Baseball splits double-header with Kent State, falls in three game series
In the weekend series finale between the Central Michigan baseball team and Kent State (17-10, 6-3 Mid-American Conference), the Chippewas split the double-header taking game one and falling in game two.
The bats remained cold in both games for the Chippewas despite the game one win, CMU recorded just seven hits over the course of both games. CMU now stands at 10-20-1 overall and 5-4 in the MAC following the doubleheader.
Game one: CMU 5, Kent State 1
Junior right-hander Michael Brettel improved to 4-3 as a starter on the year after 7.2 solid innings of work on the mound for CMU. The Chippewa ace recorded eight strikeouts, while allowing one run, one walk and five hits.
"He did a great job all the way through," said head coach Steve Jaksa. "It's just a confidence thing now, he knows his stuff and he plays pretty good."
Both Kent State and CMU got on the board early, scoring one run each in the first. The game remained tied up until the fifth inning where CMU would score four runs off three hits, its only hits of the game. Freshman Chase Rollin and juniors David Cole, Daniel Robinson and Jason Sullivan each scored.
Closing the win out on the mound was freshman left-hander Brandon Reed, who pitched 1.1 innings to get the final four outs of the game.
Game 2: CMU 3, Kent State 19
In a complete reversal of game one, Kent State exploded offensively from start to finish, shelling starting CMU left-hander Tyler Hankins in the opening innings. In the first inning alone, Hankins allowed five runs off four hits and finished with seven earned runs off seven hits in 2.1 innings of work and falls to 1-4 as a starter this season.
From there, the Golden Flashes scored 14 more unanswered runs and maintained a commanding 19-0 lead over the Chippewas into the ninth inning.
"We played really well that first game, but I think we took too big of a breath," Jaksa said. "We weren't quite as ready to start the second game as I wanted them to be and then it kind of got away from us."
CMU was outhit 19-4, and managed to score three late runs in the bottom of the ninth to get on the board. Leading the quiet offense was freshman Zavier Warren, who finished with two hits and one run.
Up next
A road trip to Oakland is on deck for the Chippewas following a short two day break. They'll take on the Grizzlies on Wednesday with the first pitch slated for 3 p.m.
"We got the split today, and now we have to move forward," Jaksa said. "We need to understand what it takes to win series every weekend."
