Central Michigan University Athletics
Baseball Has Week Break After Tourney Win
3/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2000
MOUNT PLEASANT--The Central Michigan University baseball team (11-6 overall, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) has a week break after winning the Continental Express Aggie Baseball Classic hosted by Texas A&M.
After the break the Chippewas face a busy week of action. CMU has a nonconference game at Notre Dame on March 28 before returning home for single games versus Saginaw Valley on March 29 and Wayne State on March 30. Central then hits the road to open the MAC season at Ohio on April 1 and Marshall on April 2.
The Chippewas are coming off a tournament championship at the Continental Express Aggie Baseball Classic held March 18-20 at College Station, Texas. CMU finished the tourney 4-2 with wins over Texas A&M (5-3 and 5-0), Oregon State (4-3) and Ohio State (3-2). CMU dropped the opening game of the tournament to Ohio State (11-4) and the final game to Oregon State (5-3).
Freshman Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ontario) earned MVP honors for his strong play. The 6-2 infielder hit .438 (seven-for-16) with eight RBI, two runs scored, one double and two home runs. Galloway slammed the key hit , a two-run home run in the win over Texas A&M, and had a two-run double to help the Chippewas defeat Ohio State.
Galloway is leading the squad with a .412 batting mark (14-for-34), three home runs and 13 RBI.
Senior outfielder Jake Sanborn (Grand Ledge) and senior pitcher Mike Steele (Midland) were both named to the all-tournament team.
Sanborn hit .318 (seven-for-22) and scored five runs for the tournament. Sanborn has started all 17 games for CMU and is hitting .388 (26-for-67) with three doubles and nine RBI.
Steele turned in a strong pitching performance in the Chippewas' 5-0 win over Texas A&M. Steele held the Aggies to just four hits and struck out five to improve his record to 2-0 on the year. The 6-2 righty has a 2.11 earned run average with a team-best 24 strikeouts for the season.
Seniors Scott Pieratt (Mount Pleasant) and Kevin Uzarski (Taylor) also shined for the Chippewas at the tournament. Pieratt hit .333 (six-for-18) with two RBI, one home run and six runs scored while Uzarski hit .444 (four-for-nine) with three RBI, two doubles and two runs scored.
Uzarski is second on the squad with 12 RBI and is hitting .387 (12-for-31) on the season while Pieratt has a .333 (21-for-63) mark with six RBI, two home runs, two doubles and 13 runs scored.
The Chippewas' fielding continues to be a strong point. CMU is fielding .969 with just 19 errors on the season while the opponents are fielding .957. CMU had just two errors in its first four games in the Texas A&M tournament before committing three errors in the loss to Oregon State in the final game.
