Battling Mother Nature, CMU Baseball pours it on NIU
Battling adverse conditions, Central Michigan baseball (15-10, 10-1) rode Jordan Patty’s right arm to an 8-2 victory over Northern Illinois on Friday in Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas’ winning streak is now at five games as they maintain control of first place in the Mid-American Conference.
“It wasn't one of the prettiest games on either side,” said head coach Jordan Bischel. “There were some free passes and some errors. But, I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of the opportunities. We had some good patience at the plate and did some good things on the bases, that more than anything. I thought Jordan Paddy was just outstanding, and that gave us a chance.”
After giving up a hit to the first batter he faced, Patty (3-2) settled in and struck out the next two batters. Patty continued to overwhelm the Huskies batters throughout the afternoon earning the win. He finished with nine strikeouts and one earned run through 7.1 innings.
“He just did a terrific job,” Bischel said. “He was just on point. He was keeping the ball down and executing multiple pitches for strikes. He did a great job of locating his stuff, and that led to a lot of success.”
Due to a 30-minute rain delay, CMU had to adjust its pregame routine but that didn’t stop Bischel from ensuring his team was ready to go.
“We didn't hit on the field because of the rain,” Bischel said. “So just making sure we were all on the same page, ready to go from the start. It helped that (Patty) came out and had a really good first inning. Then we’re able to do some things on the bases to get off to a fast start.”
With Patty dealing, the Chippewas offense went to work in the bottom of the first inning.
Opening the game with a walk, senior Mario Camilletti quickly stole second base. Sophomore Jakob Marsee followed Camilletti’s lead and took a free pass to first.
After a sac-fly from sophomore Danny Wuestenfeld scored Camilletti, Marsee stole home to push the score to 2-0.
“(Marsee) stole home in the first inning, which was just electric to see,” Bischel said. “Then he had that two-run single that turned the 3-1 game into a 5-1 game, that was a really big swing for us. We had been struggling to square the ball up, and I think it was kind of a back-breaker. (Marsee) had a nice game.”
Marsee finished the day 1-for-3 at the plate while tallying three RBI, two walks and two runs. Camilletti added an RBI and two walks.
The Chippewas recorded 13 walks as a team, compared to two for NIU.
Although there were multiple positives for CMU things took a turn in the seventh inning.
With a mixture of sleet and rain drenching everything at Keilitz Field, sophomore Jacob Donahue drove a single through the left side of the infield. However, after taking advantage of a wild pitch and advancing to second, Donahue limped around the bag.
Bischel quickly replaced him with sophomore Drew Lechnir.
“It’s just a little bit of a leg injury,” Bushel said. “We’re not totally sure, he'll go with our trainer tomorrow. Hopefully, nothing serious, but we'll need a little bit of time to evaluate it.”
The Chippewas will face NIU on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Theunissen Stadium for game two of a four-game series.
“It’s gonna be another tough game with the elements (Saturday) cold and windy, but we've been in a lot of that lately,” Bischel said. “We’ve just got to come out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Hopefully, that leads to good things.”
