Sunday, March 21
Dayton, Ohio
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
8-6
15
at
4
Dayton
4-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
2
3
0
1
1
1
1
1
5
15
18
0
Dayton
3
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
4
10
4
Baseball Rolls Past Dayton; Takes 3 Of 4 From Flyers
3/21/2021 6:41:00 PM | Baseball
Chippewas collect a season-high 18 hits in scoring a season-high 15 runs
DAYTON, Ohio – A season-high 18 hits lead to a season-high in runs Sunday as the Central Michigan baseball team closed its four-game series at Dayton with a 15-4 victory at the Flyers' Woerner Field.
The Chippewas took the final three games of the series, combining for 28 runs on 41 hits in those three wins. They open Mid-American Conference play with a four-game series at Ohio next weekend.
Since dropping their season-opening three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Chippewas (8-6) have won eight of their last 11 games, including a pair of wins over 23rd-ranked West Virginia.
"I think we're starting to kind of find our footing and I think the biggest thing is we're starting to figure out what we need to do well to be successful," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said.
Of the Chippewas' 41 hits in those last three games, 39 were singles. They raised their team batting average to .282 and are scoring an average of 7.5 runs per game.
"There are not many teams in college baseball that have one home run right now," Bischel said. "We are a complete anomaly. We still put a lot of runs on the board but it's a different methodology. I think we're starting to understand that there's some fine margins for us between really good baseball and really average baseball.
"Every time we play is a better chance to learn kind of what that looks like and I think we're getting close. It's still early, there's a lot of season left, but we're a lot closer than we were a month ago for sure."
How It Happened
The Chippewas scored three runs in the second to take a 5-3 lead, and those three runs came in a most Chippewa way. They used a Dayton error, a walk, and a single to load the bases and then Drew Stengren scored on a wild pitch to tie it 3-3. Zach Gilles followed with a bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run, and they got another run on a groundout.
They continued to tack on runs, scoring at least once in every inning but the third. They also stranded 19 base runners – not such a bad thing in Bischel's book.
"It's easy to point to left on base as an issue, but it's a good thing because it means you're getting on and eventually you're going to break through," he said. "Today was a good example; we didn't really hit great with runners in scoring position, but you put enough of them out there eventually you're going to clean a few of them up."
At the Plate
Mario Camilletti led the Chippewas with four hits, while Garrett Navarra and Justin Simpson had three apiece. Gilles finished with two hits and drove in five runs and finished the series with seven hits in nine at-bats and 10 RBI in the series.
Zach Heeke singled and doubled and Colton Coca and Danny Wuestenfeld each had two RBI.
On the Mound
Ian Leatherman (1-1) picked up the victory, going 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter J.T. Rogoszewski. Leatherman allowed one run on three hits and struck out five.
Rogoszewski surrendered a three-run homer in the first inning and allowed seven hits while striking out three over 4 1/3 innings. Ryan Culley and Drew Alsobrooks also pitched in relief.
"(Rogoszewski) hasn't had a great start to the season and he had a bad first inning, but then he just went out there and put some zeroes on the board so we could build a little bit of a lead," Bischel said. "As tough as our offense is in terms of making (opponents) earn their outs, that can be hard on your pitcher.
"You pitch for four, five, six minutes and then you get back in and you sit for 15 minutes and then do it all over again. It can take you out of a little rhythm and tempo, but that's a good thing; it means we're scoring runs.
"Rogoszewski and Leatherman did a great job after those long innings of going back out and putting a zero on the board and getting right back in so we could stay with it."
The Chippewa pitching staff has allowed 16 earned runs in its last 43 1/3 innings for a 3.32 earned run average over that span. The staff ERA is 4.44.
The Chippewas took the final three games of the series, combining for 28 runs on 41 hits in those three wins. They open Mid-American Conference play with a four-game series at Ohio next weekend.
Since dropping their season-opening three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Chippewas (8-6) have won eight of their last 11 games, including a pair of wins over 23rd-ranked West Virginia.
