Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewa Baseball Heads To MAC Tourney
5/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2002
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- Central Michigan University launches its bid for the 2002 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament championship against Eastern Michigan University on Wednesday at Bowling Green. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
The Chippewas took three out-of-four games at the University of Toledo this past weekend to capture the No. 5 seed in the double-elimination tourney.
CMU is 29-23 for the season and 14-10 in MAC play while the Eagles come in with a 30-26 record and a mark of 19-9 in the MAC to capture the West Division crown and the No. 2 seed.
Bowling Green swept Akron this past weekend to get the No. 1 seed with an 18-7 MAC record. Kent (18-8) is the No. 3 seed, Ball State (17-9) No. 4 and Miami (16-12) No. 6.
The tourney winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA regionals which start the following week.
"There's great parity in MAC baseball which should make for an outstanding tournament," said CMU head coach Judd Folske. "The No. 1 seed wasn't decided until the final game when Miami beat Kent State. And, we knew we were in but our last game gave us the No. 5 seed.
"The No. 1 seed hasn't won in awhile so I think it's wide open. We finished strong and I think our players have the attitude that they can win the whole thing."
The Chippewas were 22-22 with one weekend to play but won seven of their last eight games. "Our pitching is solid and our hitting has shown some life lately," Folske said. "We just have to play better defense, though, in order to get the job done in the tournament."
CMU posted wins of 4-3, 12-1 and 16-15 in 18 innings at Toledo while losing a 5-4 decision.
While the Chippewas had 52 hits against the Rockets, 12 CMU errors accounted for 12 unearned runs.
Eastern Michigan defeated Central three times in the four-game series in Ypsilanti early in April by the scores of 7-5, 12-5 and 11-9. The Chippewas' win was a 3-1 verdict behind the four-hit pitching of Chad Pleiness.
"We had some great games with Eastern," Folske said. "It has some great hitters with power. We're looking forward to another exciting game with Eastern."
Week in Review
Central Michigan was 6-1 during the week, and had a season-high five-game winning streak. The Chippewas opened with a 14-0 win over Michigan on Tuesday behind the three-hit shutout hurling of Lee Naplin (Port Huron/St. Clair CC) and Jeff Garner (Hemlock). Naplin got the win (5-2) and Garner the save, his first. Mike Gates (Canton/Flushing) was four-for-four with a career-high six RBI in the game to power the CMU attack.
Central won a pair of non-league games with Oakland on Wednesday, 6-1 and 20-9. Nick Zastrow (Saginaw/Valley Lutheran), Ryan Cremeans (Adrian) and Travis Osborn (Adrian) combined on a two-hitter with the win going to Zastrow. Gates homered in the first frame to give a 2-1 lead. Game two went three hours and 22 minutes as CMU belted 16 hits including homers by Osborn and David Latour (Barrie, Ont.). Central had a nine-run sixth and scored 18 runs in the fifth through eighth innings. Latour had three hits and drove in four runs while Jim Geldhof (Troy) and Scott Pickens (Mount Pleasant) had three hits each. David LeMieux (Muskegon/Reeths-Puffer) picked up the win to go to 2-1.
Chad Pleiness (Scottville/Mason County Central) went the first seven innings in the 4-3 win over Toledo to raise his record to 6-3. He allowed two earned runs and fanned eight. Geldhof had the big hit in the game with a three-run homer in the seventh that put CMU up 4-3. T.J. Johnson (Byron/Flint Powers) collected the save with two hitless innings.
UT won the second game of the series, 5-4, by scoring twice in the seventh inning off reliever and loser Dan Horvath (Southgate/Michigan State). The Rockets jumped out 3-0 in the first with three unearned runs before CMU clawed back to take the lead with two in the top of the seventh on an RBI double by Tim Groves (Mount Pleasant/Sacred Heart) and an RBI single by Latour.
Central had its way in the nightcap on Saturday with a 12-1 win. CMU scored four times in the first and rode the seven-hit pitching of Garner (4-3) for the win. Tim Bullinger (Jackson/Hendrix College) had three hits including his third homer of the season and Latour belted his sixth dinger of the year. Groves drove in four runs with two hits in CMU's 15-hit assault.
In the "Bizarre Game of the Year," the Chippewas defeated Toledo, 16-15, in a game that went 18 innings and took six hours and 35 minutes to complete. Ryan Krueger (Alpena) hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Tommy Grubb (Wheatley, Ont./Grand Rapids CC) who had walked and moved to third on a single by Gibbons. The game was tied at 15-15 at the end of nine innings when hurlers on both teams started throwing up zeroes. Zastrow went four scorless innings and LeMieux four more to pick up the win (3-1). Grubb had four hits and five RBI while Krueger, Pickens and Latour had three hits each. CMU had 22 hits in 74 at-bats, walked 12 times, used nine pitchers and commited six errors in what is believed to be the longest game in Chippewa history.
Strong Finish
After going 2-9 during one stretch in the middle of the season, Central Michigan finished strong with seven wins in its final eight games. The Chippewas were 15-6 and 5-0 in the MAC at one point in the season before slumping.
Strikeout Record Shattered
Central Michigan hurlers have fanned a school-record 475 batters this season, breaking the old mark of 462 set in 2001.
Chad Pleiness is among the nation's leaders this season with 95 in 63.1 innings. Dan Horvath has 79 in 71.2 innings after posting the second-most in school history in 2001 with 102.
