Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Michigan State
Chippewas Hammer Michigan State, 12-1
5/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Alex Borglin homered and Zack Fields had three hits and four RBI Tuesday as the Central Michigan baseball team defeated Michigan State, 12-1, in a non-conference game at Theunissen Stadium.
It was Central Michigan's eighth win in its last 10 starts and it lifted the Chippewas to 19-34. It also avenged a 7-3 14-inning loss to the Spartans at the April 13 Clash at Comerica.
It came a week after CMU topped 19th-ranked Michigan, 8-7, at Theunissen. Michigan State is 33-16.
"I think you just go out with the intensity to play the game," said CMU coach Steve Jaksa, whose team closes the regular season with a three-game Mid-American Conference home series against Western Michigan beginning on Thursday.
"Deep down we wanted to win for a lot of reasons," Jaksa said. "We just want to understand that today was the most-important game. That's how we play, that's what we tell them: Play today."
Starter Dazon Cole (2-1) went 5 2/3 innings for the victory. He allowed one run on one hit, struck out two and walked five. Colton Bradley struck out five in 2 1/3 innings of relief and Connor Kelly worked the ninth.
The Chippewas jumped on Michigan State starter Andrew Gonzalez with two runs in the first inning and two more in the third.
CMU broke it open with a four-run sixth. Adam Collins delivered a two-run pinch-hit single and Borglin followed with a two-run homer to right field. It was Borglin's first homer of the season, and the blast extended his hitting streak to 17 games.
"(Collins) just battled and that was a big hit," Jaksa said. "That made it go from four (runs) to six and then we got the two-run bomb right after that."
Fields, a senior, had RBI singles in the first and third innings, and a two-run single in the eighth. It was Fields' first three-hit game of the season.
Daniel Robinson and Jason Sullivan finished with two hits apiece for the Chippewas, and Robinson drove in a career-high three runs.
The Chippewas turned three double plays and did not commit an error.
"You can do that, it takes your pitchers off the hook, they throw less pitches, you keep the momentum on your side and the other team never gets an opportunity to go," Jaksa said. "That pitching and defense, you've got to play it the whole game. I've seen teams get back in the game if that doesn't happen.
"We did a lot of good things and we kept the bats going."
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
