Central Michigan University Athletics
Baseball Faces MSU In Twinbill on Wednesday
4/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 24, 2000
MOUNT PLEASANT - Winning three-out-of-four from Western Michigan University helped keep the Central Michigan University baseball team in first place in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) race.
The Chippewas, 27-11 for the season, hold a slim one-game lead over Ball State in the MAC's West. CMU stands 10-4 in conference play and the Cardinals are 9-5.
Central Michigan has a busy week on tap beginning with a non-conference nine-inning home affair slated for Tuesday, April 25, with Northwood University at 3 p.m. CMU will then play a doubleheader against Michigan State at Olds Park in Lansing on Wednesday, April 26, at 5 p.m. It was originally scheduled as a single game at 7 p.m.
The Chippewas then return to MAC action this weekend for a pair of twinbills at Eastern Michigan on Saturday and Sunday.
"It should be a hectic but fun week," said CMU head coach Judd Folske. "We're playing seven games the week before final exams which should be interesting. Playing in the minor league park in Lansing is quite an experience for the young men."
Folske was pleased with the three wins against Western.
"Western Michigan is a good club and we have to be satisfied with the three wins," Folske said. "When we won the first three, though, a sweep was a possibility. But, the way we came back from 4-0 in the 8-7 win at Western on Saturday, we could have been .500 on the weekend."
Eastern Michigan is 4-12 in MAC play but Folske won't be fooled by that.
"Eastern has a veteran team and a lot better club than the record shows," he said. "It definitely puts a lot of runs on the board and will be a good match for our team. It'll be tough playing there."
CHIPPEWA RECAP - CMU 12, Oakland University 0 (April 19): Jake Sanborn slammed two homers and drove in five runs to lead the Chippewas to victory. Four CMU hurlers combined on a one-hitter with starter Pete Nemeth getting the win (2-0). He tossed three hitless innings.
CMU 9, Oakland 7 (April 19) - Oakland jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two at-bats but Mike Galloway's homer to lead off the fifth tied it at 5-5 and Jason Helps' double plated two more in the fifth to take the lead for good. Ryan Krueger (2-0) got the win in relief, allowing one hit in two innings.
CMU 5, WMU 1 (April 22) - Mike Fawcett went the distance and scattered six hits to raise his record to 5-2. The Chippewas fell behind, 1-0, after two innings but took the lead in the fourth on a single by Tim Bullinger. Galloway had a two-run homer in the fifth and Bullinger another RBI single.
CMU 8, WMU 7 (April 22) - The battling Chippewas fought back from a 4-0 deficit after one inning and 7-3 after four to score four times in the fifth to tie it at 7-7. Bullinger drove in one run with a single, Kevin Uzarski another with a double and Scott Pieratt tied it with a two-run single. Galloway opened the sixth with a double and scored on Matt Crowley's single for the win. Jeff Garner went the final five innings in relief for the win (4-2) and gave up three hits and one run.
CMU 10, WMU 5 (April 23) - Central vaulted out to a 9-0 lead after four innings en route to a 10-5 win. Pieratt had a two-run homer and Sanborn followed with a solo shot in the three-run second while Shaun Gragg had a solo homer in the sixth. Adam Bolthouse was the starter and winner, raising his record to 4-3.
WMU 4, CMU 2 (April 23) - Solo homers by Sanborn (his ninth) and Helps (fourth) were the only runs CMU could produce against WMU's Matt Vriesenga. Dan Schell (3-1) went the distance and took the loss.
CHIPPEWA NOTES - Senior Jake Sanborn (Grand Ledge) had a big week, slamming four homers and driving in 10 runs as CMU went 5-1. He also stole five bases in five tries and scored seven runs. He was six-of-14 at the plate.
Sanborn is second in career hits (220), at-bats (613) and total bases (357), and fourth in RBI (132) and extra base hits (70).
Junior shortstop Jason Helps (Wyoming, Ontario) has hit four home runs in the past two weeks and been hit by pitches five times. The homers were his first of the season and he is one shy of tying the school record for being hit by pitches with nine. Helps has raised his average from .109 to 219 in the last 12 games.
The Chippewas had only 23 homers in their first 26 games. However, they blasted 19 in the 12 games - six by Sanborn and four by Helps.
CMU has already surpassed its total of 24 wins from 1999 with 27. Central was 11-6 in its two southern trips and is 16-5 since returning north. WMU's 4-2 win on Sunday ended the Chippewas' six-game winning streak.
The Chippewas stole 13-of-14 bases last week and made just three errors in six games to improve their fielding mark to .969.
Senior Dan Schell (Mount Pleasant) has struck out 37 batters in 36.1 innings. More impressively, he's walked only six. Freshman Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ontario), the 25th-leading hitter in the country entering play last week, has struck out only seven times in 113 total trips to the plate.
