CMU baseball explodes for 23 runs in victory over Northwood
Sophomore pitcher Michael Conte throws a pitch to catcher Nick Dardas on Tuesday against Northwood University at Theunissen Stadium.
Trailing 10-9 in the third inning, junior first baseman Danny Wuestenfeld found himself in a 2-1 count with the bases loaded, Wuestenfeld unloaded on the next pitch sending it to deep centerfield which resulted in a bases clearing double and Central Michigan baseball regaining a 12-10 lead.
On a brisk 40-degree day CMU (22-13) took on Northwood (27-12) in a non-conference single game in which the Chippewas exploded offensively giving them a 23-13 victory to secure their fifth-straight win.
“The good news is we're playing good baseball and we're finding different ways to win,” head coach Jordan Bischell said. “We've had some low scoring games, we've had some comebacks, we've had had some games where we go off on offense and you got to be able to win in multiple ways. We're running the bases while we're hitting for a little power that gives us some diversity offensively. It's good to have that confidence now.”
The bats stayed hot for CMU in the bottom of the first when graduate student outfielder Garrett Navarra got a hang of a ball and drove it over the right field fence for his third home run of the season giving the Chippewas a 3-0 lead.
However, NU wasn’t going down without a fight as it took the lead in the top of the second on back-to-back doubles with the highlight being senior outfielder Jacob Rybicki’s two-run double giving NU a 4-3 lead.
CMU would retake the lead in the second when graduate student Justin Simpson doubled to right scoring two runs. Simpson would steal home later in the inning giving the Chippewas a 7-4 lead.
Yet again, the Timberwolves bounced back scoring six runs after they had six-straight runners reach base safely while four of them were base hits giving NU a 10-7 lead.
Freshman infielder Christian Mitchelle led off CMU’s half of the third with a single followed by three pitches later with a two-run homer off the bat of redshirt sophomore Robby Morgan IV drawing the Chippewas within one. Wuestenfeld’s double capped off the inning giving CMU a 12-10 lead.
CMU continued to build a lead in the fifth when freshman outfielder Cole Prout tripled off the center field wall scoring two, while junior catcher Nick Dardas singled in the next at-bat scoring Prout giving CMU a 16-11 lead.
CMU would score seven more runs in the contest with six of them coming in the eighth this highlighted by junior catcher Drew Stengrens two RBI double, followed up by a two RBI single by junior outfielder Jacob Donahue.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Michael Conte started the game for CMU but was pulled from the game after two innings allowing six runs on eight hits, while also striking out four.
Graduate student left-handed pitcher Ryan Culley picked up his first win as a Chippewa as in 2 1/3 innings he gave up one run, on four hits walking four and striking out two.
NU pitched seven different players with the most effective being junior left-handed pitcher Aaron Miller who threw two innings while allowing no runs on no hits and walking and striking out two.
Six Chippewas had two hits apiece, while Navarra led the way with four RBI’s, Simpson swiped five bags and scored five times.
CMU is back at it on Wednesday as it takes on Madonna in a non-conference single game at Theunissen stadium with first pitch at 1 p.m.
