Baseball's bats stay hot, Chippewas throttle Notre Dame 17-7
Senior outfielder Jacob Crum triples to center field as the men's baseball team faces Northern Illinois March 29 at Theunissen Stadium.
Central Michigan baseball traveled on the road to face Notre Dame on April 2 looking to extend its five-game winning streak.
Freshman Garret Navarra started the game for CMU. However, it was the Chippewa offense that would win the game 17-7.
The game was tied 1-1 before CMU scored three runs in both the third and fourth innings to take a 7-3 lead.
It would get stagnant after that, as neither side scored a run for the next three innings.
Then, the Chippewas broke through the Fighting Irish's pitching arsenal.
In eighth inning CMU scored five runs led by Griffin Lockwood-Powell who hit a three run home run. The Chippewas scored five runs in the ninth inning as well to take a commanding 17-5 lead.
CMU Head coach Jordan Bischel talked about how the offense has been so effective during the win streak.
"The key to our offense has been all nine hitters consistently giving us good at-bats," Bischel said. "It has created a lot of pressure for the opposing pitchers."
Notre Dame was only able to score two runs in the final inning.
Lockwood-Powell was 2-for-2 with a whopping seven RBIs and a walk to lead the Chippewa offense. For the season, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound catcher is hitting .376 with a team-high six homers and 41 RBIs.
"Griffin has a very simple swing that leaves very few holes," Bischel said. "When you combine that with an advanced hitting approach it makes him an awfully tough out. He is fun to watch as a hitter right now."
Junior Zach Gillies also had a good game going 4-for-5 with four RBIs and scoring three runs.
Navarra pitched three innings, allowing one run and earning his first win of the season.
CMU has now won six straight games and heads to East Lansing to take on Michigan State at 4 p.m. on April 3. After that the team comes home for a weekend series against the current Mid-American Conference leaders Ball State starting at 3 p.m. on April 5 at Theunissen Stadium.
