Central Michigan University
Oakland
Chippewas Fall at OU
4/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Central Michigan was outhit, 10-6, Wednesday as the Chippewas dropped a non-league baseball game to Oakland, 5-3, at Oakland Baseball Field.
The loss was CMU's third in its last fourth starts. The Chippewas (28-16) return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Northern Illinois at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas' recent struggles at the plate -- they are hitting .168 in their last four games -- continued against the Grizzlies (9-28).
"The bottom line, more than anything else, we're just not swinging the bat right now the way we know we're capable of," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. "We're going to have to fight through. There's some adversity there and you've got to know how to compete against It and stay tuned in to what you're doing and fight through it.
"We had some guys that were OK and battled hard and had some good at-bats, but for the most part they'll tell you it was not a good offensive day."
The Grizzlies took advantage of a CMU error that led to two runs during a three-run first inning that put Oakland up, 3-1.
Zach McKinstry led CMU with two hits.
Junior left-hander Josh Pierce (0-2) made his first career start and took the loss. He surrendered four runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and striking out two over three innings.
Blake Hibbitts and Connor Kelly both worked in relief. Hibbitts went three innings, allowing one run on four hits. Kelly surrendered one hit and struck out two while going the final two frames.
"Each of them had glimpses of being good," Jaksa said. "We'll build off of that. Connor Kelly was fine again today so that was a good thing. He did a nice job."
Junior right-hander Chris VanDyke (1-0) started and went five innings to earn the victory. He allowed two runs on four hits while striking out four and walking one over five innings.
Connor Fannon, Nate Schweers and Lucas Scocchia each worked in relief. Robby Enslen had three hits and Ian Yetsko drove in two runs to lead the Grizzlies at the plate.
The Chippewas turn their attention back to the MAC, which they lead by two games with nine to play. The weekend series, which begins Friday at 3:05 p.m., is CMU's last league home series. The Chippewas will have two non-conference home games remaining after that, one against Michigan, the other against Michigan State.
"You're never as bad as you think you are when you lose, and you're never as good as you think you are when you win," Jaksa said. "That's a cliché, but it's stood the test of time. We're still a good ball club.
"Whatever's getting in our way we've got to play our way out of it. Northern Illinois isn't going to care if we're not swinging the bats."
