Baseball prepares for road trip, starting with Bowling Green on Friday
After dropping its previous game at home, baseball will be on the road for a three-game series against Bowling Green.
In games against three Mid-American Conference opponents this season, the Chippewas are 8-1. The combination of good starting pitching and timely offense has shown the team can compete with anybody.
Going into the first game of this weekend's series against the Falcons, CMU has a team ERA of 2.92, which is good enough for best in the conference. It is not only the best earned run average in the MAC, but the next closest team to the Chippewas is Kent State, who are nearly a full earned run behind CMU, with a 3.90 ERA.
Consistency on the pitching staff will be an important factor in seeing how the Chippewas will stack up against Bowling Green this weekend. However, on the other side of the ball, however, Steve Jaksa's lineup has been a source of consistency so far.
Offensively, CMU is ranked closer toward the middle of the pack. Their overall .264 batting average is the sixth best in the conference, but this does not take away from the clutch and timely hitting the team has received since the beginning of of the season.
The dual threat of the Logan and Nick Regnier have been a major factor in the Chippewas' offense to this point in the season. Logan, a sophomore, and Nick, a junior have scored a combined 62 runs this year, putting them in the top two on the team in the category.
This is a positive sign not just for the brothers, but for CMU's offense as a whole.
The scoring proficiency of the Regniers shows that collectively, CMU is doing a good job of cashing in on scoring opportunities. As a team, the Chippewas have a .365 on-base percentage and 151 RBIs, 30 more RBIs than their opponents.
This has translated to CMU outscoring opponents 182-140 this season.
Bowling Green will be defending Warren E. Steller Field. They come into the three-game series experiencing varying levels of success with an overall record of 12-17 and a 4-5 conference record.
First pitch for Friday's game is set for 1 p.m.
After facing the Falcons, CMU will then return to Theunissen Stadium for a game against Michigan State before going back on the road, to take on Northern Illinois for three games and Notre Dame for one.