Pleiness Sets 'Em Down
Senior Chad Pleiness is tied for fifth in strikeouts in a season with 95. Opponents are batting just .194 against him, and he sports a record of 6-3 and an ERA of 2.42.
Chippewa Rotation
CMU head coach Judd Folske indicated that he would go with Chad Pleiness (6-3, 2.42), Jeff Garner (4-3, 3.40) and Lee Naplin (5-2, 3.53) as starters in the first three MAC tourney games. All three are right-handers.
Gates in the Books
Junior Mike Gates is in the CMU record books in a number of categories. He's the career-leader in walks (131), fifth in career RBI (134) and ninth in career runs (129), GW RBI (14) and total bases (267). For the season, he's tied for second in GW RBI (nine), fourth in walks (49) and tied for eighth in RBI (54).
Bully, Too
In just three years in the Chippewa program, Tim Bullinger has made a lasting mark. The feisty third baseman is eighth in career at-bats (583), ninth in career runs (132) and 10th in career hits (184). This season, his 214 at-bats is third and his 59 runs are eighth best.
Gates Gets On Base
Mike Gates has a knack for getting on base. This past week in seven games, the 6-4 first baseman reached base 24 times in 35 at-bats. He was 10-of-21 at the plate and walked another 14 times. His on-base percentage is .533 for the season and .564 in MAC games only.
Offense Comes to Life
After struggling much of the season, the Chippewas exploded at the plate this week with 91 hits in seven games for an average of 13 per outing. CMU batted .337 for the week to raise its average to .291 for the season. Central also slugged at least one homer in every game and had 10 for the week.
Big Weeks
A number of Chippewas had big weeks at the plate, led by Tommy Grubb and Mike Gates who drove in 11 runs each. Gates also scored nine runs and Grubb eight. David Latour was 12-for-30 (.400) with two homers, nine runs and nine RBI while Ryan Krueger scored13 runs, knocked in six more and stole seven bases. Scott Pickens was 10-for-28 (.357) with seven RBI and seven runs scored and Jim Geldhof had eight hits in 21(.381) at-bats.
MAC leaders
Central Michigan is second in pitching (4.62 ERA), and 11th in fielding (.947) and hitting (.291). Chad Pleiness is first in shutouts (two), second in strikeouts (95) and opponents' batting average (.194), and third in ERA (2.42). Mike Gates is first in on-base percentage (.533) and walks (49), eighth in RBI (54) and ninth in batting (.382). Jeff Garneris fifth in opponent's batting (.234) and seventh in ERA (3.40), Dan Horvath is eighth in strikeouts (79) and Travis Osborn is tied for fifth in saves (five). Tim Bullinger is fifth in stolen bases (18) and sixth in runs scored (59).
MAC Games Only
The Chippewa stats are a little more impressive as a team when looking at conference games only. CMU is second in pitching (4.35), ninth in fielding (.956) and seventh in hitting (.299). Chad Pleiness is first in shutouts(two) opponents' batting (.191), second in strikeouts (72) and ERA (2.09). Jeff Garner is third in opponents' batting (.215) and ERA (2.17). Dan Horvath is fourth in strikeouts (59). Ryan Krueger is 15th in hitting (.375), Danny Gibbons is 17th (.366) and Mike Gates is 19th (.365). Gates is first in walks (29) and second in on-base percentage (.564).
MAC West 'Players of the Week'
Following are CMU players honors by the MAC this spring:
MAC West PlayerMarch 11 Tommy GrubbApril 3 Mike Gates
MAC West PitcherApril 3 Chad PleinessApril 8 Dan HorvathApril 29 Chad PleinessMay 13 Chad Pleiness
Used to Winning
Central Michigan University has the winningest program in the Midwest since 1970. The Chippewas have a record of 1,104-562 (.663) in the past 32 seasons while Minnesota is second (.647), Notre Dame third (.630), Michigan fourth (.618) and Ohio State fifth (.603). CMU has had only one losing season since 1964 -- the 1999 club that went 24-32.
MAC's Best
The Chippewas have the best all-time baseball record in MAC history (prior to this season) with a mark of 452-264-1 (.631). CMU has won 11 titles and two tourney crowns. Western Michigan is second at .610 and Ohio third at .589.
MAC Ticket Policy
Tickets for the Mid-American Conference baseball tournament to be held this Wednesday-Saturday at Bowling Green are available at the gate. A tourney pass for adults is $20 and for students $12. Daily passes are $7 for adults and $4 for students.
Scouting the Opponents
Eastern Michigan is sixth in batting in the MAC (.306) and first in homers (87). The Eagles are eighth in pitching (7.19 ERA).
Ryan Goleski is tied for the MAC lead in homers with 22 while Greg Anglin is tied for eighth with 14. Goleski is eighth in hitting (.385). Goleski is second in RBI (69) and Anglin is tied for fifth (57).
EMU's top hurler is Joe Linde with a 6-6 record and an ERA of 5.52.
Games on the Radio
All of Central's MAC tourney games will be aired live on WMMI (830 AM) beginning 15 minutes prior to the first pitch.
Chippewa Notes
*CMU has not reached the NCAA tournament since 1995 when it won the MAC tourney at Bowling Green on a walk-off grand slam by Mike Cowdrey and advanced to the NCAA regionals at LSU.
*The Chippewas have reached the NCAA tourney 12 times since turning Division I in 1972.
*This is Central's third straight MAC tourney appearance in Judd Folske's four years. CMU went 1-2 the last two tourneys.
