Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Host Oakland in Non-Leaguer
4/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan baseball team will take on Oakland on Wednesday (3:05 p.m.) in a non-conference game at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas (20-12) have won seven of their last 10 starts. The Grizzlies are 5-18.
CMU will send sophomore right-hander Blake Hibbitts (0-2) to the mound.
It will be Hibbitts' third start of the season. Last week against Michigan State, he went three hitless innings, but walked four and allowed one run in taking the loss.
The Chippewas are coming off a three-game Mid-American Conference series at Toledo, where they won two of three to improve to 7-2 in league.
They share first place in the West with Ball State, which is also 7-2. That record is the best among all MAC teams.
The Chippewas tied their season-high with 14 runs in Sunday's victory at Toledo as Adam Aldred turned in his best start in a CMU uniform, blanking the Rockets on four hits over seven innings. Joe Houlihan and Ryan Heeke homered to lead the Chippewas' 13-hit attack.
CMU will entertain Eastern Michigan in a three-game MAC series beginning Friday (3:05 p.m.) at Theunissen. The Eagles are 12-18, 4-5.
The Chippewas lead the MAC with a 3.27 team earned run average and are holding opponents to a .249 batting average, which ranks second in the league.
Several Chippewa pitchers rank among the top 10 in the conference in several statistical categories.
Sophomore Nick Deeg is tied for the top spot with five wins and ranks second in ERA (1.73) and innings pitched (52).
He and teammate Jason Gamble are among the three hurlers in the conference with one shutout apiece. The CMU staff has four shutouts to its credit, which is tops in the MAC and 12th in the nation.
CMU closer Tim Black leads the MAC with eight saves, a total that puts him 16th in the nation.
CMU's Logan Regnier ranks sixth in the conference in batting at .364. He is hitting .519 in MAC games, which leads the league. He also has a league-high five triples, which ranks fifth nationally.
The Chippewas' Pat MacKenzie has drawn 31 walks this season, a number that leads the league and ranks fifth in the nation.
CMU is hitting .260 as a team, which ranks eighth in the league, and tops the MAC with 50 stolen bases. Their 50 stolen bases ranks 22nd nationally.
