Chippewas lose more than Game 2 against Broncos
It was senior day for Central Michigan Friday and Western Michigan didn’t seem to care, spoiling the day with a 5-3 win.
The Broncos (25-26, 14-11 Mid-American Conference) not only spoiled the Chippewas' senior day, but they made is so the Chippewas can’t win their third-straight Mid-American Conference West Division Championship following a Toledo win earlier against Eastern Michigan.
"The initial thought is that we're not going to win the title," said head coach Steve Jaksa. "We wanted the opportunity to do that in the final week of the season, Toledo won back-to-back 12-inning games and we weren't able to keep up one last time."
Junior Pat Kaminska battled through five-plus innings with three earned runs on seven hits and four walks and received the loss.
Senior Ryan Longstreth didn’t fare much better out of the bullpen, going 2.3 innings giving up a run on three hits before he was replaced by freshman Sean Renzi who made his third appearance this week.
"Pat (Kaminska) wasn't very strong today and he'd tell you himself," Jaksa said. "He just doesn't walk four guys in one outing, he would throw two guys really good and then walk on four pitches and that's just uncharacteristic."
CMU looked to have this game with a 3-2 lead after five innings behind back-to-back RBI hits from senior center fielder Tyler Hall and junior shortstop Jordan Dean.
Dean also lead the team defensively by making a handful of good plays that kept the WMU lead minimal.
"I think we've been playing solid defense, (and) that's why we've been going on the streak that we've been able to go on," Jaksa said. "Jordan made a couple great plays out there."
Although CMU can’t win the MAC West title it can keep another streak alive. With a win Saturday, the Chippewas can complete its third straight 30-win season.
"It's all about winning this next game and going in (to the MAC tournament) with momentum," Jaksa said. "We want to send our seniors off a certain way."
CMU has to like its chances Saturday with junior Dietrich Enns making the 2:05 p.m. start. Enns comes into his start winning his last four by not allowing a run in 19-straight innings.
"Having Dietrich on the mound throwing how he has been, if they don't score any runs we'll be in a good position," Jaksa said.
