Offense struggles to find a rhythm, Chippewas lose to Wolverines 5-3
Central Michigan University baseball found very few opportunities to score in Wednesday's game against the University of Michigan, losing 5-3.
CMU finished the game with seven hits.
“We had situations," said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. “We had first and second (in the sixth inning) and we couldn't get a run that inning and then first and third (in the seventh inning) and one out and we couldn't get a run. We moved the ball, we just couldn't score runs. We finally broke through in the eighth and ninth to get close.”
Freshman outfielder Daniel Jipping led the Chippewas with two RBI’s. He also had one hit.
Freshman shortstop Zach McKinstry had two hits, leading the Chippewas.
When the Chippewas did have chances to score, in the sixth and seventh innings, they struggled to drive in runs.
The one exception was in the eighth inning when sophomore outfielder Alex Borglin walked to begin the inning, which was followed by a walk to senior second baseman Pat MacKenzie.
Jipping drove in both MacKenzie and Borglin with a single making it a 5-2 ballgame heading into the bottom half of the eighth inning.
Junior right fielder Logan Regnier had the game’s first hit singling to left field in the fourth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Blake Hibbitts made his second start of the season Wednesday, throwing three innings while not allowing a hit. He did allow one earned run with four walks and one strikeout. He threw 48 pitches after coming into he game on a limit of 50.
“Blake had four walks in three innings and three of those came with two outs, said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. “That’s something he will get better at. It was still a step forward and it’s something for him to build on for next time.”
Freshman Braxton Markle came in to pitch in relief of Hibbitts.
Michigan scored the first runs of the game in the fourth inning off Markle. A single through the right side allowed to runs to score.
It would become a 3-0 U of M lead later in the fourth inning off another single to right field.
Markle allowed three hits in the fourth inning.
A home run in the fifth inning made it a 4-0 lead for UM heading into the sixth inning.
The first scoring threat for the Chippewas came in the sixth inning when Borglin doubled to lead off the inning for CMU.
A walk to MacKenzie put runners at first and second for the Chippewas with no outs.
Two strikeouts and a line-out ended the scoring opportunity as it remained a 4-0 U of M lead.
In the seventh inning, junior first baseman Zack Fields doubled. McKinstry followed that up with a single putting runners at the corners with one out for CMU.
Junior third baseman Joe Houlihan would ground into a double play ending the inning.
Freshman pitcher Sean Martens relieved Pierce to begin the seventh inning.
The Wolverines executed a double steal in the seventh with one of them scoring from third making it a 5-0 U of M lead heading into the eighth inning.
A ground out by senior first baseman Cody Leichman scored McKinstry from third in the ninth inning making it a 5-3 ballgame with two outs.
“We fought all the way to the end, we just couldn't answer on our end,” Jaksa said.
CMU (18-11, 5-1 MAC) will begin a three-game series with Toledo Friday at 3 p.m.
