Thursday, May 16
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
2 p.m.
Central Michigan University
vs
Miami (Ohio)
CMU baseball players celebrate a victory earlier this season. The Chippewas entertain Miami (Ohio) this weekend in their final home appearance of the season.
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Riding High, Aiming Higher
5/15/2019 9:28:00 PM | Baseball
Resurgent CMU baseball team eyes MAC title this weekend at home
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Relax, have fun, enjoy.
Yeah, there is more to it than that. Plenty to talk about with regard to pitch selection, patience at the plate, making all the plays in the field, getting the clutch hit.
It's been all that and more for the Central Michigan baseball under first-year coach Jordan Bischel.
The Chippewas enter their final regular-season series in first place in the Mid-American Conference, eyeing their first regular-season league championship since 2015. For the Chippewas, who are 19-5 in league play, it's just a matter of winning.
Then again, that's been the case for pretty much the entire season.
BIG WEEKEND
The Chippewas and Miami (Ohio) open a three-game series on Thursday (3 p.m.) at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium. Game two is set for Friday (3 p.m.) with the finale, CMU's Senior Day, scheduled for Saturday (1 p.m.).
CMU holds a one-game lead over second-place Ball State, which is 17-5 in league play and is scheduled to close with a three-game set at home against Toledo. Miami is in third place in the league at 15-8 and has clinched a spot in the six-team tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 22, in Avon, Ohio.
SMASHING DEBUT
The Chippewas are 40-12 and have won 12 consecutive games under Bischel, who was named to head the program in June, 2018, after a highly successful four-year run at Division II Northwood, just down the road in Midland.
His Northwood teams became known for their hitting prowess and, of course, winning. It hasn't taken long for Bischel to put his stamp on the CMU program. The Chippewas are hitting .302 as a team, 31 points better than they did in 2018, and they have collected 28 home runs this season, 16 more than they did a year ago.
The 40 wins is the most by a Chippewa team since 2005.
"I challenged our guys from the start to not worry about the end result, (but to) worry about the process of where we're trying to get to," Bischel said. "I think as a collective group we've done a good job of that.
"The big thing we have to do now is enjoy it. Miami is really, really good. We can't put a bunch of pressure on ourselves. What's gotten us to this point is a good loose atmosphere of enjoying it."
GOOD TIMES, GOOD NUMBERS
True, there is a loose, almost playful vibe around the team. Players partake in impromptu pre-game basketball on a makeshift backboard and rim outside the dugout, and players frequently don silly-looking masks in the dugout during games.
It is, after all, a game. And it's one in which the Chippewas are exceedingly finding success.
The Chippewas are tied with Miami for first in the league in team batting average and are second in team earned run average at 4.16 (Miami, 3.88, leads). CMU is tied for first with a .974 fielding percentage, has turned a league-high 37 double plays, and committed 49 errors, which is the second fewest among the 10 teams in the MAC.
The league top 10 individual statistics are dominated by the Chippewas, including the glamour numbers: Sophomore catcher Griffin Lockwood-Powell shares the league lead with 10 home runs, and he shares the RBI lead (62) with teammate Zavier Warren, a sophomore shortstop. Junior Zach Gilles (.364) is third in the league in batting average, while Warren (.357) is fifth and Lockwood-Powell (.349) is sixth.
On the mound, the Chippewas have been led by the fabulous one-two punch of Pat Leatherman and Cam Brown. Leatherman, a fifth-year senior, is 8-1 with a 2.36 ERA; Brown, a junior, is 9-0 with a 2.85. Brown leads the league and Leatherman is second in victories; Leatherman is second and Brown is third in ERA.
A strong case could be made for any number of Chippewas for the MAC Player of the Year and MAC Pitcher of the Year awards.
STEPPING UP
Leatherman has been a mainstay in the rotation since his arrival in 2015, and recently became the program's career leader with 298 career strikeouts. Brown has been a surprise. He made just three starts in 21 appearances a year ago, going 4-1 with a 4.97 ERA.
Decent numbers, yes, but even the most optimistic among the Chippewa baseball faithful could not have legitimately forecast what Brown has accomplished this season.
