Central Michigan University Athletics
Big Series At Miami For CMU Baseball
5/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
OXFORD, Ohio - There's a logjam near the top of the Mid-American Conference baseball standings, and Central Michigan is right in the thick of it.
The Chippewas will take on one of those teams, Miami (Ohio), with which it is jockeying when the two meet in a three-game series beginning on Friday at the RedHawks' McKie Field.
WHERE THEY STAND
CMU is 12-9 and in fourth place in the league standings. Miami is 13-8 and second. The top six teams make the MAC Tournament and just three games separate the second-place RedHawks from sixth-place Toledo, which is 10-11 in conference play.
This weekend is the second to last of the regular season. CMU plays host to Ohio at home next weekend. The league tournament, in Avon, Ohio, is scheduled to begin on May 23.
CMU is 21-26-1 overall; Miami is 29-16.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Pat Leatherman, CMU, 2-5, 3.53 ERA vs. Spencer Mraz, 4-2, 3.43; Michael Brettell, 5-5, 4.52 vs. left-hander Zach Spears, 3-4, 4.16; Logan Buczkowski, 2-0, 5.81 vs. Gus Graham, 5-0, 3.29.
LAST TIME OUT
The Chippewas posted their second shutout of the season, an 8-0 win over NAIA Cleary at home on Wednesday. It was a bounceback win for the Chippewas, who fell, 9-2, to Michigan on Tuesday. CMU dropped two of three to Eastern Michigan in a MAC series last weekend.
Miami defeated Ball State, 5-3, in a nonleague game on Tuesday and has won six of its last seven starts. The RedHawks took two of three from Western Michigan in a MAC series last weekend.
FRESH START, MIDDLE, END
Two freshmen, Brandon Reed and Jordan Patty, along with a redshirt freshman, Cameron Miller, combined on the five-hit shutout against the Cougars.
WHO'S HOT
CMU's Jason Sullivan and Daniel Robinson have both his safely in their last 10 games. Robinson is hitting .457 over that span, while Sullivan is hitting .400. In that 10-game stretch, Sullivan has 14 hits, four of them doubles, and drive in six runs; Robinson has 11 RBI, has scored 11 runs, and has had two or more hits in five of his last six games.
WHO'S SMARTING
CMU sophomore Zach Heeke was hit by a pitch twice against Cleary, raising his season total to 21. He ranks fourth nationally in that category. Heeke's leads the Chippewas and the MAC with a .489 on-base percentage.
SCOUTING
• The RedHawks ranks second in the MAC in hitting with a .273 team batting average and are third in team ERA (4.31). They share the league lead with a .977 fielding percentage.
• Miami's Ross Haffey leads the MAC with 13 home runs and is tied for eighth in the conference with 37 RBI. He also ranks second with a .673 hitting percentage. Teammate Landon Stephens is seventh in the conference with 39 RBI, while Hayden Senger leads Miami with a .345 batting average, which ranks fifth in the league.
• Mraz, scheduled to start for Miami on Friday, is holding opposing hitters to a .208 batting average, which is third in the league.
• Closer Andy Almquist is tied for second in the MAC with six saves.
COACH Steve Jaksa
"It's a big series for both teams. They're one game ahead of us, we're going to their place, we've played well at their place in years past. I think our guys will be up to the task. Need to come ready to go like I felt we did last weekend for the most part."
