Friday, April 30
Mount Pleasant, MI
3 P.M.
Central Michigan University
vs
Miami (OH)
Senior Cameron Brown is one of a trio of outstanding starters in the Chippewas' rotation.
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Baseball Entertains Miami Beginning On Friday
4/29/2021 1:59:00 PM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – No trophies for being in first place at the midway point.
The Central Michigan baseball team welcomes Miami (Ohio) this weekend as the Chippewas begin the second half of the Mid-American Conference schedule.
CMU is 24-11 and shares first place with Ball State in the league at 16-4. Miami is tied for third at 12-8. The teams open the series at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium at 3 p.m. on Friday; they are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.); and they will close the series on Sunday (1 p.m.).
The Chippewas entertain Ball State next weekend and then go to Western Michigan from May 14-16. The Broncos enter this weekend – they go to Toledo for a four-game set -- tied with Miami for third place.
In short, the next three weeks will go a long way in determining the eventual MAC champion and the Chippewas – the defending champions -- are right in the middle of it. There is no MAC Tournament in 2021; the regular-season champion will receive the league's bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"With no conference tournament this year, there are a lot of teams at this halfway point in the season that probably don't feel great about their chances of winning the league," third-year CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "Obviously, it's nice to know that if we play well the next month or so we're right in the middle of things and most teams would trade places with us right now."
The Chippewas swept Akron last weekend, outscoring the Zips by a combined 43-5. It was CMU's second MAC sweep of the season. CMU has won four of its five league series after opening with a split at Ohio.
The Chippewas have gotten outstanding starting pitching from the top three in their rotation: Jordan Patty, who is 5-1 with a 1.95 earned run average; Andrew Taylor, 6-3, 1.64; and Cameron Brown, 6-0, 3.40.
Bischel has settled on a Sunday game plan that begins with left-hander Garrett Navarra starting. Because the starters have been so strong and have generally pitched deeply into games, the Chippewa bullpen – which is deep to begin with – is well rested, and often chomping at the bit, come Sunday.
"Those first three starts of the weekend have helped us a lot because we haven't gone real deep into the bullpen," Bischel said.
Three of the principal relievers – Ian Leatherman, Grant Frazer and Logan Buczkowski – have a combined 3.31 ERA with six saves in 34 appearances.
Miami has lost three of four in its last two league series, the first at Western Michigan from April 9-11, and the second at Kent State, April 23-25. The RedHawks' series at Bowling Green, scheduled for April 16-18, was postponed.
"I'll be really upset if we treat Friday or any one of these upcoming games any different than we've treated the last 20," Bischel said. "We preach one game at a time so I'm hopeful we just keep doing the same things we've been doing."
The Central Michigan baseball team welcomes Miami (Ohio) this weekend as the Chippewas begin the second half of the Mid-American Conference schedule.
CMU is 24-11 and shares first place with Ball State in the league at 16-4. Miami is tied for third at 12-8. The teams open the series at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium at 3 p.m. on Friday; they are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.); and they will close the series on Sunday (1 p.m.).
The Chippewas entertain Ball State next weekend and then go to Western Michigan from May 14-16. The Broncos enter this weekend – they go to Toledo for a four-game set -- tied with Miami for third place.
In short, the next three weeks will go a long way in determining the eventual MAC champion and the Chippewas – the defending champions -- are right in the middle of it. There is no MAC Tournament in 2021; the regular-season champion will receive the league's bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"With no conference tournament this year, there are a lot of teams at this halfway point in the season that probably don't feel great about their chances of winning the league," third-year CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "Obviously, it's nice to know that if we play well the next month or so we're right in the middle of things and most teams would trade places with us right now."
The Chippewas swept Akron last weekend, outscoring the Zips by a combined 43-5. It was CMU's second MAC sweep of the season. CMU has won four of its five league series after opening with a split at Ohio.
The Chippewas have gotten outstanding starting pitching from the top three in their rotation: Jordan Patty, who is 5-1 with a 1.95 earned run average; Andrew Taylor, 6-3, 1.64; and Cameron Brown, 6-0, 3.40.
Bischel has settled on a Sunday game plan that begins with left-hander Garrett Navarra starting. Because the starters have been so strong and have generally pitched deeply into games, the Chippewa bullpen – which is deep to begin with – is well rested, and often chomping at the bit, come Sunday.
"Those first three starts of the weekend have helped us a lot because we haven't gone real deep into the bullpen," Bischel said.
Three of the principal relievers – Ian Leatherman, Grant Frazer and Logan Buczkowski – have a combined 3.31 ERA with six saves in 34 appearances.
Miami has lost three of four in its last two league series, the first at Western Michigan from April 9-11, and the second at Kent State, April 23-25. The RedHawks' series at Bowling Green, scheduled for April 16-18, was postponed.
"I'll be really upset if we treat Friday or any one of these upcoming games any different than we've treated the last 20," Bischel said. "We preach one game at a time so I'm hopeful we just keep doing the same things we've been doing."
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