Chippewas Take A Break, Focus On Saturday
5/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AVON, Ohio - It's about a 25-minute drive from the Central Michigan baseball team's hotel to Sprenger Stadium, site of the Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament.
As far as Steve Jaksa was concerned on Friday morning, the tournament could have been played in Moscow.
"I'm really indifferent to all that," he said in response to a query about an elimination-bracket game scheduled for Friday afternoon between Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, the winner of which advances to face Jaksa's Chippewas on Saturday (9:30 a.m.).
"I've watched so many games over the years in this MAC Tournament that I've learned that predicting anything is unpredictable," Jaksa said. "Whatever I want really doesn't matter. We've got to win (Saturday). I look no farther than that. We've just got to be ready to play tomorrow. That's all we can control."
The Chippewas earned a day off by winning their first two tournament games, 6-2 over Northern Illinois on Wednesday, and 16-5 over Western on Thursday. CMU is one of two unbeaten teams remaining in the tournament.
Ohio, which knocked off top-seeded Kent State, 5-3, late Thursday night, is the other. Kent State is scheduled to play Toledo in an elimination game on Friday afternoon. That winner faces Ohio for the right to play the CMU-EMU-WMU winner for the championship on Sunday afternoon.
The Chippewas have won three of their four meetings with Western Michigan this season. They have yet to play Eastern Michigan.
CMU was scheduled for a 90-minute workout on Friday morning, then was slated to take in a movie and then have a team dinner.
"It's nice to have some time off," senior shortstop Alex Borglin said. "Spend the rest of the day with each other. It's a good time for us."
The mood as the team boarded the bus on Friday morning was, as one might expect, light. Not necessarily a departure from a normal day for the Chippewas.
"That's kind of how we are," Borglin said. "We know how to goof off, but we know how to be serious."
So far, almost all good for the Chippewas, who have collected 19 hits and scored 22 runs in their two tournament games. They have also pounced when their opponents have faltered.
On Wednesday, Northern Illinois committed two errors in the third inning, leading to two CMU runs - both unearned -- and a 2-0 lead. On Thursday, Western Michigan pitching issued six walks to the Chippewas in a five-run second inning. CMU, which drew a season-high 14 walks in the game, scored all five of its second-inning runs without the benefit of a hit.
"We want to push to continue putting pressure on (opponents) to figure out how we can break through," said Jaksa, whose team has not trailed in either of its tournament games. "Whether it's a walk, an error -- just keep pressure on people."
Not to be overlooked, of course, has been CMU's performance on the mound. Both starters, Pat Leatherman (Wednesday) and Tyler Hankins (Thursday), have been solid to spectacular.
Leatherman allowed one run on three hits over seven innings against NIU, and Hankins went 5 1/3 innings against Western, departing with a 9-3 lead. The Chippewa relievers - Michael Brettell, Jake Raether, Jordan Grosjean and Colton Bradley - have not allowed an earned run over 5 2/3 innings.
The Chippewas have allowed more than one run in any single inning, just once. Western scored twice in the sixth on Thursday night.
Part of that is the ability to limit damage, refocus, and carry on, Jaksa said.
"Understanding that hey, he can get you one time, it happens," he said. "But push back, learn from that, make the adjustment. The ability to do that and move on to the next thing, that's the attitude that we're talking about.
"Don't get down, cut your losses, keep them from getting crooked numbers up there. Don't try to do too much and don't get too amped up. Breath, relax. You have to be focused and relaxed. If you're focused and relaxed, and you've got a good game plan …"
It's worked through two games in Avon, just as it worked through much of the season, when the Chippewas won the MAC West title and earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament. They go into Saturday's game having won 21 if their last 33 starts.
"I'm really confident in our team," Borglin said. "We've come together really well, we've come a long way since the beginning of the season and we're meshing really well. Everybody gets along really well and we're having a lot of fun."
