Lehnert and Leichman help propel baseball to a 10-1 win against Eastern Michigan.
Baseball took early control Saturday and took game two with Eastern Michigan 10-1 with 19 hits and a complete game performance.
Head coach Steve Jaksa said the overall intensity both at the plate and in the field benefited the team.
“It was completely different then (Friday),” Jaksa said. “We have to play to win and not forget about the objective, which is to get on base, move the guy around and figure out a way to get him in. We were able to do that this afternoon and guys had big hits. We have to put constant pressure on the other team and not on ourselves.”
Freshmen pitcher Taylor Lehnert was in a jam in the first inning with two men on and no outs, but, after getting two fly-outs to left and a ground ball to shortstop, he kept the Eagles off the board in the first inning.
Jaksa said he was happy with how Lehnert was able to attack the strike zone late in the game and locate his pitches.
“We gave him a few runs and he really took over,” Jaksa said. “He did a great job. We’re really proud of him. He zeroed in and really started throwing some good pitches at the bottom of the zone.”
Lehnert came into the game with a 2-2 record and a 4.32 ERA with 20 strikeouts. He pitched a complete game while allowing five hits and only one run.
Freshmen Logan Regnier had four hits while scoring two runs and one RBI. Sophomore Cody Leichman had five hits and had three RBI on the day. Sophomore Pat Mackenzie added three RBI and two hits.
Leichman’s five hit game was the first for a Chippewa since May 8, 2009. The 19 hits for CMU is a season-high.
In the third inning a sacrifice fly to right field from Mackenzie tied the game at one in the third.
Leichman led off the fourth inning for the Chippewas with a double to deep right field and advanced to third on a sac bunt from freshmen Morgan Oliver. Goodwin would drive in Leichman on a single to right field making it 2-1 CMU for his first career RBI.
It was a great team effort and Leichman said he thinks that their approach at the plate helped.
“I was getting lucky, getting some balls over the plate today,” Leichman said. “I got lucky enough to have some runners on in front of me as well. The approach today was fantastic. We ended up getting a lot of pitches today that we could drive and stay true to our game plan. It was a great team win today.”
The sixth inning ended up being the biggest inning offensively for the Chippewas as they scored five runs.
Senior Tom Lally singled in the sixth inning and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Logan Regnier hit a line drive single to center driving in Lally making it 5-1 in the sixth.
Sophomore Nick Regnier continued the Chippewas offensive attack in the sixth. He singled, moving Logan to third with only one out in the inning. Next up was senior Jordan Adams who singled to right, driving in another run.
A two-run RBI single to center from Leichman blew the game wide open, making it 8-1 and a throwing allowed Leichman to reach second and scoring another run.
Freshmen Zack Fields would pinch hit in the eighth inning for Adams and singled to left. He advanced to third on a single from sophomore Tyler Huntey. A RBI single to left from Leichman for his fifth hit of the day scored Huney ending the game at 10-1.
