CMU baseball battles back in 6-5 win over Michigan State
Central Michigan redshirt junior right-handed pitcher/infielder/outfielder AJ Kostic throws a pitch to a Kent State batter at Keiltiz Field at Theunissen Stadium, Saturday, April 5, 2025. Kostic pitched seven innings allowing two runs on five hits. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
With the game tied at five in the seventh inning, Central Michigan baseball’s Brady Krzciok had a chance to break the tie with a runner on second. He took a 1-1 pitch back up the middle for a hit, scoring Cole Kwiatkowski and giving the Chippewas a 6-5 lead over Michigan State in East Lansing on Wednesday.
The lead stayed the same for the remainder of the game giving CMU its second consecutive win over MSU and its sixth win out of the last seven games in the series.
Central Michigan found itself down in a hole early as two errors in the first inning allowed the Spartans to load the bases. After a single and a sacrifice fly the Chippewas found themselves in a 4-0 deficit after one.
Moving to the third CMU got its first two runners on base. After, a pair of outs Cayden Smith stepped up to the plate. He took a 2-0 pitch and sent it over the right field wall for a three-run homer bringing the Chippewas within one.
CMU tied in the fourth on a Zach Knowlton double, but the tie didn’t last long with MSU answering back in its half of the inning to take a 5-4 lead.
The Chips retied it up in the sixth after an error by the Spartans left fielder brought in a run. CMU then took the lead in the seventh on the Krzciok single and sailed the rest of the way, not allowing a hit for the rest of the game.
Right-handed pitcher Hayden Bailey got the start for CMU in this one and had a solid outing. He had five innings of work, allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out two.
In relief for CMU were four different pitchers, with the most effective being right-handed pitchers Justin Morgan and Liam Stumpf, who both threw an inning not allowing a runner on base.
Up next for Central Michigan is the Zips of Akron, Ohio when the Chippewas travel to Akron on Friday to start a three-game set. CMU will look to snap its six game Mid-American Conference losing streak with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