"I think we're starting to kind of find our footing and I think the biggest thing is we're starting to figure out what we need to do well to be successful," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said.
Of the Chippewas' 41 hits in those last three games, 39 were singles. They raised their team batting average to .282 and are scoring an average of 7.5 runs per game.
"There are not many teams in college baseball that have one home run right now," Bischel said. "We are a complete anomaly. We still put a lot of runs on the board but it's a different methodology. I think we're starting to understand that there's some fine margins for us between really good baseball and really average baseball.
"Every time we play is a better chance to learn kind of what that looks like and I think we're getting close. It's still early, there's a lot of season left, but we're a lot closer than we were a month ago for sure."
How It Happened
The Chippewas scored three runs in the second to take a 5-3 lead, and those three runs came in a most Chippewa way. They used a Dayton error, a walk, and a single to load the bases and then Drew Stengren scored on a wild pitch to tie it 3-3. Zach Gilles followed with a bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run, and they got another run on a groundout.
They continued to tack on runs, scoring at least once in every inning but the third. They also stranded 19 base runners – not such a bad thing in Bischel's book.
"It's easy to point to left on base as an issue, but it's a good thing because it means you're getting on and eventually you're going to break through," he said. "Today was a good example; we didn't really hit great with runners in scoring position, but you put enough of them out there eventually you're going to clean a few of them up."
At the Plate
Mario Camilletti led the Chippewas with four hits, while Garrett Navarra and Justin Simpson had three apiece. Gilles finished with two hits and drove in five runs and finished the series with seven hits in nine at-bats and 10 RBI in the series.
Zach Heeke singled and doubled and Colton Coca and Danny Wuestenfeld each had two RBI.
On the Mound
Ian Leatherman (1-1) picked up the victory, going 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter J.T. Rogoszewski. Leatherman allowed one run on three hits and struck out five.
Rogoszewski surrendered a three-run homer in the first inning and allowed seven hits while striking out three over 4 1/3 innings. Ryan Culley and Drew Alsobrooks also pitched in relief.
"(Rogoszewski) hasn't had a great start to the season and he had a bad first inning, but then he just went out there and put some zeroes on the board so we could build a little bit of a lead," Bischel said. "As tough as our offense is in terms of making (opponents) earn their outs, that can be hard on your pitcher.
"You pitch for four, five, six minutes and then you get back in and you sit for 15 minutes and then do it all over again. It can take you out of a little rhythm and tempo, but that's a good thing; it means we're scoring runs.
"Rogoszewski and Leatherman did a great job after those long innings of going back out and putting a zero on the board and getting right back in so we could stay with it."
The Chippewa pitching staff has allowed 16 earned runs in its last 43 1/3 innings for a 3.32 earned run average over that span. The staff ERA is 4.44.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leatherman, Ian (1-1)
L: Nick Wissman (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Heeke, Zach 1
RBI: Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Gilles, Zach 5 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 2 ; Coca, Colton 2 ; Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Heeke, Zach 1 ; Simpson, Justin 1
SH: Shepardson, Aidan 1 ; Stengren, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Navarra, Garrett 2 ; Camilletti, Mario 2 ; Marsee, Jakob 2 ; Gilles, Zach 2 ; Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Heeke, Zach 1 ; Stengren, Drew 1 ; Preston, Kade 1 ; Simpson, Justin 3
SB: Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Gilles, Zach 1 ; Lechnir, Drew 2
CS: Simpson, Justin 1
HBP: Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Gilles, Zach 1 ; Preston, Kade 1
Batting:
HR: Alex Brickman 1 ; Mitchell Garrity 1
RBI: Alex Brickman 3 ; Mitchell Garrity 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marcos Pujols 1 ; Riley Tirotta 1 ; Alex Brickman 1 ; Mitchell Garrity 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
2
H
4
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballLHP/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballDave Keilitz interview on Zach McKinstry
Friday, July 11
Jake Sabol Interview on Zach McKinstry
Friday, July 11
Baseball vs Oakland
Tuesday, May 13
Baseball vs Eastern Michigan
Sunday, May 11