Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Miami (Oh)
Chippewas Sweep MAC-Opening Twinbill
4/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score Photo Gallery 
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - As league openers go, Steve Jaksa will certainly take it.
Jaksa's Central Michigan baseball team collected 15 hits in the opener then came back from an early 3-0 deficit in the nightcap in sweeping Miami (Ohio), 13-7 and 6-4, on Saturday in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader at Theunissen Stadium.
The wins lifted CMU to 12-14 overall, 2-0 conference. Miami is 7-18, 1-4. The teams close the series on Sunday (1:05 p.m.) at Theunissen.
"I thought our guys played really well," said Jaksa, whose team has won four of its last five starts. "We battled hard at the plate, we really bought into an approach to what we thought we could do. I think we only struck out five times all day.
"Nobody was an easy out. Nobody allowed themselves to be an easy out. When you're able to turn it around and get back to the top of the order, that puts a lot of pressure on that pitcher and on the other team. That's exactly what we did. The quality of the at-bats were as good as we've had for a while."
Jason Sullivan, Daniel Robinson and Evan Kratt had three hits apiece to lead CMU at the plate in the opener. Sullivan drove in four runs, while Alex Borglin, Kratt and Robert Greenman drove in two each.
The Chippewas broke a 2-2 tie with a four-run fourth inning - Borglin's two-out, two-run double was the big blow - and then added four more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to forge a 12-4 lead.
Dazon Cole (2-4) started and got the win. He allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out five over five innings. Michael Brettell and Jack Collins each pitched two innings in relief.
Freshman left-hander Tyler Hankins (2-0) started and notched the victory in game two. He surrendered four runs on five hits, walked three and struck out nine over seven innings.
"In game two, Hank did his deal," Jaksa said. "He pitched six gritty innings."
Colton Bradley worked the final two frames for his third save. He struck out two and walked four. Three of those walks came in the ninth when he walked the bases loaded, putting the potential go-ahead run on first with two out.
He then induced a popup to end it.
"Colten, he's gotten better and better in those situations, really handling it," Jaksa said. "He'll only learn from that experience. He's a smart kid. He's going to get better at just handling the excitement and the adrenaline flowing. He came back and got us the ball game."
Trailing 3-0, the Chippewas tied it with a three-run fourth, then went ahead for good with two runs in the fifth.
Daniel Jipping touched off CMU's fourth with a run-scoring double, then Nick Stokowski delivered a two-run single. Jipping smacked a two-out RBI single to put CMU ahead, 4-3, in the fifth, and Greenman followed with a run-scoring single.
CMU added an insurance run in the eighth on a Cole sacrifice fly.
Jipping had three hits to lead the 11-hit Chippewa attack, while Borglin, Stokowski and Greenman finished with two each.
"We move on with two big wins into tomorrow and try to get the sweep," Jaksa said. "That's what it's all about now. Just got to keep it going. It's two games, two games. That's it."
