Saturday, April 24
Akron, OH
11 a.m.
Central Michigan University
22-11, 14-4
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Akron
9-23, 3-19
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Central Michigan
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Akron
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Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Baseball Sweeps, Remains Atop MAC
4/24/2021 5:28:00 PM | Baseball
Heeke continues hot streak with homer, two triples in opener
AKRON, Ohio – Two more solid pitching performances, two more wins.
Andrew Taylor and J.T. Rogoszewski combined on a shutout in the opener and Cameron Brown went the distance in the nightcap on Saturday as the Central Michigan baseball team swept a Mid-American Conference doubleheader from Akron, 12-0 and 3-2, at the Zips' Skeeles' Field.
Both games went seven innings. The Chippewas improved to 23-11, 15-4 MAC and will attempt to sweep the four-game series when they play the Zips in the finale on Sunday (noon).
The Chippewas share first place in the MAC with Ball State.
Staked to a 4-0 lead through 1 ½ innings in the opener, Taylor cruised, striking out six, walking two and scattering five hits through 5 1/3 innings. Rogoszewski surrendered two hits over the final 1 2/3.
Brown (6-0) struck out three and allowed six hits in the nightcap. It was his third-consecutive complete game and his fourth of the season.
The pitching performances came on the heels of Jordan Patty's outstanding start in Friday's series opener.
"Obviously those three starters are doing a nice job," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "J.T. did a really nice job too. One of those base hits he gave up was a chopper off the turf, just a weird turf hop, but he was the sharpest he has been in several weeks which is great to see.
"You keep scores down to zero, one, two runs regularly, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. You never know when you're going to need that well-pitched game. It's great to score all those runs; but especially in seven-inning games, you're going to have some grinders occasionally."
One of those came in the nightcap as CMU managed just three hits but drew nine walks. The Chippewas scored twice in the fifth inning to go ahead for good and they did it without the benefit of a hit.
The Chippewas loaded the bases with two walks and an Akron error and then Garrett Navarra drew a base on balls to force in a run and put CMU ahead, 2-1. CMU picked up its second run of the inning when Zach Heeke scored from third when Jakob Marsee grounded into a double play.
"There's going to be days when you don't swing it well and a lot of teams lose when they don't swing the bat well," Bischel said. "We found a way to piece it together, play some defense, take our walks, and scratch out enough runs to win, which is great."
Akron drew to 3-2 with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. Brown got a fly ball to end the inning, and then surrendered just one hit, a one-out infield single in the seventh, the rest of the way.
Heeke remained hot at the plate with two triples and a three-run home run to lead a 12-hit CMU attack in the opener. It was the second homer in four games for Heeke, a senior who on Wednesday was named the MAC Player of the Week for his 9-for-13 performance in the Chippewas' series last weekend with Kent State.
"It's been a big lift," Bischel said of Heeke, who started the season with just two hits in his first 21 at-bats and is hitting .414 in MAC games. "You're going to have ebbs and flows in a season where guys get hot and guys get cold, but he's kind of past the hot streak now; he's just a good hitter.
"If you look back and take out the four, five, six games of the year, his numbers are awfully good. And for a 25-, 30-game stretch here he's just continued to put together really good at-bats."
Andrew Taylor and J.T. Rogoszewski combined on a shutout in the opener and Cameron Brown went the distance in the nightcap on Saturday as the Central Michigan baseball team swept a Mid-American Conference doubleheader from Akron, 12-0 and 3-2, at the Zips' Skeeles' Field.
Both games went seven innings. The Chippewas improved to 23-11, 15-4 MAC and will attempt to sweep the four-game series when they play the Zips in the finale on Sunday (noon).
The Chippewas share first place in the MAC with Ball State.
Staked to a 4-0 lead through 1 ½ innings in the opener, Taylor cruised, striking out six, walking two and scattering five hits through 5 1/3 innings. Rogoszewski surrendered two hits over the final 1 2/3.
Brown (6-0) struck out three and allowed six hits in the nightcap. It was his third-consecutive complete game and his fourth of the season.
The pitching performances came on the heels of Jordan Patty's outstanding start in Friday's series opener.
"Obviously those three starters are doing a nice job," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "J.T. did a really nice job too. One of those base hits he gave up was a chopper off the turf, just a weird turf hop, but he was the sharpest he has been in several weeks which is great to see.
"You keep scores down to zero, one, two runs regularly, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. You never know when you're going to need that well-pitched game. It's great to score all those runs; but especially in seven-inning games, you're going to have some grinders occasionally."
One of those came in the nightcap as CMU managed just three hits but drew nine walks. The Chippewas scored twice in the fifth inning to go ahead for good and they did it without the benefit of a hit.
The Chippewas loaded the bases with two walks and an Akron error and then Garrett Navarra drew a base on balls to force in a run and put CMU ahead, 2-1. CMU picked up its second run of the inning when Zach Heeke scored from third when Jakob Marsee grounded into a double play.
"There's going to be days when you don't swing it well and a lot of teams lose when they don't swing the bat well," Bischel said. "We found a way to piece it together, play some defense, take our walks, and scratch out enough runs to win, which is great."
Akron drew to 3-2 with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. Brown got a fly ball to end the inning, and then surrendered just one hit, a one-out infield single in the seventh, the rest of the way.
Heeke remained hot at the plate with two triples and a three-run home run to lead a 12-hit CMU attack in the opener. It was the second homer in four games for Heeke, a senior who on Wednesday was named the MAC Player of the Week for his 9-for-13 performance in the Chippewas' series last weekend with Kent State.
"It's been a big lift," Bischel said of Heeke, who started the season with just two hits in his first 21 at-bats and is hitting .414 in MAC games. "You're going to have ebbs and flows in a season where guys get hot and guys get cold, but he's kind of past the hot streak now; he's just a good hitter.
"If you look back and take out the four, five, six games of the year, his numbers are awfully good. And for a 25-, 30-game stretch here he's just continued to put together really good at-bats."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Taylor, Andrew (6-3)
L: HEYDINGER, T (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Lechnir, Zach 1
3B: Heeke, Zach 2 ; Gilles, Zach 1
HR: Heeke, Zach 1
RBI: Heeke, Zach 4 ; Gilles, Zach 1 ; Lechnir, Zach 2 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Simpson, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Camilletti, Mario 3 ; Heeke, Zach 2 ; Gilles, Zach 2 ; Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Lechnir, Zach 2 ; Stengren, Drew 1
SB: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Navarra, Garrett 1
CS: Gilles, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: REGAN, C. 1
Base Running:
CS: TILLY, Cam. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
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