CMU baseball fall in series at UCF, outscored 40-5 in final two games
Central Michigan baseball traveled to the University of Central Florida over the weekend. After picking up a game one win, UCF proved too much for the Chippewas outscoring them 40-5 in the final two games.
CMU now falls to 13-27 overall on the season.
Game 1
Game one featured a dominant performance on the mound by senior right-handed pitcher Ben Vitas, who shut out the UCF offense for the first time this season.
Vitas went the full nine innings, giving up only five hits, two walks and one strikeout on 133 pitches. It is the first time in eight seasons a CMU pitcher has registered a complete game shutout.
CMU started out the game on the right foot as senior catcher Nick Dardas led off the game with a solo home run giving the Chippewas a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Dardas would then lead off the third with a walk. After a single move him to third, senior third basemen Ely Stuart singled scoring Dardas and giving CMU a 2-0 lead.
That was the last run either team scored throughout the game. UCF got its leadoff batter on in the bottom of the ninth but that’s all it could manage as Vitas shut the door giving the Chippewas a 2-0 win.
Game 2
UCF was the team to strike first in game two as the Knights scored three runs in the first inning as six-straight batters reached base safely.
CMU cut into the UCF lead in the third when senior outfielder Jake Brill hit a solo shot cutting the lead to two. Two batters later, senior first basemen Danny Wuestenfeld hit a solo shot of his own making the game 3-2.
That is as close as CMU would get as UCF scored 14 runs in the next four innings opening the lead to 17-2 where it would stay for the remainder of the game.
Game 3
Similar to game two, UCF was the first to get on the board after four singles in the inning brought in two runs.
CMU got on the board in the second, when Stuart led the inning off with a single followed up with a double by senior outfielder Marquis Jackson. Freshman infielder Drew Loikits drove Stuart in on a ground out making the score 2-1.
UCF got one back in its half of the second, but CMU would strike in the fourth when an errant throw by UCF’s third basemen allowed Loikits and sophomore outfielder Cole Prout to score tying the game at three.
The tie wouldn’t last long as in the bottom half of the fourth UCF hit four home runs in the inning, widening the score to 8-3.
The fifth inning was more of the same for UCF as the Knights scored 10 runs on six hits and an error in the inning making the score 18-3.
CMU’s offense would go down in order in the sixth and the UCF offense continued to produce, scoring five more runs in its half of the inning making the score 23-3.
Being down more than 10 runs CMU had to score 11 runs in order to continue the game past the seventh. The Chippewas couldn’t get any offense going with the game ending with a final score of 23-3 after seven innings of play.
CMU will now travel to South Bend, Indiana where it will take on Notre Dame in a single game on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
