Saturday, May 1
Mount Pleasant, MI
1 P.M.
Central Michigan University
26-11, 18-4
2
vs
1
Miami (OH)
19-17, 12-10
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2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Miami (OH)
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Central Michigan
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
2
2
2
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Baseball Sweeps Miami, Remains Atop MAC
5/1/2021 8:41:00 PM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Peck, pester, jab. A thousand cuts can often be more painful, and effective, than one big blow.
The Central Michigan baseball team followed its formula and combined it with excellent pitching once again to sweep Miami (Ohio) in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas made the most of their two hits in the opener in claiming a 2-1 victory, and then used a three-run sixth inning – during which they hit only one ball out of the infield – to rally for a 6-3 win in the nightcap. Both games were scheduled seven-inning affairs.
"I'm really proud of the guys today," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "I thought we had some (shaky) moments today. We made more errors than is characteristic of our team. This was not our sharpest performance. We really did a great job of responding to mistakes. When something didn't go our way, we quickly responded, and I was really proud of the way we battled and our grittiness."
CMU improved to 27-11, 19-4 MAC. The Chippewas remain tied for first place in the league with Ball State, which swept a doubleheader from Bowling Green on Saturday. CMU and Miami are scheduled to close their series on Sunday (noon).
How It Happened
The Chippewas trailed 1-0 in the third inning of the opener when Aidan Shepardson was hit by a pitch with one out. He was bunted to second and then scored on Mario Camilletti's two-out single, tying the game 1-1.
Shepardson was the Chippewas' first baserunner of the game, and Camilletti's single was their first hit against flame-throwing right-hander Sam Bachman, who is expected to be taken in the first round of the Major League Draft in June.
"That hit by Mario was huge," Bischel said. "That's as talented an arm as there is, maybe in the country, and to square up a ball and drive it in the gap with two outs was big."
In the fourth, Zach Gilles and Garrett Navarra drew back-to-back walks and were bunted up a base by Jakob Marsee. Justin Simpson brought Gilles home with a safety squeeze to put the Chippewas in front for good.
The Chippewas broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the sixth inning of the nightcap. Simpson walked, Shepardson bunted for a single, and then Simpson came home with the go-ahead run on a Chase Rollin single. An error on the play allowed Shepardson to score to make it 5-3 and Rollin took third. Rollin then scored on a Zach Heeke bunt to make it 6-3.
On the Mound
A day after Jordan Patty threw the first perfect game in CMU baseball history, Chippewa starters Andrew Taylor and Cameron Brown combined to allow just four runs (two earned) over 12 innings, and Ian Leatherman was his usual lockdown self out of the bullpen.
Taylor (7-3) went the distance in the opener, outdueling Bachman. Taylor, a redshirt freshman, struck out seven, walked one and allowed five hits.
"It says a lot about Andrew," Bischel said. "He's 19 years old, he's a second-year guy but he's a freshman-aged kid. You could tell early in the week that he was excited about the fact that Bachman was throwing in the game that he was; he was excited about the opportunity and I think that says a lot about his competitiveness and he did a great job.
"Just kind of matched (Bachman) blow for blow and gave us a chance. He was outstanding."
Brown allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits, struck out four and walked one over five innings in the nightcap.
"Cam, I don't think he was at his best today, but you're in a good spot if you're upset with a guy giving up three runs in five innings," Bischel said. "That's not bad."
Leatherman (3-1) surrendered one hit and walked one over two innings for the win in game two. He worked out of a seventh-inning jam when Miami brought the tying run to the plate with one out. He got a fly ball and then a popup to end it.
"Ian's been awfully good for us all year, and he kept zeros on the board while we could score some runs," Bischel said, adding that in the seventh inning, Leatherman "didn't blink. He just made a couple of pitches and worked through it, which was great to see."
The Central Michigan baseball team followed its formula and combined it with excellent pitching once again to sweep Miami (Ohio) in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas made the most of their two hits in the opener in claiming a 2-1 victory, and then used a three-run sixth inning – during which they hit only one ball out of the infield – to rally for a 6-3 win in the nightcap. Both games were scheduled seven-inning affairs.
"I'm really proud of the guys today," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "I thought we had some (shaky) moments today. We made more errors than is characteristic of our team. This was not our sharpest performance. We really did a great job of responding to mistakes. When something didn't go our way, we quickly responded, and I was really proud of the way we battled and our grittiness."
CMU improved to 27-11, 19-4 MAC. The Chippewas remain tied for first place in the league with Ball State, which swept a doubleheader from Bowling Green on Saturday. CMU and Miami are scheduled to close their series on Sunday (noon).
How It Happened
The Chippewas trailed 1-0 in the third inning of the opener when Aidan Shepardson was hit by a pitch with one out. He was bunted to second and then scored on Mario Camilletti's two-out single, tying the game 1-1.
Shepardson was the Chippewas' first baserunner of the game, and Camilletti's single was their first hit against flame-throwing right-hander Sam Bachman, who is expected to be taken in the first round of the Major League Draft in June.
"That hit by Mario was huge," Bischel said. "That's as talented an arm as there is, maybe in the country, and to square up a ball and drive it in the gap with two outs was big."
In the fourth, Zach Gilles and Garrett Navarra drew back-to-back walks and were bunted up a base by Jakob Marsee. Justin Simpson brought Gilles home with a safety squeeze to put the Chippewas in front for good.
The Chippewas broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the sixth inning of the nightcap. Simpson walked, Shepardson bunted for a single, and then Simpson came home with the go-ahead run on a Chase Rollin single. An error on the play allowed Shepardson to score to make it 5-3 and Rollin took third. Rollin then scored on a Zach Heeke bunt to make it 6-3.
On the Mound
A day after Jordan Patty threw the first perfect game in CMU baseball history, Chippewa starters Andrew Taylor and Cameron Brown combined to allow just four runs (two earned) over 12 innings, and Ian Leatherman was his usual lockdown self out of the bullpen.
Taylor (7-3) went the distance in the opener, outdueling Bachman. Taylor, a redshirt freshman, struck out seven, walked one and allowed five hits.
"It says a lot about Andrew," Bischel said. "He's 19 years old, he's a second-year guy but he's a freshman-aged kid. You could tell early in the week that he was excited about the fact that Bachman was throwing in the game that he was; he was excited about the opportunity and I think that says a lot about his competitiveness and he did a great job.
"Just kind of matched (Bachman) blow for blow and gave us a chance. He was outstanding."
Brown allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits, struck out four and walked one over five innings in the nightcap.
"Cam, I don't think he was at his best today, but you're in a good spot if you're upset with a guy giving up three runs in five innings," Bischel said. "That's not bad."
Leatherman (3-1) surrendered one hit and walked one over two innings for the win in game two. He worked out of a seventh-inning jam when Miami brought the tying run to the plate with one out. He got a fly ball and then a popup to end it.
"Ian's been awfully good for us all year, and he kept zeros on the board while we could score some runs," Bischel said, adding that in the seventh inning, Leatherman "didn't blink. He just made a couple of pitches and worked through it, which was great to see."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Taylor, Andrew (7-3)
L: Bachman, Sam (2-2)
Batting:
RBI: Andrews, C 1
SH: Zapp,Brian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Back, Dalton 1
Batting:
RBI: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Simpson, Justin 1
SH: Simpson, Justin 1 ; Rollin, Chase 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gilles, Zach 1 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1
SB: Gilles, Zach 1
HBP: Shepardson, Aidan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
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RHP
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