WMU 9, CMU 7: Chippewas lose MAC Tournament opener; face elimination
It wasn't what the Central Michigan baseball team expected, but it happened.
No. 7 Western Michigan beat CMU 9-7 in a game that started with offense, but ended with a shutdown ninth inning.
The Chippewas found themselves trailing the Broncos 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning when junior Nate Theunissen delivered his second solo home run of the game.
Solo was not the ideal situation for CMU because despite the home run, it still trailed by one heading into the ninth.
However, WMU kept piling on runs. In the top half of the inning, junior infielder Ryan McMillin added to his team-leading seventh home run of the season with a solo home run to push the lead back up to two with only three outs for the Chippewas to tie or win it.
It was a game filled with runs throughout, but senior Eric Heckaman came in and did his job--closing the door on CMU.
He walked one batter--but didn't allow a hit or run--earning a team-leading 10th save of the season.
The Chippewas look to bounce back in an elimination game at 9 a.m. tomorrow against Toledo.
