CMU baseball takes Game 2 against NIU behind solid start from Patrick Kaminska
Patrick Kaminska battled on the hill as his team battled to a 3-1 win Saturday against Northern Illinois.
Kaminska went 7 2/3 innings, giving up eight hits but only allowing one run to help the Chippewas (22-25, 11-9 Mid-American Conference) take the series against the Huskies (14-32, 7-12 MAC) in DeKalb, Ill.
“He (Kaminska) threw really well,” said head coach Steve Jaksa. “He didn’t hit anybody, he didn’t walk anybody and had command on both sides of the plate and put us in a real good position.”
Kaminska needed to be on his game because NIU senior starting pitcher Jake Hermsen pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out 11 batters.
One of those three runs came off the bat of redshirt junior designated hitter Reid Rooney, who hit his first career home run in the seventh inning that capped off the 3-1 score.
“The pitcher just left a fastball up and I put a pretty good swing on it, and I’m sure the wind blowing out helped it a little bit too,” Rooney said.
Redshirt freshman second basemen Pat MacKenzie continued to hit as he went 2-for-3 with a triple to add some pop to bottom of the CMU lineup.
The Chippewas are in the thick of the Mid-American Conference West Division race, trailing Eastern Michigan by one game and division-leading Toledo by two.
“It’s not over yet -- we have to come back again tomorrow,” Rooney said. “We’re still in a position race for the MAC tournament and MAC West championship so we need to come back with the same intensity.”
Not only come back with the intensity from the last two games, but with the defense as well. The CMU defense, which has been a struggle this season, hasn’t committed an error in the series.
“We’re making more and more of a conscience effort to be consistent,” Jaksa said. “We’ve worked hard and don’t want to accept errors. We’re getting tougher (about it).”
The Chippewas will be looking for the sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday when junior Dietrich Enns takes the mound.
