Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Clinches MAC Title with 10-2 Win Over Eagles
5/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan is the 2010 Mid-American Conference baseball champion after defeating Eastern Michigan, 10-2, Saturday at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas (33-20 overall, 20-7 MAC) were in a position to win the title outright after Toledo rallied in the bottom of the ninth to beat Ball State, 8-7, earlier Saturday. CMU wasted no time taking control of its own regular season finale, leading Eastern Michigan (25-30, 13-14 MAC) 6-0 after two innings and 9-1 after three.
It is CMU's 12th MAC baseball championship and first since 2004.
Zach Cooper (4-2) silenced the EMU offense, holding the Eagles to one unearned run on four hits in eight innings of work. He struck out six and walked three.
The Chippewas' offense, meanwhile, broke the game open with five runs in the second inning, all of which came with two outs. Brendan Emmett drew a bases-loaded walk, James Teas singled in two runs and Dale Cornstubble doubled in two runs to stake CMU to a 6-0 lead.
Eastern Michigan scored an unearned run in the top of the third, but CMU answered with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. Emmett doubled in two runs, then scored from second on a Teas single.
Emmett finished 2-for-2 with two doubles, two walks, three runs scored and four runs batted in. Teas was 3-for-4 with a walk, scored once and drove in three.
Steve Weber (2-5) took the loss for Eastern Michigan. He surrendered six earned runs on three hits in just 1-2/3 innings.
CMU will enter next week's eight-team, double-elimination MAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Chippewas will meet No. 8 seed Ohio on Wednesday in Chillicothe, Ohio.
