Saturday, June 4
Gainesville, FL
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
43-18
3
vs
2
Liberty
37-23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
R
H
E
Liberty
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
5
2
Central Michigan
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
7
2
CMU players chase down teammate Danny Wuestenfeld after Wuestenfeld's game-winning RBI in the 12th inning on Saturday in a 3-2 NCAA Regional win over Liberty.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Walks It Off, Remains Alive In NCAA Regional
6/4/2022 7:24:00 PM | Baseball
CMU will play at 1 p.m. Sunday in another elimination game
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Patience pays, and Central Michigan is no stranger to it.
Danny Wuestenfeld delivered a walk-off RBI single to keep the Chippewas alive in the NCAA Regional on Saturday as they downed Liberty, 3-2, in a 12-inning elimination game at Florida's Condron Ballpark.
Danny Wuestenfeld delivered a walk-off RBI single to keep the Chippewas alive in the NCAA Regional on Saturday as they downed Liberty, 3-2, in a 12-inning elimination game at Florida's Condron Ballpark.
The Chippewas (43-18) will play a second elimination game on Sunday (1 p.m.) against the Florida-Oklahoma loser. The Gators and Sooners were scheduled to play on Saturday night.
"It starts with just competing, enjoying ourselves and having fun," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team stranded 11 baserunners in falling to host Florida on Friday, 7-3. "Then trusting that good things will happen if you do that.
"(Friday) I thought we played pretty well and it just didn't work out our way; today it did. Our guys just battled, competed, and you cannot be prouder of them.
"It is awfully hard just to get to this level, to advance, hang around another day and keep ourselves alive. It's difficult and these guys are really committed to it. We were 4-8 at one point this year and here we are, playing on June 4, 5. That's a credit to the guys and the time they've put in."
CMU freshman left-hander Adam Mrakitsch, who entered in the seventh inning in relief of starter Jordan Patty, set Liberty down in four batters in the top of the 12th and earned the win, improving to 7-1.
"The strides (Mrakitsch) has made in these past four months have been incredible," Bischel said. "We're awfully lucky to have that guy around."
Mrakitsch went six innings for the win, allowing one run on two hits and striking out three.
"(The focus was) to throw strikes, compete and let my defense play behind me," Mrakitsch said. "I knew we had a good shot, given our defense, and they just played really solid around it.
"I get nervous sometimes, but I try not to show it and just go out and have fun; you're not as nervous when you're having fun. It's always good to get in the rhythm and have quick innings, especially in the heat."
The lights came on for CMU in the bottom of the 12th as Garrett Navarra led off with a single and Mario Camilletti was hit by a pitch. They were bunted up a base and Zach Lechnir pinch ran for Navarra.
Wuestenfeld, who had two hits after collecting three in CMU's loss to Florida on Friday, stroked a solid two-out single to left field and Lechnir easily scored the winning run from third.
"I'm just having fun," Wuestenfeld said. "Really, I'm just trying not to do too much and let the pressure take over. I got the pitch to hit and I drove it. Having fun is the biggest thing in our program. With all of these guys, everything is fun."
CMU struck first in the third inning on Jakob Marsee's RBI groundout and kept the 1-0 advantage until the sixth, when Patty's pickoff attempt at first base went for an error and allowed a Liberty runner to score from third.
Nick Dardas ripped an RBI single up the left side in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Chippewas a 2-1 lead. Liberty tied it on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly.
Patty, a senior right-hander who has been nothing short of a warrior throughout his CMU career, battled through six innings with Liberty starter Joe Adametz III.
Patty, who threw 112 pitches, 66 for strikes, walked five and allowed three hits while Adametz allowed two runs on five hits and walked four.
"Chippewa baseball is really special," Bischel said. "It starts with Coach (Dave) Keilitz and what he built, and this thing is really a family. For our players, it's a family, and for their family and friends, it's a family. Their support means a lot to me and to our program; it's big, it means more than probably I can express.
"It's all about the kids, all about the student-athletes. They commit so much to it, and you don't know if it's going to pay off at the end of the year, with wins and losses, but it pays off in terms of how you grow as a person, a team and a family."
"It starts with just competing, enjoying ourselves and having fun," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team stranded 11 baserunners in falling to host Florida on Friday, 7-3. "Then trusting that good things will happen if you do that.
"(Friday) I thought we played pretty well and it just didn't work out our way; today it did. Our guys just battled, competed, and you cannot be prouder of them.
"It is awfully hard just to get to this level, to advance, hang around another day and keep ourselves alive. It's difficult and these guys are really committed to it. We were 4-8 at one point this year and here we are, playing on June 4, 5. That's a credit to the guys and the time they've put in."
CMU freshman left-hander Adam Mrakitsch, who entered in the seventh inning in relief of starter Jordan Patty, set Liberty down in four batters in the top of the 12th and earned the win, improving to 7-1.
"The strides (Mrakitsch) has made in these past four months have been incredible," Bischel said. "We're awfully lucky to have that guy around."
Mrakitsch went six innings for the win, allowing one run on two hits and striking out three.
"(The focus was) to throw strikes, compete and let my defense play behind me," Mrakitsch said. "I knew we had a good shot, given our defense, and they just played really solid around it.
"I get nervous sometimes, but I try not to show it and just go out and have fun; you're not as nervous when you're having fun. It's always good to get in the rhythm and have quick innings, especially in the heat."
The lights came on for CMU in the bottom of the 12th as Garrett Navarra led off with a single and Mario Camilletti was hit by a pitch. They were bunted up a base and Zach Lechnir pinch ran for Navarra.
Wuestenfeld, who had two hits after collecting three in CMU's loss to Florida on Friday, stroked a solid two-out single to left field and Lechnir easily scored the winning run from third.
"I'm just having fun," Wuestenfeld said. "Really, I'm just trying not to do too much and let the pressure take over. I got the pitch to hit and I drove it. Having fun is the biggest thing in our program. With all of these guys, everything is fun."
CMU struck first in the third inning on Jakob Marsee's RBI groundout and kept the 1-0 advantage until the sixth, when Patty's pickoff attempt at first base went for an error and allowed a Liberty runner to score from third.
Nick Dardas ripped an RBI single up the left side in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Chippewas a 2-1 lead. Liberty tied it on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly.
Patty, a senior right-hander who has been nothing short of a warrior throughout his CMU career, battled through six innings with Liberty starter Joe Adametz III.
Patty, who threw 112 pitches, 66 for strikes, walked five and allowed three hits while Adametz allowed two runs on five hits and walked four.
"Chippewa baseball is really special," Bischel said. "It starts with Coach (Dave) Keilitz and what he built, and this thing is really a family. For our players, it's a family, and for their family and friends, it's a family. Their support means a lot to me and to our program; it's big, it means more than probably I can express.
"It's all about the kids, all about the student-athletes. They commit so much to it, and you don't know if it's going to pay off at the end of the year, with wins and losses, but it pays off in terms of how you grow as a person, a team and a family."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mrakitsch, Adam (7-1)
L: HUNGATE, Cade (2-1)
Batting:
2B: ORNDORFF, Derek 1 ; HILLIER, Three 1
RBI: MATHIEU, Logan 1
SH: HILL, Stephen 1 ; KEETER, Nathan 1
SF: MATHIEU, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ORNDORFF, Derek 1 ; HILLIER, Three 1
HBP: GULAKOWSKI, Brady 1
Batting:
RBI: Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Dardas, Nick 1
SH: Simpson, Justin 2 ; Donahue, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Proctor, Adam 1 ; Lechnir, Zach 1
HBP: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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