Baseball drops series opener to BGSU
Sophomore Alex Borglin steps up to bat for the Chippewas Friday at Theunissen Stadium. Borglin had two hits and a run for the Chippewas in the loss to Bowling Green Friday afternoon.
The Central Michigan University baseball team dropped the series opener against Bowling Green State University 7-2 Friday afternoon at Theunissen Stadium.
There was a moment of silence held before the first pitch in honor of Bill Theunissen, who passed away last Saturday. He was known as the ‘Father of CMU Baseball’ and was the head baseball coach at CMU from 1953 -1962.
Head Coach Steve Jaksa said he was not satisfied with his team’s performance Friday afternoon.
“It was just very disappointing,” said Jaksa. “I thought that the first three or four innings were just hard to figure out. We didn't seem to have the kind of intensity that we’ve been bringing to the game. I don't have a clear understanding as to why that would be today.”
BGSU set the tone early offensively with a home run on the second pitch of the game to take the 1-0 lead.
The Chippewas (27-14, 12-4 MAC) remained cold for the majority of the game finishing the day with five hits.
Sophomore pitcher Nick Deeg (6-3, 3.08 ERA) started on the mound for the Chippewas.
Deeg struggled with his control for the second consecutive start going four and two-thirds innings giving up three earned runs on seven hits with five walks.
Jaksa said although Deeg struggled in the fourth inning, he was pleased with the level of competiveness he showed on the mound.
“He’s (Nick Deeg) going to be ok,” Jaksa said. “Nick competed really well today. There was not a reason to leave him out there in that situation. His ball was getting up a little bit. I have a lot of confidence in Nick. He will bounce back. I thought he was better than he was last Friday.”
Sophomore left fielder Alex Borglin led the Chippewas in hits with two while also finishing with one run scored.
The first scoring threat for the Chippewas came in the second inning after senior center fielder Nick Regnier reached first base and then stole second with one out.
The Falcons led off with a double down the left field line in the fifth inning.
A throwing error by junior third baseman Joe Houlihan to second base would allow a runner to score for BGSU.
That was followed by a sacrifice bunt scoring the third run of the game for the Falcons in the fifth inning.
BG loaded the bases following a walk in the fifth inning with two outs. Another run would score on a single to left field making it a 4-0 Falcons lead.
Freshman pitcher Sean Martens took over for Deeg in the fifth inning.
CMU was still without a hit heading into the sixth inning.
Junior first baseman Zack Fields broke up the no-hitter with a single to right center in the sixth inning.
Sophomore left fielder Alex Borglin singled and then advanced to second on the error by the third baseman putting runners at second and third for CMU with one out in the sixth inning.
Senior second baseman Pat MacKenzie came through with an RBI groundout scoring CMU’s first run of the game in the sixth inning.
Borglin led off the eighth inning with a double down the right field line.
The second run of the game for CMU scored on an error by the first baseman making it 6-2 BGSU.
That was about it offensively for the Chippewas as the solid BGSU starting pitching kept CMU in check throughout the game.
CMU will play the Falcons in game two of the series at 2:05 p.m. Saturday. Junior pitcher Sean Renzi (2-1, 2.27 ERA) will start for the Chippewas.
