Chippewas Take Their Swings in International Game
9/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Kevin Meyer, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan University baseball team made a strong statement in Friday's exhibition game against the Ontario Blue Jays, a high-profile travel team based in Toronto, scoring 14 runs and allowing none in 12 innings of play.
"The game went really well, I think the team played well, I thought our offensive approach was very patient and we swung the bat very well," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. "On the defensive side I think we had some real strong infield defense that was supported by a few real nice catches in the outfield."
The Chippewas offense was built off a balanced effort, as a series of extra base hits did the majority of the damage. Tyler Huntey (two doubles), Alex Borglin (single, double), Zach Fields (single, triple) and Pat McKenzie (double, sacrifice fly) paced CMU with two RBI each, while Nick Regnier stole four bases.
"I thought our starters played really well in the beginning, and we were able to play some other guys and would've liked to play some guys more if the weather hadn't shortened the day," Jaksa said. "We had wanted to play 14 innings."
On the mound, the Chippewas showed a lot of promise as they look to replace mainstays Jordan Foley, Pat Kaminska and Matt Trowbridge, each of whom was drafted in June, Foley by the New York Yankees, Kaminska by the Texas Rangers, and Trowbridge by the Baltimore Orioles.
Tim Black started for the Chippewas, then Sean Renzi, freshman Pat Leatherman and left-hander Adam Aldred each took a three-inning turn on the mound. Black served as CMU's closer last season, posting nine saves and earning First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors.
"I think all four of our pitchers threw very well today," Jaksa said. "We're trying to use these fall games to see where these guys are at, hopefully we have enough arms in the stable to give us an opportunity to really be successful as we continue to improve through this fall."
Jaksa expressed confidence in an infield which returns all of its starters, and shoring up the defense is a priority.
"I think after we made some of the moves we made down the stretch last season, we really shored up the defense in the end there," Jaksa said, "and I think we have some young talent on the roster in those positions this season. I feel we're going to improve from where we were a year ago, and I'd be hard pressed to think we wouldn't be improved."
The Chippewas begin their annual fall World Series classic on Friday, Oct. 3. Games are scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 5; Tuesday, Oct. 7; Friday, Oct. 10; Saturday, Oct. 11; Sunday, Oct. 12; and Tuesday, Oct. 14. All games are scheduled for Theunissen Stadium and open to the public. Admission is free.
Game times are 3:05 p.m. on Fridays, noon on Saturdays, 1 p.m. on Sundays, and 2:45 p.m. on Tuesdays. After the Saturday, Oct. 11 game the Chippewas will host their annual friends/family/alumni picnic.
