Hankins shines again as baseball earns walk-off victory over Missouri State, 2-1 in game two of doubleheader


MSU took game one 12-1


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Sophomore Outfielder David Cole motions towards his mother, Barbette Cole, and his girlfriend, Amina Melendez-Mayfield, after his single led to the game winning run against Missouri State, Mar. 24 at Theunissen Stadium. Josh Barnhart | Staff Photographer

With one out in the ninth inning and the winning run on third base, senior Robert Greenman stepped to the plate with a chance to send the opening day crowd at Theunnisen Stadium home on a high note.

After losing the first game of the doubleheader Friday to Missouri State, Greenman laid down a suicide squeeze to bring home junior Colton Bradley, who beat the tag for the 2-1 walk-off victory for the Central Michigan baseball team.

Bradley, who came in to pitch in the top off the ninth inning, got the Chippewas (9-13) out of a jam after a lead-off triple by the Bears. The Augusta native got two ground balls to end the inning and had to pinch run for sophomore David Cole in the bottom of the inning, when he came up limping after sliding into third base.

Cole pinch hit for Grant Frazer and delivered a single through the middle of the infield with one out. The Southfield native made it to second base after a wild pitch and then third base after a bobbled play by the MSU catcher.

Head coach Steve Jaksa said he was proud of his team's effort and unselfish play. 

“We’ve lost quite a few heartbreakers and we think we’re getting over that hurdle,” Jaksa said. “First game didn’t go our way, but the second game I was really proud of them. That’s how Chippewas need to play. That was a hell of an effort we made out there.” 

Carrying the Load

The Chippewas' offense was stifled for most of the day until the final inning, but luckily, freshman left-handed pitcher Tyler Hankins kept them within reach.

The 6-foot-9 Bartlett, Illinois native pitched into the ninth inning for the second-straight game and only gave up one run on nine hits. After pitching the complete game at Northwestern last Saturday, Hankins threw 112 pitches Friday, 77 of which were strikes.

“It’s always nice playing at home, but you have to treat it like any other game,” Hankins said. “As the game started moving on, I kept feeling more confident in my ability. I (was able) to locate pitches in my spots and my teammates made plays behind me.”

Hankins’s slider was the main pitch he used to earn most his eight strikeouts. He was pulled in the ninth inning after allowing the lead-off triple. 

Freshman Zack Heeke scored the first run for CMU in the fifth inning with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to bring in sophomore Evan Kratt. MSU responded in the sixth with an RBI single from Jeremy Eierman. 

The Chippewas appeared to take the lead back in the eighth inning when senior Alex Borglin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but the umpire ruled Borglin did not make an effort to dodge the pitch. He then popped out to first base. 

Game One

Missouri State’s offense stole the show in game one as the Bears’ offense recorded 18 hits and compiled 12 runs to win the first contest 12-1.

Sophomore right-hander Dazon Cole started for Central Michigan and pitched five innings. The Pontiac native surrendered five runs on six hits, while the defense allowed three errors behind him.

Cole finished with three strikeouts on 25 batters faced.

Freshman Cam Brown replaced Cole in the sixth and allowed two runs on six hits. The flood gates began to open in the seventh when junior Braxton Markle entered and gave up four runs on five hits. Sophomore Jack Collins came on in the eighth and only allowed one hit, while recording two strikeouts.

CMU’s only run came from Borglin’s double to left field in the seventh inning which scored sophomore Ty Rollin.

What’s Next

The Chippewas and Bears are scheduled to play the third and final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. However, that could get rescheduled due to the weather this weekend.

The teams were originally going to play game two on Saturday, but the game was moved to Friday with the possibility of rain showers.  

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