"In the fall we saw that Cam was going to fill the strike zone, that he was going to compete, that he was going to be one of our hardest workers," Bischel said. "We knew he had a good year in him, to say we knew he had 9-0 in him would be a stretch."
One might say the same thing about the team itself. Yet here the Chippewas are, in position to win the regular-season title, claim the top seed in the conference tournament and, perhaps, approach the program record for victories in a season (47 in 1988).
"If you'd have said in July (2018) or in February that when you get to the last weekend (of the season) we'll have a chance to play for a championship I would have said, 'Yeah, we'll take that 10 times out of 10,'" Bischel said. "There's a lot of teams in this league that would love to be in this position and so I'm proud of the guys."
BUILDING BLOCKS
There have been turning points, such as a Saturday-night indoor practice in February, when the energy level was through the roof, that gave Bischel an indication that his first CMU team might have the right stuff.
"We had our most energetic, competitive get-after-it practice (that) I had seen and I thought, You know what, these guys are really starting to get what it takes to be successful," he said. "That was big."
So was the Chippewas' season-opening series at Troy. The Chippewas took one-run losses in each of the first two games of the series, and then won the final two to earn the split. That they played a good program -- one that had reached the NCAA Tournament in 2018 -- so tough and had bounced back to win the final two games of the series was a sign, Bischel said.
As has been the Chippewas' continual trend of coming from behind and maintaining a high energy regardless of the score. CMU has not lost back-to-back games since dropping a doubleheader at Illinois State on March 16. They are 28-6 since.
"When we've been down in games is when I've really liked how we've looked as a team," he said. "We look like the same team as when we've been up in games, and I'm not sure that was the case early in the season."
THE STREAK
The Chippewas' 12-game win streak started nearly three weeks ago with a 5-4 victory over rival Western Michigan. The Chippewas trailed, 4-0, after three innings, and then chipped away to tie it 4-4. They won it with a walk-off walk in the ninth.
A walk? Not so dramatic. But they will take it any way they can get it. CMU leads the nation with 338 walks, ranks third with a .422 on-base percentage, and is fourth with 441 runs.
"Sometimes people think walks are given, not earned, and we really view it differently," Bischel said. "We earn those walks and we practice it every day. It's not necessarily how many swings we take, but how many focused swings we take.
"These guys have bought into it. It's not easy to learn a new way of hitting in a year and for the most part these guys have really, really embraced it."
Yeah, there is more to it than that. Plenty to talk about with regard to pitch selection, patience at the plate, making all the plays in the field, getting the clutch hit.
It's been all that and more for the Central Michigan baseball under first-year coach Jordan Bischel.
The Chippewas enter their final regular-season series in first place in the Mid-American Conference, eyeing their first regular-season league championship since 2015. For the Chippewas, who are 19-5 in league play, it's just a matter of winning.
Then again, that's been the case for pretty much the entire season.
BIG WEEKEND
The Chippewas and Miami (Ohio) open a three-game series on Thursday (3 p.m.) at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium. Game two is set for Friday (3 p.m.) with the finale, CMU's Senior Day, scheduled for Saturday (1 p.m.).
CMU holds a one-game lead over second-place Ball State, which is 17-5 in league play and is scheduled to close with a three-game set at home against Toledo. Miami is in third place in the league at 15-8 and has clinched a spot in the six-team tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 22, in Avon, Ohio.
SMASHING DEBUT
The Chippewas are 40-12 and have won 12 consecutive games under Bischel, who was named to head the program in June, 2018, after a highly successful four-year run at Division II Northwood, just down the road in Midland.
His Northwood teams became known for their hitting prowess and, of course, winning. It hasn't taken long for Bischel to put his stamp on the CMU program. The Chippewas are hitting .302 as a team, 31 points better than they did in 2018, and they have collected 28 home runs this season, 16 more than they did a year ago.
The 40 wins is the most by a Chippewa team since 2005.
"I challenged our guys from the start to not worry about the end result, (but to) worry about the process of where we're trying to get to," Bischel said. "I think as a collective group we've done a good job of that.
"The big thing we have to do now is enjoy it. Miami is really, really good. We can't put a bunch of pressure on ourselves. What's gotten us to this point is a good loose atmosphere of enjoying it."
