Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Sports

Senior outfielder Tyler Stovall went 0-for-4, but the baseball team rallied to beat Oakland 7-6 on Wednesday. [Click to enlarge]

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the score tied and the count full on Wednesday at Theunissen Stadium, redshirt freshman Casey Ingle played like a senior.

Ingle blasted a 3-2 pitch in the right center gap that glanced off of center fielder Justin Wilson's glove and fell to the ground. The single scored Brendan Emmett from third and gave the Chippewas a 7-6 win against Oakland.

"I was looking for a curve ball outside to take the other way," Ingle said. "He got a breaking ball over the plate and I was able to take it to right."

The Chippewas fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning after starter James Teas walked four and gave up a two-run double to designated hitter Justin Murdock. But Teas responded, giving up just three more hits and one run in the next three innings.

"James just had the one bad inning," said CMU head coach Steve Jaksa. "Other than, that he pitched pretty well."

Meanwhile, CMU did not manage a run against OU starter Mike Takashima until the bottom of the fourth inning.

Jaksa's club still was trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning when Jeff Helps' single and a walk put two on base and prompted Oakland coach John Musachio to bring left-handed pitcher Andrew Estes in from the bullpen.

The pitching change gave the Grizzlies consecutive lefty-lefty matchups against the Chippewas. However, eight pitches and two walks later, Estes was back on the bench, Oakland's lead was cut to 4-2 and the Mid-American Conference leader in home runs - Sean Hoorelbeke - was at the plate with the bases loaded.

After laying off a pitch in the dirt, Hoorelbeke got what he was looking for and used the southeast wind to help him place the 1-0 pitch on the other side of the left field fence. The grand slam gave CMU a 6-4 lead.

"I wasn't trying to do too much," Hoorelbeke said. "I was just trying to single up the middle, get to first base and let the next guy pick me up. I was fortunate enough to get a fastball right were I wanted it."

Hoorelbeke's grand slam was his third home run in the last two games and gave CMU a temporary two-run lead.

The Grizzlies responded with two runs in the eighth inning, as Murdock doubled home two runs off the right field wall to tie the game. Murdock was the first batter sophomore pitcher Jesse Hernandez faced after taking over for junior pitcher Chris Kupillas with runners on first and second base and two outs.

Hernandez sent the Grizzlies down in order in the ninth inning to set up Ingle's heroics in the bottom half of the inning.

Central's eighth walk of the game and Cody Allen's sacrifice bunt moved Emmett to second base, where he would stay until a two-out wild pitch moved him to third, where he would score one batter later.

The win gave CMU a 3-2 record on its latest home stand and momentum heading into its next MAC test, a doubleheader Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y., against University at Buffalo.



sports@cm-life.com

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