CMU baseball sweeps Saturday doubleheader, takes two of three at Ball State
Despite an 8-1 loss on Sunday, the Central Michigan baseball team won its fourth consecutive conference series against Ball State over the weekend.
On Saturday the Chippewas swept the Cardinals in a doubleheader, including a 7-6 come-from-behind win in Game 2.
With the series win, CMU moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
“You have got to keep playing hard and play for every inning and give it your best,” said head coach Steve Jaksa. “There are no guarantees - you just have to go out and work hard (and) maybe a rally will start.”
In Game 1 of the doubleheader on Saturday, CMU senior left-hander Trent Howard (4-3) pitched seven strong innings to pick up his fourth win of the season. Howard allowed two earned runs while striking out eight and only issuing one walk in 111 pitches.
In Game 2 the Chippewas capitalized on a couple of Ball State mistakes in the ninth inning to go on to win another late-inning game.
CMU (20-20, 9-6 MAC) has fought its way back into the MAC West conversation, winning nine of its last 11 games. Jaksa said that Saturday’s sweep was huge for his team.
“It was a see-saw battle that went back and forth,” Jaksa said. “We put ourselves in a good position. It was a big momentum turn for us.”
Ball State (12-25, 8-6 MAC) had won four in a row coming into the series before being swept on Saturday.
The Cardinals got out to an 8-0 lead on Sunday as they hit CMU starter Jake Sabol for six runs and 10 hits in just 3 1/3 innings pitched.
Morgan Coombs (4-3) held the Chippewas offense in check, throwing eight strong innings while striking out six to pick up his fourth win of the season.
CMU only mustered five hits throughout the game on Sunday.
“He kept us off-balance and his stuff was a little different,” Jaksa said. “We had to take a different approach than what we were used to.”
The Chippewas have a couple of mid-week games on tap starting at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday against Bowling Green at Theunissen Stadium. They will travel to Rochester on Wednesday to face Oakland.
BGSU (15-21, 8-7 MAC) has lost three of its last five games but will be looking for some redemption against on Tuesday. The last time the two teams met was in the semifinals of the MAC tournament when CMU eliminated the Falcons, winning two of three games, to end their season.
The game, postponed from its original March date because of inclement weather, will not count toward both team's conference record.