GOOD TIMES, GOOD NUMBERS
True, there is a loose, almost playful vibe around the team. Players partake in impromptu pre-game basketball on a makeshift backboard and rim outside the dugout, and players frequently don silly-looking masks in the dugout during games.
It is, after all, a game. And it's one in which the Chippewas are exceedingly finding success.
The Chippewas are tied with Miami for first in the league in team batting average and are second in team earned run average at 4.16 (Miami, 3.88, leads). CMU is tied for first with a .974 fielding percentage, has turned a league-high 37 double plays, and committed 49 errors, which is the second fewest among the 10 teams in the MAC.
The league top 10 individual statistics are dominated by the Chippewas, including the glamour numbers: Sophomore catcher Griffin Lockwood-Powell shares the league lead with 10 home runs, and he shares the RBI lead (62) with teammate Zavier Warren, a sophomore shortstop. Junior Zach Gilles (.364) is third in the league in batting average, while Warren (.357) is fifth and Lockwood-Powell (.349) is sixth.
On the mound, the Chippewas have been led by the fabulous one-two punch of Pat Leatherman and Cam Brown. Leatherman, a fifth-year senior, is 8-1 with a 2.36 ERA; Brown, a junior, is 9-0 with a 2.85. Brown leads the league and Leatherman is second in victories; Leatherman is second and Brown is third in ERA.
A strong case could be made for any number of Chippewas for the MAC Player of the Year and MAC Pitcher of the Year awards.
STEPPING UP
Leatherman has been a mainstay in the rotation since his arrival in 2015, and recently became the program's career leader with 298 career strikeouts. Brown has been a surprise. He made just three starts in 21 appearances a year ago, going 4-1 with a 4.97 ERA.
Decent numbers, yes, but even the most optimistic among the Chippewa baseball faithful could not have legitimately forecast what Brown has accomplished this season.
"In the fall we saw that Cam was going to fill the strike zone, that he was going to compete, that he was going to be one of our hardest workers," Bischel said. "We knew he had a good year in him, to say we knew he had 9-0 in him would be a stretch."
One might say the same thing about the team itself. Yet here the Chippewas are, in position to win the regular-season title, claim the top seed in the conference tournament and, perhaps, approach the program record for victories in a season (47 in 1988).
"If you'd have said in July (2018) or in February that when you get to the last weekend (of the season) we'll have a chance to play for a championship I would have said, 'Yeah, we'll take that 10 times out of 10,'" Bischel said. "There's a lot of teams in this league that would love to be in this position and so I'm proud of the guys."
BUILDING BLOCKS
There have been turning points, such as a Saturday-night indoor practice in February, when the energy level was through the roof, that gave Bischel an indication that his first CMU team might have the right stuff.
"We had our most energetic, competitive get-after-it practice (that) I had seen and I thought, You know what, these guys are really starting to get what it takes to be successful," he said. "That was big."
So was the Chippewas' season-opening series at Troy. The Chippewas took one-run losses in each of the first two games of the series, and then won the final two to earn the split. That they played a good program -- one that had reached the NCAA Tournament in 2018 -- so tough and had bounced back to win the final two games of the series was a sign, Bischel said.
As has been the Chippewas' continual trend of coming from behind and maintaining a high energy regardless of the score. CMU has not lost back-to-back games since dropping a doubleheader at Illinois State on March 16. They are 28-6 since.
"When we've been down in games is when I've really liked how we've looked as a team," he said. "We look like the same team as when we've been up in games, and I'm not sure that was the case early in the season."
THE STREAK
The Chippewas' 12-game win streak started nearly three weeks ago with a 5-4 victory over rival Western Michigan. The Chippewas trailed, 4-0, after three innings, and then chipped away to tie it 4-4. They won it with a walk-off walk in the ninth.
A walk? Not so dramatic. But they will take it any way they can get it. CMU leads the nation with 338 walks, ranks third with a .422 on-base percentage, and is fourth with 441 runs.
"Sometimes people think walks are given, not earned, and we really view it differently," Bischel said. "We earn those walks and we practice it every day. It's not necessarily how many swings we take, but how many focused swings we take.
"These guys have bought into it. It's not easy to learn a new way of hitting in a year and for the most part these guys have really, really embraced it."
Players Mentioned
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