Central Michigan University
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Western Michigan
Chippewas Rebound; Much At Stake In Series Finale
5/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Five Chippewas collected two hits apiece and Nick Deeg and Colton Bradley combined to shut down the Western Michigan bats on Friday as Central Michigan defeated the Broncos, 8-1, in a game two of a three-game Mid-American Conference series at Theunissen Stadium.
The series is even at 1-1. The rubber match is Saturday at Theunissen at 2:05 p.m. Both teams are 11-12 in league play and headed to the MAC Tournament.
"It's Western Michigan and we want to win the series," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. "They took that tough (2-1) game Thursday so we had to bounce back today. Now we want to win the series, then we'll worry about the post season.
"We want to get that second win on the weekend and go in (to the tournament) feeling good about ourselves, and at the same time playing the kind of baseball we want to play."
The Chippewas, who are 20-35 overall, have won nine of their last 12 games and have not lost back-to-back games in May. Western is 18-30.
CMU collected 12 hits off six Bronco pitchers, scored at least one run in six of its eight turns at bat, and never went down in order.
Robert Greenman, CMU's No. 9 hitter, delivered the first big blow, a two-out bases loaded double in the second inning that put the Chippewas up, 2-0.
"He's had some big hits for us over the course of the year," Jaksa said of Greenman. "We'd like to think he's getting a little more consistent. That gave us two (runs) and we just kept going after that. That was big.
"We just find a way to chip away, get a guy on base and get him around and get him in. We got runners in position to put some pressure on them and good things happened for us. You don't always get them in bunches, but you find ways to score."
Greenman, Alex Borglin, Ryan Heeke, Zach McKinstry and Daniel Jipping finished with two hits apiece for CMU.
Deeg (3-7), a junior left-hander allowed one run on five hits, walked two and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings for the win.
"When you come in and pitch the way Nick did today after we got an L (Thursday), that's really important," Jaksa said. "Got to have a guy who's able to do that. Nick's had enough experience and he did a real nice job."
Hunter Prince's sixth-inning RBI double cut CMU's lead to 4-1, and Jaksa summoned Bradley from the bullpen.
Bradley, a sophomore right-hander, issued a walk to the first batter he faced, putting runners at first and second. He got an inning-ending groundout to preserve the 4-1 lead, and the Chippewas answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, upping their advantage to 6-1.
Bradley went 3 1/3 innings for his first career save. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four.
"Colton did a real nice job getting his out (in the sixth) and he was able to finish the game," Jaksa said. "His pitch count was real low, he had a couple of quick innings in there and we extended the lead."
Four of the Chippewas' eight runs came after two were out.
"Everybody will tell you (two-out hits) are a difference maker in a team winning and losing quite a few games," Jaksa said. "It's really important for both teams. Those are back-breakers for the team that's on defense. Those are big runs. We got them today."
Western starter Derek Schneider (0-7) took the loss. He surrendered four runs on five hits, walked two and struck out seven.
The Chippewas, Western, Toledo and Eastern Michigan are locked in a dogfight for the fifth-eighth seeds in the MAC Tournament.
Saturday's series finales - Eastern plays at Toledo - will determine the final seeds. The Rockets are in fifth place at 12-11, the Chippewas and Western are tied for sixth at 11-12, while Eastern is eighth at 10-13.
The Chippewas hold the tie-breaker (head-to-head record) over the Rockets. Eastern holds the tie-breaker over CMU. If the Chippewas win on Saturday, they will go into the tournament as either the fifth or sixth seed.
Kent State and Ball State have wrapped up the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, for the tournament. Miami (Ohio) will be seeded third and Northern Illinois will be seeded fourth.
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