Baseball uses fifth-inning runs to beat MSU at Dow Diamond
MIDLAND — Dietrich Enns picked up his fourth win of the season out of the bullpen Wednesday as the CMU baseball team defeated Michigan State 6-3 at Dow Diamond.
The freshman left-hander relieved junior starter Bryce Morrow, who allowed three runs, only one earned, over 4 and 2/3 innings pitched. Morrow struck out seven batters.
“I felt pretty good," Morrow said. "I was just excited to come out here and play — it’s a pretty nice venue. We always get excited to play State, I really just tried to throw strikes and give the team a chance.”
Morrow succeeded in giving his team a chance.
After four innings of scoreless baseball, the fifth inning provided some much-anticipated action.
MSU junior Jeff Holm hit into a fielders choice that scored a run. Then, a Ricky Clark throwing error scored another run, giving MSU a 2-0 lead that chased Morrow out of the game.
Freshman Torsten Boss added a single off Enns’ first pitch that gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead.
Sophomore Scott Phillion started the CMU rally in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single. Clark sacrificed and moved Phillion over to second base before freshman and Midland native Jordan Dean drew a walk.
Senior Billy Anderson added and RBI-single, setting up the play that arguably won the game for the Chippewas.
Junior Brendan Emmett struck out, but the ball was dropped and Emmett made it safely to first. A dropped ball bat first base on the throw scored Dean. It cut the lead to 3-2.
Senior catcher Dale Cornstubble hit an RBI-single to right that scored Anderson and tied the game. Senior James Teas then hit a line drive to right-center that scored Emmett and Cornstubble. It gave the Chippewas a 5-3 lead.
Coach Steve Jaksa said he liked how the team responded.
“We took advantage of one of their mistakes," he said. "It was just a matter of when, and we got three or four hits there in a row. We were able to respond right away and we pitched really well down the stretch.”
The Chippewas (21-13, 10-2 Mid-American Conference) added another run to make it 6-3 before bringing in sophomore Zach Cooper in the ninth, who picked up his second save of the season.
“I would hope this is just a continuation of how we have been playing,” Jaksa said. “Yeah, it is a good win. I was happy with the way our guys played tonight and sure we are going to carry that into the weekend.”
The Chippewas face Ball State this weekend beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday at Theunissen Stadium in a matchup of the top two teams in the MAC.
