Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Eye MAC Title
5/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- There's a championship out there for the taking.
Steve Jaksa's worried about one game.
The Central Michigan baseball team goes to Western Michigan for a three-game Mid-American Conference series beginning on Thursday at 3 p.m. The series continues on Friday (3 p.m.) and concludes on Saturday (1 p.m.).
The Chippewas, who lead the league at 17-7, can claim their first MAC regular-season title since 2010 -- and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament -- with a sweep. They lead second-place Kent State (16-8) by one game, and hold a two-game margin over third-place Ohio (15-9).
The Golden Flashes play a three-game set at Akron, and Ohio goes to Miami for three as the regular season closes with rivals squaring off all over the MAC.
Sure, any combination of wins and losses could land CMU in the top spot come late Saturday afternoon, depending on how Kent State and Ohio fare.
But when the trophy is theirs for the taking, the Chippewas, who are 32-20 overall, are concerning themselves only with what happens at Western's Robert J. Bobb Stadium.
"We need to start on Thursday," Jaksa said. "It's only about Thursday, and taking care of business on Thursday and then you look forward. Anything can change in the course of a weekend. You just take care of your business.
"It's not a global picture for us, it never has been. Everybody knows where we are. The thing is to focus on the job at hand. We're going to do what we do, and that is to prepare for the next game.
"The pressure is what you put on yourself. We need to play with energy, with the consistency we have been (playing with). Our approach, our attitude, they've been good."
So have the Chippewa bats. In four of their last eight games, the Chippewas have scored at least 14 runs and are averaging 9.1 runs per in their last eight starts.
CMU won two of three last weekend at Ball State, scoring a combined 39 runs in the first two games of the series to turn both into laughers. But on Sunday, it was Ball State's turn as the Cardinals mashed their way to a 15-7 win.
On Tuesday, the Chippewas dropped their home finale to Michigan State, 13-7. CMU had allowed 10 or more runs just three times all season until Sunday's loss at Ball State, and they had surrendered double-digit runs just once, on April 17 at Buffalo, in the two months leading up to the Ball State and Michigan State games.
The Chippewas rank second in the league with a 3.64 team earned run average.
"I have felt good about our pitching all year," Jaksa said. "We've had to make some adjustments all season (due to) injuries, guys getting nicked here and there.
"We thought they'd continue to get better, we thought certain guys would evolve into certain things. I think those guys will rise to the occasion and give the best they have the result will take care of themselves."
Junior right-hander Sean Renzi draws the start for the Chippewas on Thursday against Derek Schneider, a junior left-hander. It'll be the sixth consecutive start for Renzi, who started the season in the bullpen and has not lost a game since mid-February.
In five starts, Renzi is 4-0 with a 2.37 earned run average. He has allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits, walked 15 and struck out 28 in 30 1/3 innings. On the season, Renzi is 4-1 with a 2.52 ERA in 16 appearances. He has struck out 52, walked 27 and allowed 30 hits in 50 innings.
Schneider is 3-3 with a 3.94 ERA. He has allowed 46 runs on 60 hits while walking 28 and striking out 51.
On Friday, CMU's Nick Deeg, the reigning MAC West Co-Pitcher of the Week, starts against Keegan Akin in a battle of sophomore left-handers.
Deeg is 7-4 and broke a three-start winless streak with seven shutout innings last week at Ball State. He ranks fifth in the league with a 2.77 ERA and his seven wins lead the conference. Akin is 4-4 with 3.91 ERA.
Junior lefty Adam Aldred takes the mound on Saturday for CMU opposite senior right-hander Chad Mayle, who shared the MAC West Pitcher of the Week Award last week with Deeg.
Aldred is 4-3 with a 3.64 ERA, while Mayle is 4-2 with a 4.09.
Kurt Hoekstra is Western's top hitter at .342 and is the only Bronco hitting better than .300. Jared Kujawa leads the Broncos with six home runs and 38 RBI.
Western (21-25, 13-11), which has won seven of its last nine MAC games, ranks ninth in the MAC in hitting with a .254 team batting average and is fifth with a 4.43 ERA.
The Chippewas are hitting a MAC-best .285 as a team and have five players hitting north of .300: Pat MacKenzie (.347), Logan Regnier (.326), Alex Borglin (.315), Zach McKinstry (.315) and Nick Regnier (.315).
MacKenzie ranks fourth in the conference in batting average and hits (66), and leads the league in on-base percentage (.492), runs (57), and walks (46). Borglin is second (50) is runs, while Logan Regnier tops the MAC with 44 RBI and seven triples.
The Chippewas rank second in the MAC and 15th nationally with 92 stolen bases. MacKenzie leads CMU in that category with 23, while Nick Regnier has 19.
