Central Michigan University
Stetson
Chippewas Split at Stetson
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
DeLAND, Fla. - Ryan Heeke's two-out ninth-inning RBI single broke a 6-6 tie Saturday and propelled the Central Michigan baseball team to an 8-6 victory over Stetson in the opening game of a non-conference doubleheader at the Hatters' Melching Field.
The Hatters came back to take the nightcap, 13-6, ending CMU's win streak at four. The Chippewas (5-2) and Hatters (3-5) close their four-game series on Sunday at noon. Freshman right-hander Pat Leatherman will start for CMU.
Freshman left-hander Braxton Markle, the fourth CMU pitcher, earned his first collegiate win in the opener and Tim Black picked up his third save.
Lead-off hitter Nick Regnier collected four his to lead the Chippewas' 12-hit attack. Pat MacKenzie, Cody Leichman and Logan Regnier added two hits apiece. One of Logan Regnier's hits was a double.
CMU staked starter Adam Aldred to a 6-0 lead after three innings, but the Hatters chipped away with two runs in the fourth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh to forge a 6-6 tie.
Leichman led off the ninth with a single and Alex Borglin bunted pinch runner Colton Bradley to second. After an intentional walk to Logan Regnier and a strikeout, Bradley scored on Heeke's single to center field. Regnier advanced to third on the play and later scored on a wild pitch.
"It was just a dogfight," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. "They brought a couple guys in who put up a bunch of goose eggs in a row. I was very pleased with the big hit for Ryan with two outs."
Heeke's base hit continued an early season trend of the Chippewas coming through in the clutch.
"Anytime, when you have a lot of at-bats in the course of a year, you're going to fail and the ability to handle that and persevere is really important," Jaksa said. "And that's what we've been able to do for a good share of the year so far even though it's still in its infancy. We have to continue to do that."
Black allowed a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, then induced a pair of fly balls to end it.
Markle allowed one hit and struck out one over 1 2/3 innings. Aldred surrendered four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked three. Jimmy McNamara and Sean Martens also worked in relief for CMU.
"We used quite a few arms at different times to try to stem the tide," Jaksa said. "A couple of them came through and pitched really well."
Walker Sheller, the third Stetson pitcher, took the loss.
The Chippewas led in the nightcap, 5-4, when Stetson erupted for four runs in the fifth off CMU starter Jordan Grosjean. Garrett Rusini's three-run double was the big blow.
Grosjean (0-1) allowed eight runs (six earned) on 10 hits. He walked one and struck out four in taking the loss. Josh Pierce and Connor Kelly worked in relief for the Chippewas.
CMU committed a season-high four errors in the game, and was charged with seven in the doubleheader.
MacKenzie singled, doubled, tripled and drove in two runs to lead CMU at the plate, while Morgan Oliver had a two-run single to highlight the Chippewas' four-run third inning.
Brooks Wilson earned the win in relief of starter Ben Rakus.
