Rolling Chippewas Open MAC Tournament On Wednesday
5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AVON, Ohio - Steve Jaksa paused a moment when asked if he could recall a year, in the 14 that he has been Central Michigan's baseball coach, that was as peculiar as this.
"We've had some years where things didn't always go your way," Jaksa said, shifting gears to the 2016 season, during which the Chippewas started 5-23 but have won 10 of their last 13. "We had a lot of things going on there early that we could not control and we were able to right the ship and we kept looking for ways to do it and they kept buying in and right now, we're feeling OK.
"It was kind of the perfect storm. You couldn't anticipate all of those things happening."
The Chippewas (21-35) open the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. against Miami (Ohio) at All Pro Freight Stadium. The third-seeded RedHawks are 25-28.
CMU, which is seeded sixth, took two of three from the Miami 10 days ago, and finished 12-12 in MAC play.
A rash of injuries to the bullpen corps, and the Chippewas ability to adjust, has been the storyline of the season. CMU has emerged stronger for the experience.
"There's no question I've seen some toughness develop in these guys throughout the season," said Jaksa, who was also forced to adjust the lineup throughout the year in order to find some consistent offense. "Through it all some guys were able to develop some good leadership skills and we kept talking about getting better.
"We had to deal with it. You can't point the fingers, you can't look somewhere else, you have to play the game a certain way and you have to approach the game a certain way and by God we did.
"Slowly but surely it turned around."
The Chippewas have found consistency at the plate and on the mound, particularly from weekend starters Sean Renzi, Nick Deeg and Pat Leatherman.
Renzi (5-6, 4.36 earned run average), a senior right-hander, will start on Wednesday against Miami's Cole Gnetz (4-2, 3.60).
Renzi has gone at least six innings in his last six starts and his ERA over that span is 3.16.
Jaksa pointed to the Chippewas' May 1 game, the last of a three-game set, at Eastern Michigan as a turning point. The Chippewas won the game, 3-2, to avoid the sweep, and that began the surge in which they have won 10 of 13. The Chippewas have hit .300 as a team during the span.
They closed the regular season winning their last three MAC series, beginning with Ohio, continuing with Miami and ending last weekend with Western Michigan.
"We really played well and won a heck of a ball game there and since then we've been playing better and better and better," Jaksa said in reference to that win at Eastern. That's a credit to (the players). We can only, as coaches, lead them and tell them what they have to do and why they have to do it. But they have to buy in, they have to do it. I am really proud and now I think we're in position where we walk in (to the tournament) and feel good about some things they've accomplished and how they've played and were able to bounce back and play well the next day and we did that throughout the course of the season."
The Chippewas have committed just one error in their last five games.
"If we play the way we've been playing, and we play with that energy and intensity, I will take my chances because we're battle-tested in many, many ways," Jaksa said. "As I said to them right before the Ohio series, right after that Eastern game, I said, `Hey, fellas, this is our time' and boy they responded we played great that weekend and we've been playing that way. It's still our time."
