Central Michigan University
Northern Illinois
Chippewas Bust Out, Roll Past NIU
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Slump? What slump?
The Central Michigan baseball team pounded out 16 hits and got another solid start from Sean Renzi Friday in rolling past Northern Illinois, 14-2, in the opener of a three-game Mid-American Conference series at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas improved to 29-16 overall and they lead the MAC at 14-5. NIU is 19-27, 7-12. Game two is Saturday at 2:05 p.m. at Theunissen.
CMU entered Friday's game having lost three of its last four starts and had hit .168 as a team over those four games. CMU's 16 hits and 14 runs were the most in either category since an April 11 win over Eastern Michigan, a span of 10 games.
"There's no question we were ready to play today and we had a little pep in our step and we executed what we wanted to do," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. "We are a good club when we play like that.
"Now we've got replicate that effort again (Saturday). May not be as easy, but I'll take my chances if the team that showed up today shows up (Saturday) and on Sunday and as we move forward we're going to be hard to handle."
The Chippewas trailed 2-1 then sent 13 men to the plate in a nine-run second-inning explosion to seize a 10-2 lead. The nine runs marked their highest run output in any single inning this season.
Daniel Jipping's three-run homer to left field was the big blow, but the Chippewas played their share of small ball in greasing the wheels.
The Chippewas took advantage of a hit batsman, an error, a bunt single, a suicide squeeze that went for a basehit, a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base. Alex Borglin and Pat MacKenzie each delivered a run-scoring single in the frame.
Jipping's homer, his team-leading fourth of the season, capped the scoring.
"We did the short game a little bit because you never know how many runs you're going to score," Jaksa said. "We did a lot of little things and we got a few runs and all of a sudden guys are in scoring position and momentum was on our side. We executed what we wanted to do in those situations both with the small game and then we hit a ball out."
Zach McKinstry finished with three hits to lead the Chippewas at the plate, while Jipping, Nick Regner, Tyler Huntey and MacKenzie had two hits apiece. Every Chippewa starter had at least one hit, and Morgan Oliver finished with a season-high four RBI.
The 16 hits equaled CMU's combined hit total in its past three games.
"We talked about today about the fact that we've got to stay confident in what we're doing," Jaksa said. "It's a cliché, but you're never as good as you think you are when you win and you're never as bad as you think you are when you lose.
"At the same time we felt, hey, we had to have better energy and they had a real good attitude about what we were doing and understanding that hey, we can do this, we're a good ballclub. But you don't just walk out there and play and we had to get that energy back."
Renzi (4-1), making his first career Friday start, struck out eight, walked two and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits over five innings. The junior right-hander has won all four of his starts this season and he dropped his earned run average to a season-low 2.01.
Jordan Grosjean worked the final four frames, allowing just two hits and striking out two.
"Jordan hadn't thrown in a while and he was solid and got much better his last two innings," Jaksa said. "Sean, I'll take that kind of outing out of him all the time."
The Chippewas chased NIU starter Ben Neumann (4-6) after just two innings. He allowed 10 runs on 10 hits.
