Saturday, April 23
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Noon
Central Michigan University
26-10, 19-1
8
vs
0
Akron
11-26, 9-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Akron
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Central Michigan
1
1
1
1
4
0
X
8
12
0
CMU's Jakob Marsee salutes his teammates after his eighth-inning double gave the Chippewas a 3-2 lead in Saturday's nightcap.
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Baseball Rallies To Sweep, Run MAC Win Streak To 20
4/23/2022 9:01:00 PM | Baseball
Taylor dominant in opening-game shutout
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Sometimes the wins come smoothly, and sometimes they don't.
The Central Michigan baseball team rallied for a comeback victory over Akron in the nightcap on Saturday at Theunissen Stadium, sweeping the doubleheader and running its MAC win streak to 20 games and its overall win streak to 17.
It was the Chippewas' fifth consecutive doubleheader sweep as they won the opener, 8-0, behind a dominant pitching performance by Andrew Taylor, and then digging deep for the 4-2 win in the nightcap.
CMU is 27-10, 20-1 and in first place in the MAC. The Zips are 11-27, 9-17. The Chippewas will look to post their fifth consecutive league series sweep on Sunday (10 a.m.).
Game 1
Taylor (6-2) struck out a season-high 13, one shy of his career high. He threw six innings, allowing three hits and walking two. Aaron Husson worked the seventh to complete the shutout, CMU's sixth of the season.
"I don't think a whole lot changed (from Friday)," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team came back from a five-run deficit to win Friday's series opener, 11-10. "(Today) we pitched better and played better defense. Really, we approached it the same way, and we were a little bit sharper on the defensive side."
Robby Morgan homered and Danny Wuestenfeld finished with three hits to lead the Chippewas' 12-hit attack, more than enough to back Taylor. Leading 4-0, the Chippewas blew the game open with a four-run fifth.
Drew Lechnir and Mario Camilletti drove in two runs apiece. Morgan, Aidan Shepardson, Lechnir and Camilletti finished with two hits each.
Game 2
Like Friday's dramatic 11-10 victory over Akron, the Chippewas continued to show their grit by creating an opening for victory no matter the circumstances.
Akron seized a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and the Chippewas got a run in the sixth when Morgan scored on a passed ball and then tied it with a run in the seventh on Lechnir's RBI bunt single.
The Chippewas went ahead when Adam Proctor led off the eighth with a double and then pinch runner Zach Lechnir took third on a flyout. Lechnir scored Jakob Marsee's double, a bullet down the right field line. Marsee stole third and then scored on a Justin Simpson sacrifice fly.
"I think that coming off of (Friday's) game where we rallied late, there was a lot of confidence," said Bischel, whose team finished with 10 hits and stranded 12. "As long as there was no panic, just to stay the course and keep putting together good at-bats. You saw almost every inning we put some pressure on because we were struggling to break through and finally, we did it at the end."
Jake Jones (4-1), who came on in the sixth inning, earned the win. He went 3 1/3 innings, allowing six hits while striking out three. CMU starter Logan Buczkowski allowed two runs on two hits, walked four and struck out four over 5 2/3 innings.
Jones held the fort, stranding two Zips in both the seventh inning and the eighth, and then getting the game-ending out on a fly ball with the bases loaded.
Drew Lechnir led the Chippewas with a career-high three hits while Garrett Navarra had two.
The Central Michigan baseball team rallied for a comeback victory over Akron in the nightcap on Saturday at Theunissen Stadium, sweeping the doubleheader and running its MAC win streak to 20 games and its overall win streak to 17.
It was the Chippewas' fifth consecutive doubleheader sweep as they won the opener, 8-0, behind a dominant pitching performance by Andrew Taylor, and then digging deep for the 4-2 win in the nightcap.
CMU is 27-10, 20-1 and in first place in the MAC. The Zips are 11-27, 9-17. The Chippewas will look to post their fifth consecutive league series sweep on Sunday (10 a.m.).
Game 1
Taylor (6-2) struck out a season-high 13, one shy of his career high. He threw six innings, allowing three hits and walking two. Aaron Husson worked the seventh to complete the shutout, CMU's sixth of the season.
"I don't think a whole lot changed (from Friday)," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team came back from a five-run deficit to win Friday's series opener, 11-10. "(Today) we pitched better and played better defense. Really, we approached it the same way, and we were a little bit sharper on the defensive side."
Robby Morgan homered and Danny Wuestenfeld finished with three hits to lead the Chippewas' 12-hit attack, more than enough to back Taylor. Leading 4-0, the Chippewas blew the game open with a four-run fifth.
Drew Lechnir and Mario Camilletti drove in two runs apiece. Morgan, Aidan Shepardson, Lechnir and Camilletti finished with two hits each.
Game 2
Like Friday's dramatic 11-10 victory over Akron, the Chippewas continued to show their grit by creating an opening for victory no matter the circumstances.
Akron seized a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and the Chippewas got a run in the sixth when Morgan scored on a passed ball and then tied it with a run in the seventh on Lechnir's RBI bunt single.
The Chippewas went ahead when Adam Proctor led off the eighth with a double and then pinch runner Zach Lechnir took third on a flyout. Lechnir scored Jakob Marsee's double, a bullet down the right field line. Marsee stole third and then scored on a Justin Simpson sacrifice fly.
"I think that coming off of (Friday's) game where we rallied late, there was a lot of confidence," said Bischel, whose team finished with 10 hits and stranded 12. "As long as there was no panic, just to stay the course and keep putting together good at-bats. You saw almost every inning we put some pressure on because we were struggling to break through and finally, we did it at the end."
Jake Jones (4-1), who came on in the sixth inning, earned the win. He went 3 1/3 innings, allowing six hits while striking out three. CMU starter Logan Buczkowski allowed two runs on two hits, walked four and struck out four over 5 2/3 innings.
Jones held the fort, stranding two Zips in both the seventh inning and the eighth, and then getting the game-ending out on a fly ball with the bases loaded.
Drew Lechnir led the Chippewas with a career-high three hits while Garrett Navarra had two.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Taylor, Andrew (6-2)
L: Anthony Fett (0-7)
Base Running:
SB: Cameron Benson 1 ; Nick Arrivo 1
HBP: Jackson Haas 1
Batting:
2B: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1
HR: Morgan IV, Robby 1
RBI: Camilletti, Mario 2 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Lechnir, Drew 2 ; Lechnir, Zach 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 2
SF: Camilletti, Mario 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 2 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1 ; Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Lechnir, Zach 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 2
SB: Morgan IV, Robby 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
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