WITH VIDEO: CMU unable to weather early mistakes, lose 3-1 to MSU at Comerica Park
DETROIT - With everything going for them, the Central Michigan baseball team felt a sense of pride going into Wednesday's historic game at Comerica Park.
Holding a 62-46 series lead and riding a 4-0 mark against the Big Ten, CMU couldn't come up with enough offense against Michigan State, losing 3-1 in front of an announced crowd of 2,169.
Offense from both teams came at a fast rate before cooling off and leading to a 1-hour, 53-minute game, the Chippewas' quickest all season.
"We wanted to win, but a couple plays made a difference," Jaksa said. "Our guys have great resolve - we'll continue to come back and compete well in the Mid-American Conference."
Michigan State (23-10) scored three runs off senior right-hander Bryce Morrow in the first. Second baseman Ryan Jones jump started the Spartans offense, singling to the right side, while first baseman Jeff Holm followed with a run-scoring double to left-center field.
After a walk put runners on first and second, designated hitter Jared Hook reached base and advanced to second on a pair of errors, one fielding and one throwing, by sophomore Jordan Dean. By that point, the Spartans had taken a 2-0 lead. They tacked on a third run with a Joel Fisher ground out.
"The end result ended up being a 3-1 game, so you look at that and say it cost you the game," said CMU head coach Steve Jaksa. "That guy's made so many great plays that if you count the great plays and the error that was made, you take the great plays. He's going to make that play most of the time. ... Errors sometimes happen - it's the mental errors that upset you, but we didn't make any mental errors."
The Chippewas responded with offense of their own in the bottom of the first, when junior William Arnold crushed a double off the left-field wall, scoring senior Brendan Emmett, who reached base on a walk. Arnold was the only CMU player to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4.
Morrow quieted down after the first, allowing five hits the rest of his time on the mound, and finished the game allowing three runs - one earned - on seven hits in eight innings pitched.
"It's been a while (since I've been out there) and I just wanted to go out and throw strikes," Morrow said. "I settled in there after the first three innings. I had three more walks than I would've liked to had, but I figured it out."
While the pitching improved, the offense couldn't muster anymore production. After going 1-2-3 in the second and third, the Chippewas got a pair of hits in the fourth, but junior first baseman Nate Theunissen grounded out to end the threat.
They were never able to get two hits in an inning after that, as MSU starter Andrew Waszak limited CMU to five hits in seven innings while striking out six in his third win of the season.
"It was based off the fast ball, really," said Waszak, who was on the losing end of CMU's 3-1 win against the Spartans March 30 in East Lansing. "I just carried my fastball, kept it down in the zone, got ahead in the count and my secondary pitches worked from there."
CMU returns to MAC play this weekend with a 3-game series against Ball State in Muncie, Ind. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m. Friday.
