Central Michigan University
Akron
CMU Falls Twice to Akron
4/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2002
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron swept a doubleheader from Central Michigan University here Saturday, posting wins of 1-0 and 5-1.
Zip hurlers shutout the Chippewas for 14 straight inning on Saturday after CMU rolled to a 14-3 win in the opener on Friday.
CMU is now 15-8 for the season and 5-2 in MAC action while Akron is 8I-12 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Senior right-hander Chad Pleiness took the loss in game one despite tossing a four-hitter and not allowing an earned run. He walked three and fanned 10 as his record dropped to 2-1.
The Zips scored the game's lone run in the fifth on a one-out walk to Ryan Brickwood. Shaun Hinssen bounced a single to right and Brickwood took third. However, a throw from Tommy Grubb got past Tim Groves at third and the runner came home.
CMU had only three singles off Zip sophomore lefty Aaron Gangi, two by Keith Sampsell. This marked the first time this season that the Chippewas were shutout.
Incidentally, the last time the Chippewas started 5-0 in MAC was 1993 and Akron handed Central its first loss that year, too.
Game two was similar to game one in that it was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Akron scored a solo run. With two outs, Darek Stanfield walked, went to third on a bloop double to left by Ryan Brickwood and scored on an infield single by Shaun Hinssen.
The Zips scored an unearned run in the seventh to chase tough-luck starter Jeff Garner. An error followed by a triple to center by Greg Kulick made it 2-0. However, reliever T.J. Johnson had little luck and was touched for three more runs before giving way to Lee Naplin.Sampsell broke up Akron right-hander Frank Mendoza's bid for a shutout with a solo homer in the eighth, cutting the Zip lead to 5-1. It was the redshirt freshman's fourth homer of the season and second of the weekend.
Central Michigan will conclude the four-game set with Akron on Sunday with a single, nine-inning game at 1 p.m. CMU has a pair of non-league games this coming week, hosting Northwood on Tuesday (2 p.m.) before playing at Michigan on Wednesday (3 p.m.). The Chippewas return to MAC play at Eastern Michigan next Friday at 6 p.m.
