CMU baseball wins its first conference home series over Kent State
Central Michigan baseball made its 2023 series debut at Theunissen Stadium, which features a brand-new turf field. Inclement weather expected on Saturday caused a change in the schedule and CMU (13-9, 4-2) played Kent State (16-7, 4-2) in a double-header on Friday and the two teams played the rubber match on Sunday.
The Chippewas dropped game one with final score of 4-3 in extra innings but bounced back and took game two 11-4 in a heated head-to-head battle. On Sunday, they took a close 2-1 battle to come out with the series win.
Before the games got started on Friday, CMU gymnastics head coach Christine MacDonald threw out the ceremonial first pitch to her son Lance, who is a catcher for Kent State University. McDonalds’ team recently won the gymnastics Mid-American Conference Championship on March 18.
Game 1
The count read 2-1 as CMU freshman infielder Christian Mitchelle approached the plate, looking to walk his team off in the bottom of the 10th inning. With bases loaded and two outs, Mitchelle squared up to bunt, looking to advance his teammate home.
Unfortunately for the Chippewas, the attempt didn’t take. Mitchelle put a little bit too much behind his bat, inducing a quick groundout to the third baseman.
Failure to capitalize on this opportunity ultimately cost CMU as it lost game one of Friday’s double header following a 12-inning contest.
To start the day, Kent State trotted out Ben Cruikshank, a redshirt senior left-handed pitcher who had posted an ERA of 2.60 through five starts, up until Friday. Cruikshank also led the Golden Flashes in both innings pitched and punchouts, with 37.
The Chippewas made life difficult for Cruikshank from opening pitch. CMU’s lineup drew two first-inning walks from junior outfielder Marquis Jackson and sophomore infielder/outfielder Robby Morgan to go along with a single from graduate outfielder/pitcher Garrett Navarra - though all three base runners would ultimately be left stranded.
“We had good at-bats against (Cruikshank),” head coach Jordan Bischel said. “We got the right pitches to hit, we were on time. I thought we were pretty well prepared. Just couldn’t quite get that big hit to get the big inning on the board. But I thought we did a nice job against him.”
Offensive production came and went throughout the game for the Chippewas, who turned in their first scoring frame in the bottom of the third. Junior outfielder Jacob Donahue kicked things off with a leadoff single to center, followed by a pair of back-to-back walks from Navarra and Morgan. With the bases loaded, junior catcher Nick Dardas hit a liner down the third-base line, scoring Donahue and Navarra.
Cruikshank surrendered six hits and five walks through 5 ⅓ innings while punching out another four on 120 total pitches. Leading the way for CMU in walks drawn were Jackson, Navarra and Morgan with two apiece.
The Chippewas utilized a left-handed starting pitcher of their own in sophomore Adam Mrakitsch, who collected seven strikeouts in six innings of work. Using 105 total pitches, Mrakitsch gave up five hits and two earned runs while walking three. He tossed six innings of relief in total, striking seven batters out and giving up two earned runs on 95 pitches.
CMU held a 2-1 advantage between innings three and seven. After allowing a leadoff walk to start the seventh, Mrakitsch was pulled for graduate pitcher Ryan Palmblad, who gave up a two-run home run over the left-field wall to freshman catcher Brody Williams.
In the top of the 12th inning outfielder Collin Mathews recorded an RBI single up the middle and sealed the Chippewas’ fate who could not punch in a run during the bottom of the 12th.
Leading the way for the Chippewas offensively were Donahue and graduate infielder Justin Simpson, who recorded two hits each. Dardas’ two RBIs led the team.
Game 2
After a long 12 innings of baseball in game one, both teams struggled to get going early in game two as the teams combined for just three runs through five innings. But all of that changed as CMU exploded for seven runs in the sixth as they would open up a 9-2 lead on the Golden Flashes.
Jackson started the scoring as he stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and smashed a single through the right side to give the Chippewas a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
“I thought that probably the really big play in that game was Marquis' hit,” Bischel said. “We'd have guys on all day and just hadn't squared one up in those situations. Marquis splits one in half and that started us, go on and obviously some guys followed suit there.”
But after a close play at second on Jackson’s hit, Kent State’s head coach Jeff Duncan was ejected from the game for arguing the call. Following the ejection, CMU would score six more runs before recording its next two outs with this being highlighted by Morgan’s two run double into the right center gap.
CMU wouldn’t stop there as they would add on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, redshirt freshman Luke Sefcik hit an RBI single to right field, extending the lead to 11-2.
Kent State attempted a comeback in the final frame of the doubleheader but fell short, as it was only able to amount two runs to close the gap, 11-4.
The Chippewas sent out junior transfer Keegan Batka on the mound for game two. In his debut at Theunissen Stadium, the right-handed pitcher threw 6⅔ innings while striking out six, allowing five hits and walking two while only giving up one earned run.
For Kent State, junior Joe Whitman got the start. He struck out three, walked five, and give up one run on five hits in his 4⅔ innings of work.
Senior Richie Dell and freshman Jordan Kolenda both came in for relief giving up a combined total of seven runs on three hits.
Morgan and Sefcik led the way offensively with two hits apiece, along with Morgan driving in two runs.
“Certainly, it feels good to break through with a bunch of big hits,” Bischel said. “I mean, I say hitting is contagious and you saw it there. So, the goal is to not have that impact on us but certainly you feel a little better going into Sunday after having a big inning to finish there.”
Game 3
Following a single-day break on Saturday between competition, the Chippewas took down the Golden Flashes 2-1, marking their first home series win of the 2023 season.
CMU starting pitcher Garrett Navarra was a big reason for a relatively quiet day for offensive production. The left-handed two-way graduate student tossed seven scoreless innings on 100 pitches, striking out nine and allowing five hits, while walking one single KSU batter.
“He was just outstanding,” Bischel said. “His command of the ball, and really all three of our starters this weekend. But I think he fell behind 2-0 to start the game and after that he was pretty much in control the whole way. Just outstanding. He’s worked so hard to put himself in these spots.”
The Chippewas’ lineup produced seven hits on the day, all of which came against Kent State starting pitcher Eric Chalus. The sophomore LHP went six innings, giving up two runs, one earned and punched out four Chippewas.
The unearned run came via a sacrifice bunt from CMU Luke Sefcik, who scored Robby Morgan IV on the attempt. The bunt ended up in the hands of KSU third baseman Connor Ashby, who made an errant throw to first base which allowed Sefcik to reach base safely.
CMU freshman Christian Mitchelle’s day for the Chippewas proved productive as his fifth inning at-bat followed a third inning double down the line. Following his extra-base knock, Mitchelle successfully stole third base and scored on an RBI groundout from Jackson for the first score of the game.
The Chippewas will hit the road on Tuesday as they take on Michigan for a single game in Ann Arbor. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
