Chippewas Remain Alive
5/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AVON, Ohio â€" A little team work from the pitching staff and an opportunistic offense. And the Chippewas are still alive.
Zach Gilles and Daniel Robinson had two hits apiece and three pitchers combined on a six-hitter on Friday as Central Michigan held off Toledo, 6-5, in an elimination game at the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Sprenger Stadium.
The fourth-seeded Chippewas (28-29-1) are scheduled to take on third-seeded Ball State (32-25) at 2 p.m. today. The winner moves on, the loser goes home.
Friday's game was the third that CMU has played in the tournament. All three have been decided by one run.
CMU used three pitchers â€" Logan Buczkowski, Brandon Reed and Colton Bradley â€" in holding off the Rockets.
Reed (2-0) got the win, his second of the tournament. Bradley went the final three innings for his fourth save.
Toledo (22-33) used a single and two walks (one intentional) to load the bases in the ninth, but Bradley got Brad Boss to ground out to end it.
The Chippewas took advantage of two Toledo throwing errors in scoring three runs in the third inning. CMU never relinquished the lead, but could never get comfortable, either.
David Cole stole home, Robinson had an RBI double and Zach Heeke scored on a wild pitch during the Chippewas' three-run third. A Heeke RBI single made it 4-1 in the fourth, but Toledo's Ross Adolph answered with a two-run homer in the fifth, cutting CMU's lead to 4-3.
The Chippewas extended their lead to 6-3 in the bottom half of the inning on Gilles' two-run triple.
That completed the scoring for CMU, and Bradley managed to hold the fort the rest of the way.
