CMU baseball drops eighth-inning lead in final home game against Oakland Golden Grizzlies
The final home game of the season for the CMU baseball team was a tough one to swallow, especially for its seniors.
The Chippewas dropped the game against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Tuesday afternoon at Theunissen Stadium by a score of 7-5.
CMU held on to a 3-2 lead going into the eighth inning, but five runs by Oakland in the final two innings sealed the game.
“We definitely wanted to go out with a ‘W’ but for me it was nice to go out on that mound one last time,” said senior pitcher Jake Sabol. “If we play like we did today we won’t be around for too long, we made a lot of mental mistakes.”
Sabol started the game on the mound for CMU in what was a staff day for the Chippewas as they ran six different pitchers out to pitch throughout the game. Sabol pitched the first inning and was followed by junior Ryan Longstreth who pitched the next two.
Sophomore Scott Marinier pitched the next inning and allowed one earned run.
Senior Bryce Morrow followed Marinier and threw two scoreless innings while striking out four Oakland batters. Junior Harvey Martin took his turn following Morrow, allowing one earned run in one inning pitched.
Junior Jon Weaver finished the outing for CMU but struggled a bit, allowing OU to score four runs in the top of the ninth inning. Weaver (2-1) was charged with the loss. Oakland’s Jake Arendsen (3-1) picked up his third win of the season in relief.
“We did have a plan on the mound that we wanted to accomplish,” said head coach Steve Jaksa. “Unfortunately, the ninth inning was not a good inning for us and it was very disappointing with how that came about.”
CMU (27-24 overall, 15-8 Mid-American Conference) did show some fight in the bottom of the ninth inning. Seniors Robbie Harman and Brendan Emmett both scored runs in the ninth for CMU but the comeback fell short when sophomore Jordan Adams struck out swinging to end the game.
Harman, Emmett, and fellow senior Matt Faiman combined for four of the five runs scored in the game for the Chippewas.
It was a tough game for the seniors to lose to an Oakland team with only 16 wins on the season.
“The team will be ready to play (leading up to the championship) regardless of what this game showed. We have shown great resiliency through the course of the year,” Jaksa said. “We will be ready to play against Eastern Michigan. We have got a lot yet to play for.”
The Chippewas will begin their final conference series against Eastern Michigan on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium.
The EMU Eagles (33-18, 15-9 MAC) sit just a half a game behind the Chippewas for first place in the MAC West Division. This weekend will be a key series for both teams as they look to get the highest seed possible in the MAC Tournament, which begins on May 25 in Chillicothe, Ohio.
