Baseball squad salvages one game
Chris McCarty
The senior center fielder led the offense in the second game victory with three hits to salvage a win and move the Chippewas to 6-8 in conference play. Western won the first game 3-1 behind the pitching of senior left hander Pat Misch, who outdualed Central redshirt freshman Ty Dunham.
Central responded with a 13-7 win in Sunday’s second game.
“I thought there was some well-played mostly mistake-free baseball today, and I’m happy with how the team has been playing,” said Head Coach Steve Jaksa, despite the team’s diminishing chances of qualifying for the MAC postseason conference tournament.
The top six teams qualify for the May 21-24 tournament and it is held at the first-place team’s field. Central is two games behind Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan, who are tied for third in the MAC West. Central has 10 MAC games left, eight of them against the Eagles and Huskies.
“We’re not urgent because that means you have do this and you have to do that. What we have to do is play good baseball and get some wins in these upcoming league games,” Jaksa said.
Dunham struck out eight, allowing three runs Sunday in a complete game performance.
“If he continues to pitch like that, he will win some games the rest of the way,” Jaksa said.
Misch dominated for the Broncos, pitching six innings and allowing just one run. The Northbrook, Ill. native was selected in the fifth round of the 2002 draft last summer by the Houston Astros.
Redshirt freshman Mark Abro provided the day’s first run for WMU with a solo home run in the fifth over the wall in left.
Western added two more in the sixth on consecutive RBI doubles by Mike Demetral and Steve Horn.
Central’s seventh inning rally fell short after getting the first two hitters on base. Grubb scored on a Brian Campbell ground out, but Zach Straayer retired the next batter to close the game and earn the save.
The Chippewas scored two runs in the first inning of the second game, but the rally ended as Grubb was thrown out at home after Western starter J.R. Mathes picked off Mike Gates.
Junior Jeff Opalewski pitched 4 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and three runs. Junior David LeMieux pitched the rest of the way, improving his record to 4-0.
Four hits was all the team needed to score five runs in the fifth. Sophomore second baseman David Latour Jr.’s two-run double put Central up 9-3.
Western rallied for four run in the eighth, but Central scored four of their own in the bottom of the inning to put the game out of reach.
Western remains in first place in the MAC West with a 12-8 conference mark.
Brad Mumma led Western to a 3-2 victory in Friday’s opener in a well-pitched game by the senior and CMU junior starter T.J. Johnson. Mumma pitched a complete game and struck out five CMU batters.
WMU scored three runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to take control of Friday’s second game and earn a 9-3 victory. Abro had three hits and four RBI in the game.
Central will play against Chicago State in a rescheduled game Thursday at Theunissen Stadium at 3 p.m. The team will then host a four-game weekend series against Eastern Michigan with games Friday and Sunday and a doubleheader Saturday.
