas 7-6 and ended the team’s three game winning streak. The arch-rivals combined to leave 15 runners on base.
“In some cases we made the game harder than it needed to be today and when you do that it makes it a little bit harder to swallow,” Jaksa said.
What’s next
The team’s will meet again for game two on Friday at 3 p.m and the regular season finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. Both teams have clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament next week, but are still battling for seeding. The Chippewas will have to win both to pass the Broncos in the standings and each team — depending on the outcome of other MAC games — could finish anywhere from fourth place to eighth place.
