Central Michigan University Athletics
Baseball Takes On Michigan State and Western Michigan
4/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 23, 2001
ON DECK FOR CMU BASEBALL
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.
Tuesday, May 8 - Michigan - 2 p.m.
Wednesday, May 9 - at Michigan - 2 p.m.
Friday, May 11 - Toledo - 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 12 - Toledo (DH) - 1 p.m.
Sunday, May 13 - Toledo - 1 p.m.
`RESILIENT' CHIPPEWAS FACE KEY WEEK
MOUNT PLEASANT - The "resilient" Central Michigan University baseball team has six games on tap this week, including four games with rival Western Michigan.The Chippewas, now 25-15 for the season and 10-6 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) action, also have a pair of non-league tilts scheduled with Michigan State - at home Tuesday at 3 p.m., and at Olds Park in Lansing on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
"It's another big week for us," third-year CMU mentor Judd Folske said. "We'll want to play well against a good Michigan State team and then it's imperative we're ready for Western Michigan. We'll be battling them for the third and final playoff spot."
The Broncos enter the contests with a 9-7 MAC mark, one game behind CMU. Ball State is first in the MAC's West Division at 12-2 and Eastern Michigan second at 12-7.
A quirk in the schedule calls for CMU to play at WMU on Friday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.) with the two teams playing in Mount Pleasant for a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
After starting the week with wins of 26-8 over Northwood and 7-5 over Detroit, the Chippewas stumbled to three straight two-run losses - 6-4 at Notre Dame and 4-2 and 4-2 at Northern Illinois.
The loss at No. 2-ranked Notre Dame may have set the stage for the two setbacks at Northern Illinois. CMU led 4-2 with two outs and nobody on when an error extended the game. Next came a single and a walk, and the Irish's Ken Meyer slugged an 0-2 pitch for a grand slam and the 6-4 win.
"We had it right there and couldn't get that final out," Folske said. "Our kids played their hearts out and it definitely had a negative effect on our play at Northern.
"We were in both games we lost but didn't seem to have a lot of zip and drive. Northern is a veteran club and played us tough the whole weekend. We did manage to turn it around and left with two wins and a positive attitude."
Folske indicated he would start sophomore Jeff Garner (Hemlock) in the first game with Michigan State and senior Nick Latra (Farmington) in the second.
"We'll basically use the entire staff in those games," Folske said. "They're important games but we have to be ready for this weekend. Western has a solid club with good arms. It should be a great series."
CMU has no mid-week games slated for the following week because of final exams but will play a big four-game set at Ball State on the weekend.
CHIPPEWA NOTES
Junior right-hander Gavin Gillette (DeWitt/Grand Rapids CC) still has not allowed an earned run as a CMU pitcher. He ran his streak to 22.0 innings with 2.2 innings of relief work in the 11-9 win over Northern Illinois. Gillette (4-0) has 32 strikeouts and only seven walks while opponents are batting .143 against him.Redshirt freshman left-hander T.J. Johnson (Byron/Powers) had the most outstanding performance of the week, hurling 5.2 innings of two-hit shutout ball in relief to pick up the 6-3 win at NIU. He's now 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA.
Sophomore Mike Gates (Flushing) continues to leads Central in on-base percentage with a .478 mark. However, he's hitting just .285. The key stat, though, is his 45 walks which is third best in school history. He's second in runs scored with 39 and collected his first two stolen bases of the season at NIU.
Senior Matt Crowley (Grand Rapids/Creston) had a big week at the plate to take over the team lead in batting with a .386 mark. He was 13-of-26 with eight runs.
Senior Bryan Scheurer (Portland/St. Patrick) had a16-game hitting streak halted at NIU. He batted (.518) over that stretch on 27-of-52 and is second in hitting (.372) and first in stolen bases with 15. He had six hits against Northwood, second best in school annals.
Schuerer's 16-game hitting streak is one better than junior catcher Brad Reid (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont./Rudyard) had to open the season. Reid is third on the team with a .371 average including three homers and 24 RBI.
Junior catcher Scott Pickens (Mount Pleasant) smacked his sixth homer of the season in the 11-9 win over NIU - a grand slam in the first inning. He had two homers and drove in 10 runs last week.
Plagued by a sore arm much of his career, a healthy senior right-hander Nick Latra (Farmington) has been solid out of the bullpen. He's 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 14 outings.
Senior shortstop Jason Helps (Wyoming, Ont./St. Clair CC) slugged his team-leading 11th homer and drove in six runs last week. He's also tops in RBI with 45. Jason had four homers and 22 RBI as a junior.
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.
CMU baseball is sponsoring a "Clinic and Autograph Day" on Saturday, April 28. The free session begins in Theunissen Stadium at 9 a.m. No prior registration is required.
Participants will get to meet the team and coaches, learn valuable techniques and get autographs prior to CMU's twinbill with Western Michigan at 1 p.m.
