Central Michigan University
Miami - MAC Tournament
Chippewas Fall to Miami in MAC Tourney Finals
5/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 28, 2005
OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami University jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning here Saturday and never looked back in racing to a 10-6 victory over Central Michigan University in the 2005 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament championship game.
The RedHawks, Mac regular-season champs, won the first game here Saturday by a 5-2 margin to force a second game.
Miami jumped on Chippewa starter Ty Dunham, pitching on just two days rest, for six runs in the first two frames.He took the loss, dropping to 9-4 for the year.
The win moved Miami's record to 44-16 while CMU finished with a 42-18 record -- the 42 wins the fourth most in school annals.
A pair of two-run homers in the first by Paul Frietch (tourney MVP) and Michael Moljewski staked Miami's Keith Weiser to a lead he never relinquished. Geoff Orr also homered for the RedHawks in the fifth.
Miami touched four Chippewa hurlers for 13 hits, seven of them extra base hits.
CMU scored twice in the first on a two-run double by Bryan Mitzel and added a run in the fourth when Ryan Peel doubled and scored on a single by Troy Moratti.
Trailing 10-3 entering the final at-bat, the Chippewas scored three times off reliever Sam Shorts on four hits. Mitzel was hit with the bases loaded for one run, another came in on a doubleplay ball and the third on a single by Eric Cannon.
A trio of CMU relief pitchers kept MU in check after the first two innings. Josh Collmenter, James Ricchio and Mark Lundquist allowed just four runs (two earned) over the final seven and two-third innings.
Cannon reached base all five times he came to the plate. He had two singles, was hit by a pitch twice and reached on an error.
J.T. Jones led the 12-hit Chippewa attack with three safeties while Jim Geldhof and Jeff LaFavors Jr. had two each.
Three CMU players made the all-tourney team -- Moratti, Geldhof and Mitzel.
Playing their final game for the Chippewas were seniors Jeremy Crum, Jason Cairns, David Latour Jr.,Kurtis Wells, Derek Schaller, Geldhof, Peel and LaFavors.
