Central Michigan University
Incarnate Word
Chippewas Can't Hold Lead, Drop Series Finale In Texas
2/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - It's a baseball axiom as old as the game itself: Walks come back to haunt you.
That came painfully true for Central Michigan on Sunday in the finale of its four-game series at Incarnate Word.
Kyle Bergeron drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the 10th inning, stole second, and scored on a Kyler Genenbacher single as Incarnate Word handed the Chippewas an 11-10 loss at the Cardinals' Sullivan Field.
The Chippewas (3-4) and Cardinals (5-4) split the series. CMU returns to action with a trip to Florida beginning on March 3.
"We had a lot of opportunities we just couldn't put the game away," said CMU coach Steve Jaksa, whose team led 7-2 at one point in the game. "We didn't quite pitch it well enough we made a couple mistakes, couple errors."
The Chippewas led, 9-8, in the bottom of the ninth inning when Incarnate Word got an infield single, the Chippewas committed an error, and Ray Swyers delivered a one-out RBI double on a two-ball, two-strike pitch to tie the game.
Freshman right-hander Cameron Brown, the fourth CMU pitcher, came on for the 10th and took the loss. Freshman lefty Tyler Hankins started for CMU. Jordan Grosjean and Colton Bradley also pitched in relief.
Hankins allowed three runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out two over five innings. Grosjean took over after Hankins surrendered a lead-off home run in the sixth inning, which cut the Chippewas' lead to 7-3.
"I thought (Hankins) threw the ball very well, 80-some pitches," Jaksa said. "Very pleased overall with how he performed for us."
Incarnate Word struck for three runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh.
"We've lost two extra-inning games and won a one-run game in the first seven games," Jaksa said. "We're putting some different pieces out there, figuring out the back end of the bullpen, and getting guys comfortable with their roles.
"When you're in a nine-inning game and that starter goes six (innings), you have to have somebody, those setup guys and those closing guys, and we need to see who can emerge in those situations. That's going to be a key element.
"We weren't able to do that well enough today. But also if we don't make a couple errors - that contributes to that. You've got to cut things off and we weren't able to do that well enough today."
Jason Sullivan and Reed Adams each had three hits including a triple to lead CMU at the plate, while Alex Borglin, Daniel Robinson, Daniel Jipping and Evan Kratt had two each. Seven of CMU's 16 hits went for extra bases.
Jipping hit a two-out solo home run in the seventh. It was his second round-tripper of the season. Sullivan finished with three RBI and Robinson had two.
Ramon Salazar, Incarnate Word's sixth pitcher, picked up the victory as he held the Chippewas hitless over the final two innings.
CMU scored 44 runs and collected 58 hits in the four-game series.
