Baseball takes both games against Ohio in home opener
A Bobcat batter hit a grounder to pitcher Ryan Insco. After he snagged the ball, Insco gave it a thank you kiss and threw it to first for the final out of the game.
The Chippewas were in their zone at home as they took the first two games in a doubleheader against the Ohio Bobcats in the snow.
“2-0 in the snow so far this year, we won one against Kent State and this one, so I guess we just have to play in the snow all year,” said CMU head coach Jordan Bischel jokingly.
They won the first game 5-1and took the second game 8-3 in a fifth inning comeback.
CMU (12-10, 7-1) got their six consecutive Mid-American Conference win while Ohio (11-10, 5-5) fall to .500 in the conference.
The first game of Saturdays double header was yet another showing of the strength of the Chippewas pitching.
“They're excited to be here, we’ve played, these last four years, incredibly well at home,” said Bischel. “Quite frankly I don’t think a lot of teams’ love coming here, it’s north, it’s usually colder than their accustomed to and our guys love playing here in-front of the fans having that energy.”
CMU took the first game 5-1 with right hander Jordan Patty for the start and righty Ryan Insco with the close.
Patty pitched a dominant eight innings, allowing just one unearned run with nine punch-outs, only two hits and two walks as he got his second win of the year. Insco came in as the closer and closed the game in three batters faced.
The Chippewas got took the early lead by three runs in the fourth inning that included one walk, three singles and two sacrifice flies.
CMU second baseman Mario Camilletti had two hits and two RBIs in four at-bats. Shortstop Justin Simpson had another good outing with two hits, one run on four at-bats and left fielder Jacob Donahue had two hits, one RBI and one run.
Game two
The start of the seven-inning game two was not what the Chippewas intended as they gave up two runs in the first inning and one run in the third.
In the bottom of the second CMU catcher Adam Proctor showed off his power by hitting a near homerun that hit the top of the right field wall that ultimately resulted in a double.
Bobcat freshman Huds Boncal got his first career start and pitced 4.1 innings with five strikeouts, two walks, five hits and two earned runs. He was pulled after letting two batters on base in the bottom of the fifth.
On the flip side for the Chippewas, the fifth inning turned the tides of the game. They came back from a three-run deficit and took the lead 5-3 scoring four runs runs with two outs.
Donahue came up to bat in the fifth with bases loaded and two outs, he scorched a ball on the first base line for a double and brought in two runs to tie the game.
After Donahue's hit, Proctor had a battle with the pitcher but eventually got a single in the gap between first and second bringing in two more runs to take the lead.
CMU lefty Garrett Navarra got the start and pitched 3.1 innings with one strikeout, eight hits and two earned runs scored. He was replaced right hander Jake Jones who threw 1.2 productive innings with three punchouts, zero runs and zero hits.
The bats for the Chippewas remained hot in the sixth inning as they went on to score three more runs to effectively take it out of reach for the Bobcats.
To close the game CMU southpaw Ryan Palmblad continued his dominance with his 14th consecutive scoreless inning. He pitched two innings with two hits, one walk and one strikeout in the seventh to seal the game.
“He’s really got his confidence back, he’s experienced veteran he know how to pitch and obviously he’s on a nice little roll right now,” said Bischel.
Proctor finished with two hits and two RBIs off three at-bats, Donahue also had two hits and two RBIs off four at-bats, and right fielder Jacob Marsee finished with two hits, two runs and one walk on three at-bats.
Four other Chippewas found success at the plate getting at least one or more hits.
