2008 Woodie Awards
Bats come around in late innings of Wednesday's 7-6 win against Oakland
By: Aaron Vigneault
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Sports
|
The Chippewas first hit off of Golden Grizzlies starter Mike Takashima did not come until a one out in the fourth inning when junior James Teas singled.
Coach Steve Jaksa would have liked to have seen better at bats to begin the game, but he knew the hits would come. CMU beat Oakland 7-6 after trailing 4-0.
"I didn't think we had quality at bats, and I didn't think we swung the bat real well early on," Jaksa said. "But Noah (Lankford) hit a line drive to left early, and I thought (Tyler) Stovall's ball to left was hit really hard. So we didn't get a lot of quality at bats early, but we were able to get some walks and do some things."
The bats weren't the only facet of Jaksa's team to start slow Wednesday. While Teas got the Chippewas first hit, he struggled from the mound early in the game.
Teas faced nine hitters and gave up four walks, three runs, and two hits in the first inning. He battled back, however, pitching two scoreless innings in the second and third before giving up his final run in the fourth on a Justin Wilson home run.
Despite the slow start, first baseman Sean Hoorelbeke insists that his team can find offense when needed.
"I don't think it's ever been a lack of focus for us," Hoorelbeke said. "We're a pretty laid-back team; we know when to kick into gear. But in baseball you never want to press hard. When you press you tend to get frustrated and worried. (Wednesday) was a day when we needed to step it up a little bit."
Hoorelbeke's words weren't just lip service, as he came up with a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning.
The game's other standout was redshirt freshman Casey Ingle, who came up with a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Ingle knew his team wasn't great to start but never lost faith they would come out on top.
"We want to win every game, but yes, we started off a little slow," Ingle said. "Even though we started slow, we picked it up towards the end of the game."
CMU ended its five-game homestand with a win and now will head to a modified weekend series with Buffalo. The series was originally scheduled for single games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at UB's Audubon Field.
The series now has been reduced to a noon Sunday doubleheader and has been moved to Olean, N.Y., because of unplayable conditions in Buffalo.
sports@cm-life.com
Be the first to comment on this story