Baseball team has three-game series with Central Florida
The CMU baseball team travels south to begin a three-game series Friday with Central Florida in Orlando, Fla.
The Chippewas come of their first win of the season, closing out the Bakersfield Tournament in California with a 3-1 win against St. Mary’s (Calif.).
The projected rotation for the weekend series starts with senior Jesse Hernandez, with sophomore Trent Howard and junior Jake Sabol rounding out the weekend.
“We had played well in the first two games — we pitched good and did some good things,” said coach Steve Jaksa. “I really liked how the guys battled back in that last game.”
Sabol (1-0) pitched an eight-hit complete game Sunday to earn the Chippewas' first win of the season. He did not walk a batter and struck out four in the 3-1 win. Jaksa said Sabol’s start is something to build off.
“He threw well and kept them off balance and he was aggressive,” Jaksa said. “His velocity was the same at the end of the game than it was at the beginning — he still had it left in the tank to close that game out.”
Central Florida is 6-1 with its only loss coming at the hands of Florida. The three-game series leads into the Russ Matt Tournament, which is the last tournament the Chippewas compete in before coming home for its home opener.
The team’s first home game is March 16 at 3:05 p.m. at Theunissen Stadium.
“Overall, I was happy with the pitching and defense (last weekend),” Jaksa said. “We have to continue to grind away and get better at the little things.”
