Central Michigan University Athletics
Sunday, March 7
Williamsburg, VA
12 P.M.
Central Michigan University
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William & Mary
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9
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Central Michigan
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William & Mary
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Solid Pitching, Hot Bats: Chippewas Sweep William & Mary
3/7/2021 9:33:00 PM | Baseball
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A pair of outstanding pitching performances and some hot hitting.
Good combination for a baseball team.
Central Michigan collected a combined 26 hits and starters Andrew Taylor and Cameron Brown held the William & Mary bats in check on Sunday as the Chippewas swept a nonconference doubleheader from the Tribe, 12-1 and 7-3, at Plumeri Park.
It marked the first two wins of the season for CMU (2-4), which closes its four-game trip to Virginia on Monday (1 p.m.) at Richmond.
"Outsiders identify us as the offense being the big thing with our program, but we talk about our pitching and defense more than anything," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team bounced back from a 12-11 loss on Saturday at VCU. "That's what made (Saturday) so disappointing. When you go out and score 11 (runs) you shouldn't get beat. VCU was a really good offensive team, but we just haven't been ourselves on the mound over the first four games of the season.
"Mostly because of a pandemic, it's been pretty much a calendar year since we won a game. It's just good to get on the bus having won a game. Obviously, we've done quite a bit of (winning) the last few years, but it's been a while. Good feeling for the guys. They've worked hard and they earned it."
Taylor (1-1), a redshirt freshman right-hander, struck out seven in tossing seven innings of shutout ball in the opener. Brown (1-1), a senior right-hander, surrendered three runs on six hits in going seven innings in the nightcap.
CMU committed just one error on the day and turned four double plays.
"Today we had two starting pitchers come out and just attack the heck out of the strike zone," Bischel said. "They both only had one walk and that's what we take pride in. We played tremendous defense behind them. It was really a step in the right direction in terms of the pitching and defense.
"Two weeks in a row now (Taylor has) been really good. He's now had three starts and he's going to be very, very good for us. He's not afraid to challenge hitters. He's actually still freshman age; he's only 19 years old. He's got the maturity of an upperclassman. He really is a composed pitcher."
Brown "only threw about 80 pitches over seven innings," Bischel said. "You go back two years, that's what he did to teams. He just forced the ball into play and attacked the zone. He was actually outstanding last week for three innings (at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). And just struggled in the ninth (inning) to finish it; but outside of three hitters this spring, he's been really solid in his two outings. That's really good to see."
CMU collected a season-high 14 hits in the opener, two each by Garrett Navarra, Jakob Marsee, Zach Gilles, Drew Lechnir, Zach Heeke and Justin Simpson. Griffin Lockwood-Powell tripled and drove in two runs. Lechnir, Heeke and Simpson also drove in two runs apiece.
The Chippewas had 12 hits, all singles, in the nightcap. It marked their second-highest total of the season. Mario Camilletti, Lockwood-Powell, and Zach Lechnir had two each. Freshman Nick Dardas had two RBI.
The Chippewas finished with nine hits on Friday against VCU, giving them 35 and 30 runs in their three games in Virginia.
Good combination for a baseball team.
Central Michigan collected a combined 26 hits and starters Andrew Taylor and Cameron Brown held the William & Mary bats in check on Sunday as the Chippewas swept a nonconference doubleheader from the Tribe, 12-1 and 7-3, at Plumeri Park.
It marked the first two wins of the season for CMU (2-4), which closes its four-game trip to Virginia on Monday (1 p.m.) at Richmond.
"Outsiders identify us as the offense being the big thing with our program, but we talk about our pitching and defense more than anything," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team bounced back from a 12-11 loss on Saturday at VCU. "That's what made (Saturday) so disappointing. When you go out and score 11 (runs) you shouldn't get beat. VCU was a really good offensive team, but we just haven't been ourselves on the mound over the first four games of the season.
"Mostly because of a pandemic, it's been pretty much a calendar year since we won a game. It's just good to get on the bus having won a game. Obviously, we've done quite a bit of (winning) the last few years, but it's been a while. Good feeling for the guys. They've worked hard and they earned it."
Taylor (1-1), a redshirt freshman right-hander, struck out seven in tossing seven innings of shutout ball in the opener. Brown (1-1), a senior right-hander, surrendered three runs on six hits in going seven innings in the nightcap.
CMU committed just one error on the day and turned four double plays.
"Today we had two starting pitchers come out and just attack the heck out of the strike zone," Bischel said. "They both only had one walk and that's what we take pride in. We played tremendous defense behind them. It was really a step in the right direction in terms of the pitching and defense.
"Two weeks in a row now (Taylor has) been really good. He's now had three starts and he's going to be very, very good for us. He's not afraid to challenge hitters. He's actually still freshman age; he's only 19 years old. He's got the maturity of an upperclassman. He really is a composed pitcher."
Brown "only threw about 80 pitches over seven innings," Bischel said. "You go back two years, that's what he did to teams. He just forced the ball into play and attacked the zone. He was actually outstanding last week for three innings (at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). And just struggled in the ninth (inning) to finish it; but outside of three hitters this spring, he's been really solid in his two outings. That's really good to see."
CMU collected a season-high 14 hits in the opener, two each by Garrett Navarra, Jakob Marsee, Zach Gilles, Drew Lechnir, Zach Heeke and Justin Simpson. Griffin Lockwood-Powell tripled and drove in two runs. Lechnir, Heeke and Simpson also drove in two runs apiece.
The Chippewas had 12 hits, all singles, in the nightcap. It marked their second-highest total of the season. Mario Camilletti, Lockwood-Powell, and Zach Lechnir had two each. Freshman Nick Dardas had two RBI.
The Chippewas finished with nine hits on Friday against VCU, giving them 35 and 30 runs in their three games in Virginia.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Taylor, Andrew (1-1)
L: B. Greenspon (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Lechnir, Drew 1
3B: Lockwood-Powell, Griffin 1
RBI: Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Lockwood-Powell, Griffin 2 ; Lechnir, Drew 2 ; Heeke, Zach 2 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1
SF: Camilletti, Mario 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Navarra, Garrett 3 ; Marsee, Jakob 3 ; Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Gilles, Zach 2 ; Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Simpson, Justin 2
SB: Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Gilles, Zach 1
CS: Heeke, Zach 1
HBP: Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Rollin, Chase 1
PO: Simpson, Justin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: H. Hart 1
HBP: H. Hart 1 ; P. Conti 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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