News and notes after CMU’s opening round loss to Akron
Senior outfielder Nick Regnier prepares to field a ball May 12 against Michigan State University.
Central Michigan University baseball became the second No. 1 seed to lose to the No. 8 seed in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament since the tournament expanded to eight teams in 2008.
And the only other top seed to fall in the first round (Bowling Green State University) was eliminated in the loser’s bracket in the next game.
But the Chippewas still have hope after Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the University of Akron.
Three of the past seven MAC Tournament Champions had one loss in the double-elimination tournament. The 2010 champions, the Kent State Golden Flashes, took that loss in the first round.
The Chippewas are 2-6 in the first round of the tournament since 2008.
For CMU to win the MAC Tournament, it must win Thursday, Friday, twice Saturday and once or twice Sunday. The Chippewas have won five or more games in a row twice in 2015.
If the Chippewas had won Wednesday, they would have been three or four games away from the title instead of five or six.
CMU hasn’t won the MAC Tournament since 1995, despite three regular season titles in the same span. The Chippewas also haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 1995, since the conference tournament champion is an automatic qualifier.
