Central Michigan University
Incarnate Word
Hard-Hitting Chippewas Split
2/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Central Michigan and Incarnate Word traded big innings, and victories, on Saturday in a nonconference doubleheader at the Cardinals' Sullivan Field.
Central Michigan exploded to a 25-5 win in the opener, then Incarnate Word turned the tables in the nightcap, handing the Chippewas a 10-4 loss.
The Chippewas are 3-3. Incarnate Word is 4-4. The teams play the fourth and final game of the series on Sunday at noon. Tyler Hankins, a 6-foot-9 freshman left-hander, will start for the Chippewas.
"We just got on a good roll," CMU coach Steve Jaksa said of the first game. "We just kept swinging it. We swung the bats really, really well.
"The second game, it wasn't like we didn't swing the bats well. We had three or four times with people in scoring position where we hit the ball right at people. There were a lot of good things from that (offensive) standpoint."
Alex Borglin and David Cole both had a career-high four hits to lead a 23-hit Chippewa attack in the opener, during which CMU scored four runs in the first inning, 11 in the fifth, and eight in the eighth.
Borglin, a senior shortstop, drove in a career-high five runs and sophomore second baseman Jason Sullivan had four RBI, also a career-high. Daniel Robinson and Evan Kratt had three RBI apiece. Kratt finished with three hits, which was a career best for the sophomore, who was in the lineup as the designated hitter.
Michael Brettell (1-0) started for CMU and earned the win. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on five hits, while walking five and striking out one.
"His stuff was pretty good," Jaksa said of Brettell, a sophomore right-hander. "When he keeps his tempo his stuff is a lot livelier and he's a lot more in sync. That's the big thing. When he does that, he's pretty good.
"I'm happy with where he's at and he'll continue to get better and better moving forward."
Braxton Markle and Zach Kohn pitched in relief. They combined to surrender one hit and strike out three.
CMU took advantage of five Incarnate Word errors and Cardinal pitching issued eight walks. The Chippewas stranded 14 base runners.
Incarnate Word scored five runs in the third and added four in the seventh in the nightcap.
Chippewa starter Dazon Cole (0-1) allowed five runs on five hits, walked three and struck out four in taking the loss. Just one of the runs charged to Cole was earned.
The Cardinals got a one-out RBI single from Eddy Gonzalez in the fifth. With two out, the Chippewas committed an error, and that led to four more runs.
"I thought he threw really well," Jaksa said of Cole, a sophomore right-hander. "He gave up four unearned runs that were all after the error. We'll get to where he will be able to pitch over that in the future."
Sean Martens, Jack Collins and Cameron Brown pitched in relief for the Chippewas, who trimmed their deficit to 5-2 in the seventh when Borglin had an RBI triple and scored on Robinson's sacrifice fly.
Incarnate Word responded with four runs in the bottom of the seventh and added one in the eighth. The Chippewas got two runs in the ninth on RBI singles by Robinson and Nick Stokowski.
Incarnate Word starter and winner Bernie Martinez shut out the Chippewas over six innings. He struck out five and walked six. The Chippewas left 11 runners on base.
"You just keep playing, just got to keep playing," Jaksa said of the early 5-0 deficit. "If we don't give up those four runs in the eighth inning, we come back and win that game, I really think. We came back in the ninth, did a good job, but it was just too many runs."
Borglin, Robinson and Sullivan, the top three hitters in CMU's lineup, finished with two hits apiece.
