Central Michigan University Athletics
Conference Champion Chippewas Head to MAC Tournament
5/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MAC Tournament Central | Live Audio | 2010 MAC Tournament Bracket | Live Stats
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio -- After claiming its 12th Mid-American Conference title the Central Michigan baseball team will serve as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Chillicothe, Ohio.
The Chippewas (33-20, 20-7 MAC) put together consecutive sweeps to end the regular season to claim the outright conference title, and will face the No. 8 seed Ohio in the opening round on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Depending on the results of Wednesday's opening-round action, CMU will face either No. 4 Ball State or No. 5 Bowling Green, the other two teams on its side of the bracket, on Thursday.
The double-elimination tournament runs through Saturday, with the championship game scheduled for 1 p.m.
CMU owns two MAC Tournament titles, coming in 1994 and 1995.
The Chippewas finished the regular season with a .315 batting average in league games, the fourth-best mark in the conference, and a 3.65 ERA, the top mark in the MAC by over a full run.
The Maroon and Gold boast two of the league's best hitters in Nate Theunissen and James Teas. Theunissen boasts the fifth-best batting average in MAC play (.422) and the third-best on-base percentage (.496) while Teas boasts the fourth-best batting average (.427) and third-best on-base percentage (.505).
On the hill, the bullpen was the backbone of the Chippewas. Dietrich Enns led the MAC in conference ERA (1.23), batting average against (.168) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.82) with a 4-0 record. Fellow reliever Trent Howard finished third in the league in ERA (2.41) and batting average against (.223) and second in strikeouts per nine innings (9.09). The Chippewas closer owned a 3-1 record along with five saves.
Staff ace Jesse Hernandez paced the rotation with a 6-1 MAC record, tied for the most wins in league play, and the third-best ERA among starting pitchers in league games at 3.48.
The MAC Tournament features the top three teams from each division during the regular season, plus the two best remaining records as wild cards. Its the third season the MAC Tournament has been held at VA Memorial Stadium, home of the Chillicothe Paints.
Live stats and a live web stream of the entire tournament are available via mac-sports.com. WMHW-FM 91.5 will broadcast all CMU contests, with a live audio stream available via cmuchippewas.com.
Closing In -- Nate Theunissen has 79 hits on the season, two shy of moving into a tie for ninth on CMU's single-season list. Jim Geldhof owns the program's high-water mark with 97 knocks in 2004. His 20 doubles is just one shy of Kurtis Wells' program-record 21 in 2005.
He's a Winner -- Jesse Hernandez needs one win to become just the 15th player in program history to win at least nine games. Only three players in CMU history have won 10 or more games. Hernandez will take the ball in the opening round against Ohio.
Close it Out -- Trent Howard already has five saves entering the MAC Tournament, tied for the seventh-most by a Chippewa in a single season.
Thirty Or Bust -- The Chippewas have won at least 30 games in 28 of the last 34 seasons. The last time CMU won more than 35 games came in 2000, when it finished 41-17.
Get All-MACcess -- The Mid-American Conference is offering a video webstream package that allows fans to watch every second of the MAC Tournament for $14.95. The package is separate from the CMU Sports Zone and requires an All-MACcess subscription.
Streakin' -- The Chippewas have won eight consecutive games against MAC opponents, including back-to-back sweeps to close out the conference slate over Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. CMU has won 10 of its last 11 contests overall.
