Oliver’s walk-off base hit gives Chippewas win over Spartans at Comerica Park
DETROIT--Morgan Oliver knows all about fighting through adversity.
Oliver, a junior first baseman on the Central Michigan University team, was considering quitting baseball after hitting .127 during his freshman season.
“I was in a rough stage my freshman year,” Oliver said. “During the summer I was actually thinking about quitting baseball. That was the lowest point of my life. I remember being that low and I know that I’ve worked so hard to be where I’m at right now and I’m happy where I’m at right now.”
Oliver helped CMU complete a ninth-inning comeback Wednesday against Michigan State University at Comerica Park when the game was seemingly over.
The Chippewas were down 6-0 and Oliver sat on the bench before entering the game in the eighth inning. CMU scored its first two runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth.
Oliver was first up in the bottom of the ninth, looking to spark CMU’s offense down 7-2.
“I was talking to Coach (Opalewski), saying ‘If we just get a little bit of momentum, that’s going to snowball,’” Oliver said. “There’s no way you can stop us once we get that momentum going.”
He smacked a double to left centerfield for CMU’s only extra-base hit of the night and a rally was born.
“All of a sudden, things start changing it a little bit. You can feel that momentum,” said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. “You can sense it. They can sense it. Then all of a sudden (Robert Greenman) got a big hit and all of a sudden you could hear it. You could feel it.”
Three walks, two hits and a hit batter later, Oliver returned to the plate.
This time the game was tied at seven with two outs and Chippewas occupied first and third. Down no balls and two strikes, Oliver was looking to make contact.
“I was kind of looking for something away,” Oliver said. “I got a changeup on the outer half and just kind of poked it on the right side.”
The soft ground ball found a hole between the first and second baseman and seconds later Oliver found himself at the bottom of a Chippewa dog pile. CMU completed the comeback on Oliver’s first career walk-off hit, taking down the Spartans 8-7.
“I blacked out,” Oliver said. “I turn around and I just see guys charging at me and all of a sudden I’m on the ground at the bottom of a dog pile. It was really surreal.”
After the finish, there was no doubt Oliver deserved the game ball. The only question was identifying the game ball.
“(Dylan) Goodwin came up to me after the dog pile and said, ‘Yeah, nobody touched it. It’s all yours,’” Oliver said. “Then Braxton (Markle) came up later and said ‘Yeah, this is the ball.’ I said, ‘No, Dylan just gave me the ball.’”
The Chippewas move to 25-12 after the win. With the season series tied 1-1, MSU and CMU will play once more May 12 in CMU’s final home game of the season.
CMU also leads the Mid-American Conference with its 10-2 record. They resume MAC play Friday on the road at Buffalo for a three-game series.
“It’s a really long season,” Oliver said. “You have 52 games in a short amount of time. It’s just hanging in there and working hard. I haven’t been in the lineup every time, but it just gives you more of a perspective for working hard, letting coaches know you’re working hard and not giving up.”
“We’re brothers in that locker room. We never give up until the last out.”
