Central Michigan University Athletics
Baseball Faces Busy Week
4/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2001
ON DECK FOR CMU BASEBALL
Monday, April 16 - Northwood - 3 p.m.
Tuesday, April 17 - Detroit - 2 p.m.
Thursday, April 19 - at Notre Dame - 5 p.m.
Friday, April 20 - at Northern Illinois* - 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 21 - at Northern Illinois (DH)* - 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 22 - at Northern Illinois* - Noon
Tuesday, April 24 - Michigan State - 3 p.m.
Wednesday, April 25 - at Michigan State (Olds) - 7 p.m.
Friday, April 27 - at Western Michigan - 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 28 - Western Michigan (DH)* - 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 29 - at Western Michigan* - 2 p.m.
Friday, May 4 - at Ball State* - 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 5 - at Ball State (DH)* - 1 p.m.
Sunday, May 6 - at Ball State* - 1 p.m.
CHIPPEWAS FACE BUSY WEEK
MOUNT PLEASANT - After playing just two non-conference games last week, the Central Michigan University baseball team has seven games on tap this week highlighted by a four-game Mid-American Conference (MAC) set at Northern Illinois.The Chippewas, scheduled to host Northwood on Monday and Detroit on Tuesday, also have a Thursday, April 19, tilt at No. 4 ranked Notre Dame on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Coach Judd Folske's Chippewas enter the week's action with an overall mark of 21-12 and an 8-4 MAC mark. In action last week, Central downed Detroit (6-5 in 10
innings) and Hillsdale (13-3).
"This is going to be an action-packed week," said Folske. "Notre Dame is one of the top teams in the country and that will be a fun game for our young men to play. It has one of the top pitching staffs in the country. We've played some good, close games in the past and we're looking to do that again this time.
"I have a lot of respect for Northern Illinois. It has struggled a bit this season but it has a veteran team and made the MAC playoffs a year ago. Northern has a small park and the wind seems to blow out. It'll be a challenge for our pitching staff."
The Chippewas will play 13 games in the next two weeks before final examinations are slated for April 30-May 4. With 16 MAC games remaining, CMU holds the third and final playoff spot in the West Division with an 8-4 record. Ball State is tops at 12-2 and Eastern Michigan second at 10-4.
CMU plays a home-and-home with Michigan State next week -- hosting the Spartans on Tuesday at 3 p.m., and then playing at Olds Park in Lansing on Wednesday at 7 p.m. - before tangling with Western Michigan in a four-game set on the weekend.
CMU has gone 20-6 since opening the campaign with a 1-6 mark.
CHIPPEWA NOTES
Junior right-hander Gavin Gillette (DeWitt/Grand Rapids CC) has not allowed an earned run as a CMU pitcher. He ran his streak to 19.1 innings with a scoreless inning in the Chippewas' 13-3 win over Hillsdale on Saturday. Gillette (3-0) has 28 strikeouts and only seven walks while opponents are batting .136 against him.Sophomore Mike Gates (Flushing) leads Central in on-base percentage with a .503 mark. However, he's hitting just .295. The key stat, though, is his 41 walks which is already fourth best in school history. He's tied for the team lead in runs scored with 34.
Junior catcher/DH Brad Reid (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont./Rudyard) leads CMU in batting with a .383 mark. He had four hits in seven at-bats last week.
Senior outfielder Bryan Scheurer (Portland/St. Patrick) continues to shine at the plate. He was three-for-seven last week to raise his average to .367 - second best on the team - and 12 for his last 25.
Junior infielder Tim Bullinger (Jackson/Lumen Christi) has had a breakthrough season. After hitting .275 with no homers and 24 RBI a year ago, Bullinger is batting .338 with three homers and 33 RBI this spring.
Junior catcher Scott Pickens (Mount Pleasant) did not have a home run in his first two seasons with CMU, and had not hit one in the first 16 games this year. However, Scott has slammed four in the last 17 games.
Freshmen Ryan Cremeans (Adrian) and Jeff Opalewski (Saginaw/Heritage) will pitch three innings each at Notre Dame with the rest of the staff filling in the rest.
CMU has a gala celebration planned for May 12 to honor the final season of baseball in the current Theunissen Stadium. All former players are invited back and will be introduced before the doubleheader with Toledo (1 p.m.) and move to their old positions. Five Chippewa coaches (Bill Theunissen, Waldo Sauter, Dave Keilitz, Dean Kreiner and Judd Folske) will throw out opening pitches.
