Chippewa Baseball Entertains Rival Western Michigan

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - It's rivalry weekend.

The Central Michigan baseball team will host rival Western Michigan in a three-game Mid-American Conference series at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.

CMU, 28-12, 10-5 MAC, is third in the conference, trailing first place Miami (Ohio) by one game.

"I think our guys are very excited for a home weekend (series)," said coach Jordan Bischel. "With eight of our last 10 weekends on the road, I have no doubt we are happy to sleep in our own beds. We had a great crowd for our last home series and I'm sure we will again this weekend.

"I know we always have competitive games with Western and I'm sure this will be no different."

Game one is schedule for Friday (3 p.m.) with games two and three set for 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Senior Pat Leatherman will start game one for the Chippewas; junior Cam Brown, the MAC leader in wins, will start game two; and game three's starter for the Chippewas has yet to be determined.

HEAVYWEIGHT OFFENSE
The Chippewa offense averages 8.8 runs per contest, ranking first in the MAC and sixth nationally.

CMU ranks fourth nationally in walks (259) and third nationally in on-base percentage (.422), 22nd in batting average (.301) and 19^th in hits (432). The Chippewas rank 14th nationally and third in the conference in triples (16), and they lead the MAC in hits (432) and fielding percentage (.971).

CMU ranks second in the conference in stolen bases (69), doubles (81) and sacrifice bunts (29).

AT THE PLATE
Junior centerfielder Zach Gilles ranks second in the MAC in hits (60), fourth in on-base percentage (.479), and fifth in batting average (.382).

Sophomore shortstop Zavier Warren is 11th in the country in walks (40), sixth in doubles (18), seventh in on-base percentage (.517), and ninth in RBI (52). Warren ranks first in the MAC in hits (64) and second in batting average (.393).

Sophomore Griffin Lockwood-Powell ranks 14th nationally in RBI (51) and is tied for second in the conference in home runs (seven).

Senior Jacob Crum leads the nation in triples (seven) and ranks first in the MAC in slugging percentage (.642), second in total bases (97) and is tied with Lockwood-Powell for second in home runs (seven).

ON THE MOUND
Leatherman is 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 starts this season and he leads the Chippewas with 49 strikeouts. Brown is 7-0 with a 3.25 ERA and has pitched at least six innings in each of his last four starts.

Chippewa closer Cameron Miller has five saves with a 1.48 ERA in 14 appearances, striking out 22 without issuing a walk in 24 1/3 innings.

SCOUTING
The Broncos are 13-23, 6-7, after winning two of three games from Bowling Green last weekend.

The Broncos' Blake Dunn is the MAC's leading hitter at .408 and he tops the league with 22 stolen bases. He also leads Western with five home runs.

Chris Modrzynski is 4-3 with a 5.74 ERA in 10 starts this season. Will Mullen is 2-3 with a team-best 3.15 ERA and four saves.

NEXT
The Chippewas go next week to Bowling Green for a three-game MAC series.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jacob Crum

Zach Gilles

Pat Leatherman

Griffin Lockwood-Powell

Cameron Miller

Zavier Warren

Central Michigan University Athletics