CMU baseball upset by Eastern Michigan in MAC tournament opener
It was a tough day at the plate for the Central Michigan baseball team Wednesday, dropping its opening game of the Mid-American Conference tournament to Eastern Michigan, 4-3.
The Chippewas' first four batters went 0-for-15 on the day, with six strikeouts and the team didn’t get a hit until the fifth inning when freshman outfielder Nick Regnier hit an RBI single to make it a 3-1 game.
“Quite frankly, we didn’t swing the bat all that well today,” said head coach Steve Jaksa. “I think every guy down the line will say they didn’t have as good of at bats as they would’ve wanted today.”
Senior pitcher Zach Cooper takes the loss, even though he threw a complete game while allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out six with 137 pitches thrown.
“Zach pitched a hell of a game for us,” Jaksa said. “We couldn’t ask any more of him, he went out there and threw very well.”
Eagles starter Neil Butara dominated CMU in his six and 1/3 innings pitched. He gave up just three hits and struck out seven batters, including senior outfielder Tyler Hall three times, to give his team the strong lead.
But once Butara came out of the game, the Chippewas gained some life against an EMU bullpen that ranks near the bottom of the MAC in ERA.
Senior third baseman Eric Wrozek got an RBI off a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to make a 4-2 deficit for the Chippewas and redshirt freshman second baseman Pat MacKenzie followed up with an RBI single up the middle to make it a one-run game.
“We did have some guys who did some good things today,” Jaksa said.
But CMU need one more run and it couldn’t get it in the ninth after Wrozek and MacKenzie struck out with runners on first and second after junior first baseman Jordan Adams hit his second single of the game and junior Reid Rooney drew a walk with one out.
“We needed one more hit,” Jaksa said. “That’s the bottom line.”
Fortunately for the Chippewas, it’s a double-elimination tournament and they’ll be back to All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, at 9 a.m. Thursday against the loser of the No. 2 seed Toledo-No. 7 seed Miami game.
Only two teams have won the MAC tournament after losing the first game of the tournament.
