Friday, March 24
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Noon
Central Michigan University
11-9, 2-2
3
vs
4
Kent State
16-4, 4-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
R
H
E
KENT STATE
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
4
8
0
Central Michigan
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
8
1
Keegan Batka earned the victory with 6 2/3 solid innings in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Friday at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Rebounds to Split MAC Twinbill with Kent State
3/24/2023 9:07:00 PM | Baseball
Chippewas and Golden Flashes play series finale on Sunday
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – All day long on Friday, Central Michigan had threatened but largely failed to capitalize.
Then, the floodgates opened.
The Chippewas sent 12 men to the plate in scoring seven runs in the sixth inning in taking an 11-4 victory from Kent State in the nightcap of a Mid-American Conference baseball doubleheader at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
CMU stranded 13 baserunners and twice left the bases loaded in dropping the opener, 4-3.
The split left CMU 12-9, 3-2 MAC; the Golden Flashes are 16-6, 4-1. The teams are scheduled to play the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday (1 p.m.) at Theunissen.
"I told the guys after the game that we've become really good at bouncing back after tough defeats, now we've got to stop having tough defeats," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said.
The Chippewas collected just seven hits in game two but drew 11 walks and took advantage of four Kent State errors, two of which came in the bottom of the sixth.
Three of those walks came in succession and then Marquis Jackson delivered a one-out RBI single to break a 2-2 tie.
"Probably the really big play in that game was Marquis' hit," Bischel said. "We had guys on all day and just hadn't squared one up in those situations; Marquis splits one in half and that just started us going and obviously some guys followed suit there.
"It feels good to break through with a bunch of big hits. They say hitting's contagious, and you saw it there."
Justin Simpson walked to force in a run to make it 4-2, and then Jacob Donahue hit a slow ground ball. The Golden Flashes tried cut down Christian Mitchelle at the plate, but Mitchelle beat the throw home to make it 5-2.
Garrett Navara singled in a run and then Robby Morgan IV delivered a two-run double to right center to make it 8-2. A Kent State error brought in another run to give the Chippewas a 9-2 lead.
That was plenty for Chippewa starter Keegan Batka (3-3), who allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two over 6 2/3 innings.
The Chippewas held a 2-1 lead entering the top of the sixth when Kent State got a leadoff single and then the second hitter reached on an error.
After a groundout, the Golden Flashes had runners at first and third with one out. They bunted in the tying run, but Batka limited the damage by settling down to get an inning-ending groundout.
"We pitched well all day as a whole," Bischel said. "Keegan was outstanding and another huge key to that game was that sixth inning. That could have easily turned into a big inning against (Kent State's) offense. But (Batka) kept them to one, kept the game tied, and we got the big rally after that."
The Chippewas rebounded from a frustrating 12-inning opener during which they stranded 13 baserunners and twice left the bases loaded, including in the 10th. They also stranded two in the 11th.
Kent State's Brody Williams hit a two-run homer off reliever Ryan Palmblad in the seventh to tie the game, 3-3.
The Golden Flashes scored the go-ahead run in the 12th when Williams led off with a single, was bunted to second, took third on a groundout, and scored on a two-out Collin Mathews single.
Palmblad (1-2) took the loss. He went six innings in relief of starter Adam Mrakitsch. Both struck out seven.
Not only did the Chippewas strand a baker's dozen, but they committed a number of baserunning blunders that clearly cost them potential runs.
"We made a couple uncharacteristic mistakes and (Kent State) played really well the first game," Bischel said. "We're a pretty good baserunning team generally and we just had a couple uncharacteristic mistakes and at that point, you've got no choice but to bounce back and we did a nice job of it."
Then, the floodgates opened.
The Chippewas sent 12 men to the plate in scoring seven runs in the sixth inning in taking an 11-4 victory from Kent State in the nightcap of a Mid-American Conference baseball doubleheader at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
CMU stranded 13 baserunners and twice left the bases loaded in dropping the opener, 4-3.
The split left CMU 12-9, 3-2 MAC; the Golden Flashes are 16-6, 4-1. The teams are scheduled to play the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday (1 p.m.) at Theunissen.
"I told the guys after the game that we've become really good at bouncing back after tough defeats, now we've got to stop having tough defeats," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said.
The Chippewas collected just seven hits in game two but drew 11 walks and took advantage of four Kent State errors, two of which came in the bottom of the sixth.
Three of those walks came in succession and then Marquis Jackson delivered a one-out RBI single to break a 2-2 tie.
"Probably the really big play in that game was Marquis' hit," Bischel said. "We had guys on all day and just hadn't squared one up in those situations; Marquis splits one in half and that just started us going and obviously some guys followed suit there.
"It feels good to break through with a bunch of big hits. They say hitting's contagious, and you saw it there."
Justin Simpson walked to force in a run to make it 4-2, and then Jacob Donahue hit a slow ground ball. The Golden Flashes tried cut down Christian Mitchelle at the plate, but Mitchelle beat the throw home to make it 5-2.
Garrett Navara singled in a run and then Robby Morgan IV delivered a two-run double to right center to make it 8-2. A Kent State error brought in another run to give the Chippewas a 9-2 lead.
That was plenty for Chippewa starter Keegan Batka (3-3), who allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two over 6 2/3 innings.
The Chippewas held a 2-1 lead entering the top of the sixth when Kent State got a leadoff single and then the second hitter reached on an error.
After a groundout, the Golden Flashes had runners at first and third with one out. They bunted in the tying run, but Batka limited the damage by settling down to get an inning-ending groundout.
"We pitched well all day as a whole," Bischel said. "Keegan was outstanding and another huge key to that game was that sixth inning. That could have easily turned into a big inning against (Kent State's) offense. But (Batka) kept them to one, kept the game tied, and we got the big rally after that."
The Chippewas rebounded from a frustrating 12-inning opener during which they stranded 13 baserunners and twice left the bases loaded, including in the 10th. They also stranded two in the 11th.
Kent State's Brody Williams hit a two-run homer off reliever Ryan Palmblad in the seventh to tie the game, 3-3.
The Golden Flashes scored the go-ahead run in the 12th when Williams led off with a single, was bunted to second, took third on a groundout, and scored on a two-out Collin Mathews single.
Palmblad (1-2) took the loss. He went six innings in relief of starter Adam Mrakitsch. Both struck out seven.
Not only did the Chippewas strand a baker's dozen, but they committed a number of baserunning blunders that clearly cost them potential runs.
"We made a couple uncharacteristic mistakes and (Kent State) played really well the first game," Bischel said. "We're a pretty good baserunning team generally and we just had a couple uncharacteristic mistakes and at that point, you've got no choice but to bounce back and we did a nice job of it."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Benny Roebuck (1-0)
L: Palmblad, Ryan (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Aidan Longwell 1
HR: Brody Williams 1
RBI: Collin Mathews 1 ; Mack Timbrook 1 ; Brody Williams 2
SH: Josh Mrozek 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Justin Miknis 1 ; Josh Johnson 1 ; Brody Williams 2
SB: Aidan Longwell 1
CS: Collin Mathews 1
Batting:
2B: Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Dardas, Nick 1
RBI: Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Dardas, Nick 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Navarra, Garrett 1
SB: Jackson, Marquis 2 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Simpson, Justin 2
CS: Jackson, Marquis 1
HBP: Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Simpson, Justin 2
PO: Simpson, Justin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
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