Baseball routs Northern Illinois
The Central Michigan bats were out on Friday as they helped it take Game 1 of the series with Northern Illinois 11-2 in DeKalb, Ill.
The Chippewas (21-25, 10-9 Mid-American Conferece) were aided by a three-run third inning to get things started and five-run ninth inning to cap the game off and bury the Huskies (14-32, 7-12 MAC).
Junior shortstop Jordan Dean continued to lead CMU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs on Friday.
And Dean wasn’t the only Chippewa swinging a hot bat on the day. Senior catcher William Arnold added three RBIs with a double in the ninth and senior centerfielder Tyler Hall went two-for-four with a RBI of his own.
Redshirt freshman second baseman Pat MacKenzie continued to swing after being named MAC West Division Player of the Week by going 2-for-3 with three runs and hitting a leadoff double in the third inning.
Senior Zach Cooper gave up two earned runs on 10 hits in eight innings, striking out five and walking no one.
The win marks a three-game winning streak for CMU, the first on the year.
Every game is important for the Chippewas as they continue to try and move up the MAC West standings, as they sat one game behind Eastern Michigan going into the day.
CMU is back in action Saturday at 4:05 p.m. as junior Pat Kaminska takes the mound to try and give his team its first four-game winning streak in more than a year.
