Baseball falls to Northeastern on walk-off hit, drops fifth straight
Make that five straight losses for the Central Michigan baseball team.
After losing their last three games by a total of three runs, the Chippewas (3-7) suffered another one-run defeat at the hands of Northeastern (4-6) Sunday, 10-9, in Port Charlotte, Florida.
CMU rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth, but Northeastern ended the contest with a walk-off single in the bottom of the inning.
“We played hard but couldn’t pull it out,” said head coach Steve Jaksa. “We had the rally in the ninth and they had a clutch hit after that. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
It was the Chippewas’ fourth-straight loss by one run and its sixth of the season.
The Comeback
Trailing 8-5 in the top of the ninth, CMU needed a spark. Freshman Zack Gilles got the rally started with a bunt single and got to third after a single from sophomore Daniel Robinson.
A pair of RBI-singles by sophomore Jason Sullivan made and junior Daniel Jipping made it an 8-7 game and junior Nick Stokowski tied it with a sacrifice fly.
Freshman left-hander Tyler Hankins started the game, but lasted only three innings and surrendered five runs. Jordan Grosjean, Jake Raether, Sean Martens and Mike Brettell all came on in relief.
Despite the losing streak, Jaksa said he is pleased with his team’s effort and said these early-season games will only prepare them for down the road.
“Our guys played hard and just came out on the wrong end,” he said. “We will learn from this and only get better.”
What’s Next
The Chippewas return to action at 4 p.m. Tuesday to play Baldwin-Wallace.
