Baseball Goes To Oakland On Tuesday

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- With victories in 11 of its last 13 games, the Central Michigan baseball team looks remain hot on Tuesday (3 p.m.) when it takes on Oakland in a nonconference game at Oakland Baseball Stadium.

The Chippewas are 23-8. The Golden Grizzlies are 7-20.

LAST TIME OUT
The Chippewas dropped the finale of a three-game Mid-American Conference series to Ball State, 10-0, on Sunday at home. The Chippewas took two of three from the Cardinals and emerged from the weekend 7-2 in the MAC, tied with Miami (Ohio) for first place.

PHENOMENAL OFFENSE
The Chippewas lead the Mid-American Conference and are ranked very high nationally in multiple offensive categories.

CMU sits fifth in the nation in walks (192), ninth in runs per game (8.3), 11th in runs (257), 14th in doubles (68), 15th in batting average (.305), and 17th in hits (336). The Chippewas rank first in the MAC in all of those categories along with fielding percentage (.973).

AT THE PLATE
Junior outfielder Zach Gilles leads the MAC with seven sacrifice bunts, sits second in the conference and 22nd in the nation in batting average (.405), and is second in the MAC in both hits (47) and on-base percentage (.503). Gilles is has hit safely in his last seven games.

Individually for the Chippewas, sophomore shortstop Zavier Warren ranks first in the MAC and 13th in the nation in walks (31), first in the conference and third in the country in doubles (16), first in the MAC in on-base percentage (.516), and second in the conference in slugging percentage (.628). His .380 batting average ranks fourth in the conference.

Sophomore Griffin Lockwood-Powell ranks first in the conference in home runs (six) and first in the MAC and sixth in the country with 44 RBI.

Senior outfielder Jacob Crum leads the nation with seven triples and leads the MAC with a .629 slugging percentage.

ON THE MOUND
Chippewa reliever Cameron Miller is 1-2 with a 0.81 ERA with five of CMU's nine saves. He is tied for the lead in the MAC in that category. The 6-foot-10 right-hander has struck out 19 and has yet to walk a batter. He has gone 5 2/3 innings – three consecutive appearances – since he allowed an earned run.

The Chippewas rank second in the MAC in earned run average (3.95), runs allowed, earned runs allowed, and walks allowed.

SCOUTING
Oakland enters Tuesday's game averaging five runs per game.

Senior catcher Matt DiLeo leads the Golden Grizzlies with a .312 batting average and is tied for the team lead with five stolen bases. Junior Drew Demumbrum has hit three home runs and leads OU with 23 RBIs.

Sophomore Beau Keathley is 3-4 with a 2.57 ERA in seven starts this season, striking out a Horizon League-best 62 in 49 innings.

NEXT
CMU resumes MAC play this weekend with a three-game series at Kent State, the defending MAC regular-season and tournament champion. Game one is scheduled for Friday, April 12 (6 p.m.).

The Golden Flashes are 13-16, 3-4.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jacob Crum

Zach Gilles

Griffin Lockwood-Powell

Cameron Miller

Zavier Warren