Central Michigan University Athletics
Baseball Sweeps Into MAC Tournament
5/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 14, 2001
ON DECK FOR CHIPPEWA BASEBALL
2001 Mid-American Conference Baseball TournamentMay 16-19 - Ball Diamond - Muncie, Ind.
Wednesday, May 16
G1 -- No. 3 Kent State vs. No. 4 Ohio, 9:30 a.m.G2 -- No. 2 Bowling Green vs. No. 5 Central Michigan, 12:30 p.m.
G3 -- No. 1 Ball State vs. No. 6 Miami, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 17
G4 -- Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 2, 9:30 a.m.G5 -- Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 1, 12:30 p.m.
G6 -- Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 1, 3:30 p.m.
If four teams remain after Game 6:
Friday, May 18
G7 -- Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 9:30 a.m.G8 -- Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, 12:30 p.m.
G9 -- Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 19
G10 -- Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 12 p.m.(if necessary)
G11 -- Same teams as in Game 10, TBA
If five teams remain after Game 6:
Friday, May 18
G 7 -- Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 9:30 a.m.G8 -- Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 12:30 p.m.
G9 -- Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 3:30 p.m.
If two teams remain after Game 9:
Saturday, May 19
G10 -- Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12 p.m.(if necessary)
G11 -- Same teams as in Game 10, TBA
If three teams remain after Game 9:
Saturday, May 19G10 -- Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, 12 p.m.
G11 -- Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, TBA
*All times EST
Follow Chippewa MAC Tourney Baseball Live: www.cmuchippewas.comMOUNT PLEASANT - Coming off an incredible final weekend in Theunissen Stadium, Central Michigan University will battle for a spot in the NCAA baseball regionals beginning Wednesday when the 2001 Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament opens at Ball State University.
The Chippewas, winners of all four games with Toledo this past weekend, are seeded No. 5 and will face the nation's top hitting team in No. 2 seed Bowling Green at 12:30 p.m. (EST)/1:30 p.m. in Mount Pleasant. The game will be broadcast live on WMMI (830 AM).
Central Michigan enters the contest with a 34-22 record and a mark of 16-12 in the MAC, reaching the field as the second-place team in the West. Bowling Green, 36-16 for the season, won the East with a record of 18-9 despite losing its last three games at Akron.
The Falcons are hitting .361 as a team, have slugged 98 homers and are averaging 9.9 runs per outing.
"Bowling Green is an offensive machine," said third-year CMU mentor Judd Folske. "The stats are unbelievable. We'll need a great performance from Dan Horvath to have a chance."
Horvath, a 6-4 sophomore right-hander, will be Central's starter against Bowling Green. He's 5-4 with a 4.64 ERA.
The fact that the Chippewas are even playing in the MAC tourney may be minor miracle. CMU needed a sweep of Toledo to have a chance of making the field of six, and that was something Central had not accomplished since May 2-3 of 1998 when it took four from Northern Illinois.
Thanks to some help from Marshall (which took two from Eastern Michigan) and Ball State (which took two from Western Michigan), the four wins gave CMU the automatic second bid from the West Division. The Chippewas responded with wins of 9-7, 6-5, 9-3 and 15-8.
"What a weekend," Folske exclaimed. "The odds were certainly against us but I've liked this team's demeanor all season and we got it done. We had some heroic efforts and having all of the alums there on Saturday to close the old park down didn't hurt."
Friday's hero was senior outfielder Bryan Scheurer (Portland/St. Patrick/Grand Rapids CC) who slugged a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for the 9-7 win. He also made a run-saving catch in the eighth inning.
More than 100 former Chippewa players returned to Theunissen Stadium for ceremonies on Saturday. They were introduced and took their old positions. This is the final season at the current site before moving to a new Theunissen in south campus.
Scott Pickens (Mount Pleasant) drilled a single to center in the eighth inning to give CMU the 6-5 win in the opener on Saturday. In the nightcap, Central spotted Toledo a 3-0 lead before scoring nine unanswered runs. Junior right-hander Chad Pleiness (Scottville/Mason County Central) held the Rockets hitless in the final five innings to raise his record to 6-3.
The Chippewas made little doubt about it on Sunday, slugging a school-record tying seven homers and collecting 18 hits in a 15-8 victory. Senior shortstop Jason Helps (Wyoming, Ont./St. Clair CC) and Pickens each bashed a couple of homers while Mike Galloway (St. Thomas, Ont.), Mike Gates (Plymouth/Flushing) and Ryan Krueger (Alpena) all homered.
CHIPPEWA NOTES - After opening the season with a record of 1-6, the Chippewas have played better than a .667 clip (33-16) and won the Baseball Week tourney at Rollins College.
CMU played in the MAC tourney at Kent in 2000, losing to Miami in the first game (7-3) before eliminating Northern Illinois (8-4). Central was sent packing by Ball State (2-1) in 12 innings.
The Chippewas own a 46-23 all-time record against Bowling Green but the two schools haven't played since splitting a doubleheader in 1999, losing 4-0 and winning 3-1. The two teams also split a pair in 1998, CMU winning 3-2 and losing 9-5.
CMU has not reached the NCAA tourney since 1995 when it played at Louisiana State University after winning the MAC tourney at Bowling Green.
