Friday, May 27
Muncie, Ind.
1:45 p.m.
Central Michigan University
39-17
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Ball State
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Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Faces Elimination Game After 9-7 Loss To Ball State In MAC Tournament
5/27/2022 7:42:00 PM | Baseball
MUNCIE, Ind. – A late rally, but it wasn't enough.
The Central Michigan baseball team fell into the elimination bracket of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Friday, falling to top-seeded Ball State, 9-7, at the Cardinals' First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
CMU, the No. 2 seed, will play an elimination game against Toledo on Saturday (10:30 a.m.). The winner will take on Ball State in the title game at 2:30 p.m. If Ball State, which is 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament, loses that that game, the teams will meet on Sunday. The tournament champion receives a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"Two good teams," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "I thought we played hard. Ball State just got big hits early in the game, got a couple of walks to set up an inning with a two-run single and a two-run homer with two outs. Those two-out hits really, really put a dent into our opportunity to come back.
"You credit the other team; and we get ready to play Toledo."
Ball State starter and MAC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Schweitzer (11-2) struck out nine, walked two and allowed two runs on six hits over eight innings. He threw 143 pitches and left with a 9-2 lead.
Schweitzer "is the league pitcher of the year for a reason," Bischel said. "We had some good swings on him early … but he settled in, made a lot of good pitches, and just did a tremendous job; a great competitor.
"It's a lot to ask a kid to throw 150 pitches in a game, for him to get through that, there's big credit to him. It's not easy and he's (gutsy) to do that."
Jakob Marsee hit his seventh homer of the season in the first inning to give the Chippewas a 1-0 lead, and then Danny Wuestenfeld put CMU up, 2-1, with a third-inning sacrifice fly.
Ball State took the lead with a two-run single in the third inning and then extended its lead to 7-2 with a four-run fifth.
Chippewa starter Jordan Patty (6-5) surrendered six runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out six across four innings. Ryan Insco, Jake Jones, Aaron Husson, and Michael Conte pitched in relief for the Chippewas.
CMU made it interesting in the ninth. Jacob Donahue's two-run double drew the Chippewas to 9-4, and then Mario Camilletti launched a three-run home run to center field to make it 9-7 with none out.
After Marsee walked, the Chippewas twice had the potential tying run at the plate, but Ball State closer Sam Klein struck out Wuestenfeld and Drew Lechnir to end the game.
Aidan Shepardson led CMU with three hits while Camilletti finished with two.
The Chippewas are now faced with the proposition of winning three consecutive games, beginning with the Rockets on Saturday morning. CMU took two of three from Toledo in the final series of the season and opened the tournament with an 11-10 win over the Rockets on Wednesday.
CMU won that game with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Toledo defeated Ohio, 13-5, on Friday in an elimination game.
"Toledo's going to be a tough matchup," Bischel said. "We've had four really, really tight ball games with them now, so they're going to be excited to play, we'll be excited to play, and we'll play to extend the season. Our guys are going to be ready to go."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tyler Schweitzer (11-2)
L: Patty, Jordan (6-5)
Batting:
2B: Shepardson, Aidan 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1
HR: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Marsee, Jakob 1
RBI: Camilletti, Mario 3 ; Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 2
SH: Marsee, Jakob 1
SF: Wuestenfeld, Danny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Camilletti, Mario 2 ; Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Proctor, Adam 1
SB: Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: Trenton Quartermaine 1 ; Zach Cole 1 ; Adam Tellier 1
HR: Ryan Peltier 1
RBI: Trenton Quartermaine 2 ; Zach Cole 2 ; Adam Tellier 2 ; Ryan Peltier 3
SH: Adam Tellier 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Amir Wright 1 ; Nick Powell 2 ; Hunter Dobbins 3 ; Zach Cole 1 ; Ryan Peltier 1 ; Justin Conant 1
CS: Amir Wright 1
HBP: Amir Wright 1 ; Hunter Dobbins 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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INF
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