Stellar pitching lifts CMU baseball to defeat Oakland
After Central Michigan baseball put up two runs in its half of the second inning, sophomore right-handed pitcher Nate Ross found himself in a jam with the bases loaded and one out. The Chippewas pitcher worked out of the jam striking out the next two batters and keeping CMU with a lead they wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the game.
With thunderstorms in the forecast, the Chippewas (15-12, 5-4) traveled to Oakland University (10-17, 4-5) for a single game on Tuesday and came out victorious with a 6-3 win over the Grizzlies.
CMU shut down Oakland through seven innings of Tuesday’s contest. Starting on the mound for the Chippewas was Ross, going 2 1/3 innings giving up two hits, two walks, while striking out five and giving up no runs.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Evan Waters entered the game in relief for the Chippewas throwing 4 1/3 innings, punching out six and allowed one hit and a walk.
The Grizzlies on the other hand, tossed eight different pitchers throughout the game, this being highlighted by redshirt senior Brett Hagen who tossed three innings, while striking out three, allowing one walk and no hits.
CMU who has struggled at the plate as of late, got its offense going early in the top of the second after a double steal by freshmen infielders Christian Mitchelle and Luke Sefcik setup CMU with two runners in scoring position. With two outs, junior catcher Drew Stengren singled to left field, driving in the two runners to give the Chippewas a 2-0 lead.
The Chippewas would add two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings when Mitchelle scored on a balk, while junior Jacob Donahue scored via wild pitch.
CMU totaled nine hits on the day with Sefcik, Donahue, and redshirt sophomore Robby Morgan IV contributing two apiece.
Oakland had a tough time at the plate through seven innings as they were only able to amount three hits through the first seven innings of the contest.
In the eighth inning, the Grizzlies almost doubled its hit total by adding on two doubles in the inning. Oakland tacked on two runs one on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, while the other came on a Lucas Loos double to cut the lead to 4-2.
After the Chippewas scored two more in the top of the ninth, the Grizzlies attempted a two out rally in the bottom half on an RBI double off the bat of senior Ian Cleary, but the next batter would fly out to end the game.
CMU hits the road this weekend as it heads to Northern Illinois for a three game series staring on Friday at 4 p.m.
