Baseball blasts off at UT
Greg Burghardt
The Chippewas offense woke up, as the team bounced back to win three of the four, improving to 15-17 overall and 5-5 in the MAC.
Central scored nine runs in the eighth inning Sunday to close the series with a 12-8 victory. Senior Ryan Krueger connected for three home runs in the game.
“We were really focused on every at-bat,” said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. “We never felt out of it. I think that it was a combination of our coaches getting quality at-bats from the guys and just putting it all together. This was a good weekend for the Chippewas.”
Senior centerfielder Tommy Grubb led the charge in the eighth with a two-run double. Junior Dan Griesbaum added a two-run single in the inning and finished the game with three RBI.
Krueger had three runs scored and three RBI in the game. His second home run came in the final inning.
Toledo used six pitchers in the eighth inning, and none were effective. UT falls to 12-19 overall this season and 2-10 in conference play.
In the second game of a Saturday doubleheader, senior Joey Fahndrich (1-4) pitched well, picking up his first win of the season. Fahndrich scattered 12 hits in the complete- game effort, relinquishing three earned runs and striking out two.
“Joey now has the monkey off his back,” Jaksa said. “He was in control the entire game. He did his job and pitched a heck of a game.”
Freshman third baseman Jason Gotwalt had three hits, knocking in two runners. Senior Mike Gates, the MAC career leader in walks, added to that total with three bases on balls and two runs scored.
The first game of the double-header was quite the opposite from the game that would follow. The Chippewas defeated the Rockets 20-14.
CMU scored five runs in the first inning, including an RBI single to center by sophomore Jim Geldhof. The team would only score five more times before the final inning, in which it exploded for 10 runs, nine that came with two outs.
Jaksa isn’t too worried about his teams habit of scoring in bunches.
“I’m not worried about that because every weekend is different,” he said. “We’re going to take it how it comes. I felt like we could get it going after we got into their bullpen.”
Grubb had a strong game, scoring five runs to go along with his four hits and four RBI. Sophomore Derek Schaller added a pinch-hit grand slam.
The series opened Friday with the Rockets winning, 11-5.
“That game was a very competitive one,” Jaksa said. “It really impressed me that even though we lost the first game of the series, we never quit any game and that was very evident as we won the next three. Our attitude is never say die.”
Sophomore Ty Dunham (2-2) allowed three hits and six earned runs in one inning of work. Geldhof had three singles and a run scored in the game. Freshman Chase Welker and sophomore Brian Lautzenheiser each added an RBI.
Jaksa liked the fact the three victories pushed his team to the .500 mark in conference play, something he thinks is a big step.
“It’s very important (being .500). If you look at the conference races right now, we feel good about where we sit. The season is about half over, and we just have to keep going at it. We’re getting more confidence, and that’s just what we need.”
The team has a few days off before facing Michigan State for a single game, before facing rival Western this weekend.
