Central Michigan University
Ohio
Chippewas Outlast Ohio In 13 Innings
5/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
ATHENS, Ohio - Another reach-down-deep gut-check day for the Central Michigan baseball team.
This time, a victory.
Daniel Robinson's two-run single in the 13th inning broke a 10-10 tie Sunday as the Chippewas outlasted Ohio, 13-11, in the finale of a three-game Mid-American Conference series at the Bobcats' Bob Wren Stadium.
Sunday's win came one day after the Chippewas fell to the Bobcats, 5-4, in 14 innings. CMU won Friday's opener, 8-2. Sunday's game took 4 hours, 54 minutes to complete. Saturday's game clocked in at 4:20.
"This weekend I thought we played really hard every game and played well every game," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. "Twenty-seven innings in two days -- just a good feeling on the bus.
"They just kept coming back and it's a great feeling. They got rewarded for a tremendous effort. We played to win and did a lot of really good things. So very proud of how we battled."
The Chippewas have won three of their last four starts and six of their last 10. They are 14-33 overall, 8-10 MAC, and in a three-way tie with Toledo and Western Michigan for sixth place in the overall league standings. The top eight make the conference tournament.
CMU plays its remaining nine regular-season games at Theunissen Stadium beginning Monday with Oakland. On Wednesday, the Chippewas entertain Michigan. Both are non-conference games and both begin at 4:05 p.m. Next weekend, the Chippewas play host to Miami (Ohio) in a three-game MAC series.
"We know we've got (Monday), and we've got Wednesday and all that stuff coming," Jaksa said. "But right now we feel really good. We'll take the two (wins at Ohio) and move on to tomorrow."
Freshman left-hander Grant Wolfram (0-2) will start Monday's game against Oakland, and red-shirt freshman righty Dazon Cole (1-1) will start Wednesday against Michigan.
Cole, who entered Sunday's game with eight hits in 12 at-bats in the series, had just one hit on Sunday, but that one hit was a one-out double in the 13th that put Daniel Jipping, who had walked, on third.
After an intentional walk to Jason Sullivan loaded the bases, Robinson, a freshman who entered the series hitting .209, delivered his clutch two-run single to put CMU up, 12-10. Robinson finished the day with three hits and three RBI.
Sullivan scored on a single down the left-field line by Jarrod Watkins to make it 13-10.
Morgan Oliver (1-1) notched his first collegiate win, going the final six innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out four.
It was the longest mound appearance for Oliver, a senior right-hander who had played strictly on the infield throughout his Chippewa career until trying his hand on the hill earlier this season. Sunday marked his eighth pitching appearance, all in relief, and it was by far his longest as he threw 80-plus pitches.
Oliver's previous long stint was a 17-pitch, two-inning appearance on April 13 against Michigan State in the annual Clash at Comerica.
"He was going to be the guy once he got in that situation," Jaksa said of Oliver, who came on with a runner on first and none out in the eighth. "He was great. He was in the zone and he really competed. He really, really threw the ball well."
CMU starter Pat Leatherman surrendered three runs on six hits over four innings. Jimmy McNamara, Michael Brettell, Colton Bradley and Brady Williams also worked in relief before giving way to Oliver.
Bradley, another position-player-turned-pitcher, allowed a run on four hits over two innings.
"It says a lot about people and what they can do," Jaksa said of his mound corps. "We got eight innings out of converted position players. And not just innings, but quality innings."
Eddie Fitzpatrick (1-2), the fourth of five Bobcat pitchers, took the loss.
Watkins finished with three hits, while Robert Greenman, Sullivan, Jipping and Zach McKinstry had two each. McKinstry and Jipping each drove in three runs, and Greenman added two RBI.
The Bobcats outhit the Chippewas, 22-17, and the teams combined to leave 31 runners on base. The game included 17 walks, and each team committed one error.
"This was truly a team win," Jaksa said. "We kept picking each other up, kept working hard. They were battling for each other, battling to win. A lot of positives in how they went about their business all three games."
