Baseball defeats Toledo 14-1 Sunday, take series 2-1
Senior catcher Tyler Huntey rounds third base as head coach Steve Jaksa waves him on. The Chippewas scored four runs in the third inning against Ohio Saturday.
Central Michigan University baseball took two of three games at Toledo this weekend, moving to 20-12 on the season and 7-2 in the conference.
The Chippewas outhit the Rockets 33-23 while outscoring UT 26-10 over the weekend.
Senior second baseman Pat MacKenzie led the Chippewas with six hits and four runs, while junior outfielder Ryan Heeke finished the weekend with four hits.
"Pat (MacKenzie) is one of our fifth year guys and he needs to be the leader day-in-day-out and he was that,” said Head Coach Steve Jaksa. “It was a pleasure to see that kind of leadership out of him."
Sunday
This was one of the Chippewas' better offensive performances scoring 14 runs on 13 hits.
“It was a very well-rounded day from our pitching to the way we swung the bat,” Jaksa said.“I was proud of the guys' effort. We played flawless defense and you can’t really ask for much more than that.”
Borglin led the team with three hits while junior outfielder Ryan Heeke finished with three RBI’s.
MacKenzie scored three runs, leading the Chippewas.
Borglin doubled to right center in the first inning, which was followed by a single off the bat of MacKenzie.
Freshman outfielder Daniel Jipping reached first base on a fielding error, which scored Borglin from third base giving CMU the early 1-0 lead after one inning.
Junior pitcher Adam Aldred started for the Chippewas.
Aldred threw seven innings allowing one run on four hits. He struck out a season high eight batters.
“(Adam Aldred) was able to take control and throw seven strong innings. It was very timely for us and good to see,” Jaksa said.“He threw over 100 pitches so we knew it was time to get him out.”
Jaksa said his team came out and played well following the tough loss Saturday night knowing they could take the series.
“Sundays generally for us are ‘championship Sundays’ because most times you can win the series or sweep the series,” said Jaksa. “Our guys responded very well today after a tough loss.”
Borglin doubled to left field with one out before MacKenzie tripled scoring Borglin from second bringing the score to 2-0 CMU.
A two-out single from Jipping scored MacKenzie, which was followed by a double from junior third baseman Joe Houlihan which scored Jipping.
The lead was 4-0 Chippewas after the third inning.
UT scored its first run of the game in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly to right field.
Houlihan hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his second of the season, in the fifth inning making it a 5-1 CMU lead.
In the sixth inning junior first baseman Zack Fields scored on a Borglin single pushing the lead to 6-1.
After scoring the sixth run of the game Fields drove in two more runs for CMU in the seventh inning with a single to left field. It was an 8-1 CMU lead.
The lead stretched to nine--10-1--in the eighth inning.
Bradley scored on a sacrifice bunt by MacKenzie who reached base on an error. MacKenzie would score later in the inning on a wild pitch.
Offensively, the Chippewas continued to tack on runs in the ninth inning. Heeke hit a three-run home run, which was followed by a Huntey sacrifice fly scoring junior infielder Morgan Oliver.
“We talked to the team a little bit Saturday night and we came out today (Sunday) and played hard,” Jaksa said.
Saturday
After the Chippewas battled back in the ninth inning to tie the game 3-3 on a UT throwing error, the offenses of both teams sputtered. Each team left 12 men on base.
The Rockets loaded the bases with one out in the 15th and 16th innings and finally cashed in with an infield single.
Senior pitcher Tim Black (2-1, 3.57 ERA) attempted to field the slow-roller, but couldn’t get the runner out at home with the backhand throw.
Toledo claimed the walk-off victory, 4-3.
Junior pitcher Jason Gamble started the game for CMU, but left after 2 2/3 innings due to an injury.
Friday
The Chippewas took a 7-0 lead after five innings, with all seven runs being unearned.
Three walks, two errors, one hit and a passed ball allowed CMU to score its first three runs of the game in the third inning.
Toledo bounced back with two unearned runs in the sixth inning, but would still fall Friday 9-5.
"I thought maybe we lost a little bit of intensity when we got up 8-0," Jaksa said. "The weather might've had a hair to do with it, but I hate to use that (excuse)."
Sophomore pitcher Nick Deeg (5-2, 1.73 ERA) earned the win, throwing for seven innings while allowing one earned run, three runs and five hits while striking out seven batters.
Junior outfielder Logan Regnier led the Chippewas with three hits and two RBI’s including a double.
Senior catcher Tyler Huntey and sophomore outfielder Alex Borglin both tripled and combined for five runs.
