Late comeback falls short as baseball loses to Miami (OH)
Central Michigan drops weekend series to Redhawks
Central Michigan junior infielder Aaron Piasecki looks to throw to first after getting the force out at second base at Keiltiz Field at Theunissen Stadium, Saturday, April 19, 2025. Piasecki had one hit in the ball game. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
Down four runs in the tenth inning, Central Michigan desperately needed a spark. With two runners on base, sophomore left fielder Mikey Murphy stepped up to the plate and blasted a home run over the left-center field wall to bring the game within one, igniting the dugout and the fans at Theunissen Stadium.
Ultimately, however, the Chippewas failed to score again as Miami (OH) escaped with the 7-6 victory, giving them the weekend series win.
"I thought they competed for all 10 innings all the way through, on the mound, offensively, defensively,” head coach Jake Sabol said. “We had our chances, we put ourselves in good situations. That's what our brand of baseball should look like. We can score and put up some runs, pitchers limit some things, and we play hard all nine (innings) no matter what the score is. I thought we did that today.”
After a quiet first inning from both squads, Miami (OH) found some rhythm on offense and scored the first run of the game in the top of the second. The RedHawks added another run in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead early.
The Chippewas finally got on the board in the bottom of the third as sophomore first baseman Nathan Ball smoked a triple into right field, allowing junior catcher Aydin Wright to score the run.
Miami (OH) opened the fourth with a double. Midway through the inning, Central Michigan swapped its pitcher, taking sophomore right hander Jared Hanson out and putting in sophomore right hander Jake Brown.
Brown walked his first batter with four straight balls to start his stint on the mound. He then walked his second batter, loading the bases for the RedHawks.
Brown’s struggles continued as he walked a third straight batter, allowing Miami (OH) to score a third run.
Consequently, Central Michigan took Brown out and put freshman left-handed pitcher Max Hammond in to try and finish the inning.
With a full count and the bases loaded, Miami (OH) senior center fielder Anthony Zarlingo sent a hit towards center field. Though it looked like it would get down for the hit, junior center fielder Zach Knowlton extended to snag the ball and end the inning, keeping the RedHawks from scoring any more runs.
Leading off in the bottom of the sixth, Ball continued his successful day at the plate as he sent a single into center field to open the frame. The Chippewas found some momentum as graduate third baseman Cole Kwiatkowski hit a single, putting runners at the corners.
On the next at bat, Murphy was walked, loading the bases for the Chippewas. On the following at-bat, Ball was able to score Central Michigan’s second run on a wild pitch from the Miami (OH) pitcher. Knowlton was walked on his turn at the plate, loading the bases again and forcing the RedHawks to change their pitchers.
The Chippewas were unable to capitalize on the loaded bases as junior right fielder Cole Prout grounded out to the second baseman to end the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Chippewas scored a third run as Wright sent a single into left field to tie the game. At the end of nine innings, the game was tied at three and headed into extras.
On the first pitch of the tenth inning, RedHawks senior catcher David Novak sent the ball over the left field wall to take a 4-3 lead.
Miami (OH) followed the home run with a double, and the runner advanced to third on a bunt from the next batter. The Chippewas changed pitchers once again, as junior right hander Nate Ross took over for junior right hander Liam Stumpf on the mound.
Things continued to get worse for Central Michigan as Ross hit his first batter, loading the bases for the Redhawks. Ross walked a batter to gift the RedHawks their fifth run, and then Miami (OH) added its sixth and seventh runs, seemingly putting a stranglehold on the game.
Central Michigan, however, was not finished. Both freshman shortstop Cayden Smith and Kwiatkowski hit singles to begin the bottom of the tenth. Then, Murphy hit a home run over the left-center field wall to score three runs and put the Chippewas within one, giving the team a chance.
Despite the late push, it wasn’t enough, as the RedHawks took the game and the series win.
Sabol was clear about what his team needed to do to start winning close games.
“We just need to show up a little bit more,” Sabol said. “There's been some guys that, you know, they're streaky players, offensively, on the mound, you name it. We got to find some consistency in the lineup. … But we're still at that point where we do have a bunch of new guys and we're still trying to figure out where guys fit in.”
Central Michigan will travel to play Oakland on Tuesday for its next matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
