Alex Borglin's effort pushes CMU past MSU 7-5 in baseball
The swirling wind took the ball and carried it past the left field foul line.
Central Michigan left fielder Alex Borglin came sprinting past the foul line, eyes up focused on the ball that was crashing back down.
Borglin reached out with his glove and smack.
Crashing into the foul wall was Borglin who instantly clutched his ribs with his hand, and the ball in his glove.
He then flashed a smile to his teammates in the dugout who instantly erupted with cheers.
That toughness would go on to lead CMU in a victory 7-5 over visiting Michigan State.
CMU improves to 23-14 while MSU falls to 20-14.
Head coach Steve Jaksa loved the effort that Borglin gave against MSU.
“He made a great catch,” Jaksa said. “Great effort, great catch. I thought on the ball where he turned and ran, he got behind it, the ball went up into the wind and started drifting on him. He beat the ball to the spot. He is playing out there really well and I like his at bat approach.”
While CMU played mostly clean, it was the opposite for MSU who committed five total errors with three of them coming in one inning.
“You play as hard as you can to try and force things,” Jaksa said. “I felt like we did a good job today, we played really good small ball. We bunted really well and score two runs off bunts in the third inning. They made a couple mistakes trying to turn a double play.”
With the win, it gives CMU the season series win over MSU. It’s the first time CMU has done that since 2009, and has the chance to go for the sweep on May 13 when the two teams play at Comerica Park in Detroit.
“We hadn’t done it in awhile,” Jaksa said. “It’s a big deal for us, it was good to win the series because that’s what starts a rivalry. When it comes to May 13, we are going to be greedy and want that third win. Right now we will enjoy this tonight.”
