Baseball suspends play one out away from first Mid-American Conference victory
The Central Michigan baseball team was one out away from sealing its first Mid-American Conference win of the season. Then, darkness struck at Theunissen Stadium.
CMU led Kent State 13-10 with two outs in the top of the ninth before play was suspended due to darkness. The game will resume at noon on Sunday. The Chippewas' current record is 4-18 (0-1 in the MAC).
“We wanted to finish the game but we ran out of light," said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. "That’s the way it goes. There’s not much you can do about it.”
When play was suspended, one Golden Flashes runner was on first base and junior right-handed pitcher Jordan Grosjean was pitching to Kent State's Dylan Rosa. Jaksa said Grosjean will return to the mound and the lineup will be in tact.
“There won’t be anything different," Jaksa said.
The game was supposed to begin at 2:05 p.m., but was delayed to a 4:05 p.m. start due to field conditions. CMU and Kent State played the first game of the series in Grand Rapids due to snow in Mount Pleasant earlier in the week.
The game was suspended at approximately 6:54 p.m. According to weather.com, the sun set at 7:59 p.m., Saturday.
Before play was suspended
After dropping a 17-5 decision to Kent State on Friday, it took one inning on Saturday for the Central Michigan baseball team to climb back into the series.
A six-run third inning broke a 2-2 tie. The Chippewas loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning when back-to-back singles from junior infielder Alex Borglin and senior designated hitter Zack Fields gave CMU a 4-2 lead.
Senior outfielder Ryan Heeke reached and then advanced to second on an error, scoring Borglin and sophomore outfielder Daniel Jipping to push the lead to four, 6-2.
Junior catcher Robert Greenman, who had two hits two RBI this season before Saturday, singled down the left-field line to score Fields and Heeke and to push CMU's lead to six. Kent State starter Andy Ravel was pulled after Greenman's hit.
CMU converted a squeeze play in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third, senior infielder Joe Houlihan laid down a bunt to score Borglin to give CMU a 10-3 lead.
Greenman finished with a team-high 5 RBI and has 7 RBI in four hits this season. His last RBI was courtesy of a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to score Fields. CMU led 11-3 after the fourth.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Michael Brettell started for the Chippewas. He went 3 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and stuck out while walking five.
“I thought Michael pitched well in the period of time that he was in there," Jaksa said. "I was very happy with the innings that he gave us.”
Senior right-handed pitcher Sean Renzi pitched three innings and allowed four runs. Senior southpaw Jimmy McNamara and Grosjean combined to pitch the final 2 1/3 innings before play was suspended.
Borglin and Fields each went 2-for-4 with three runs scored for CMU. Both teams surrendered 10 hits and the Golden Flashes committed three errors compared to one for CMU.
Kent State's biggest inning was the seventh, when three runners came across the plate to cut the Chippewas' lead to 12-8.
The series finale is scheduled 30 minutes following the suspended game, according to Jaksa.
