Friday, May 7
Mount Pleasant, MI
3 P.M.
Central Michigan University
29-11, 21-4
7
vs
3
Ball State
28-13, 19-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Ball State
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
3
9
3
Central Michigan
0
0
1
0
0
2
4
0
X
7
8
2
CMU redshirt freshman Jakob Marsee heads to the dugout after hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning on Friday in CMU's' 7-3 victory over Ball State.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball: Round 1 Goes To Chippewas
5/7/2021 9:15:00 PM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Round 1 in the battle of Mid-American Conference heavyweights goes to Central Michigan.
The next three rounds promise to be every bit as hard fought on the field and as entertaining from the stands.
Pitchers Jordan Patty and Ian Leatherman combined to hold down the fort, and the Chippewas used a four-run seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and defeat Ball State, 7-3, on Friday in the opener of a four-game series between the Mid-American Conference's top two baseball teams.
The win gave first-place CMU, which is 21-4 in league action, a two-game lead over the second-place Cardinals (19-6). They are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium and are slated to close the series on Sunday (1 p.m.).
"It was far from perfect, but they just hung together, they battled, competed well and just trusted themselves throughout the game," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said.
It marked the fourth consecutive weekend that CMU has won a MAC series opener. But unlike the previous three, where Patty, the starter, was nearly untouchable and the Chippewas won in blowouts, CMU had to muster every bit of grit to grind out a win against the Cardinals.
"We fell behind and we made a couple mistakes and didn't capitalize on an (early) opportunity against a really good team," Bischel said. "We just kept competing, which shows our growth over the past couple of months."
The Chippewas broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run seventh inning. Mario Camilletti drew a one-out walk, and then Zach Gilles singled with two out. Garrett Navarra singled to plate Camilletti with the go-ahead run, and then a Ball State error – one of three committed by the Cardinals on the day – allowed Gilles to score to make it 5-3.
Chase Rollin then delivered a huge two-run single to make it 7-3.
The Chippewas trailed 3-1 when Jakob Marsee tied it with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. It was his team-leading fourth homer of the season.
The game featured a battle of two of the MAC's premier starters in Patty and Ball State's John Baker.
Patty (7-1), who a week ago threw the first perfect game in CMU history, allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, walked one and struck out three over seven innings for the win. Baker (5-3) went 6 2/3 in taking the loss. He surrendered six runs (three earned) on seven hits, struck out seven and walked three.
"Baker is one of the better pitchers, probably, that the league has seen, I don't think I'm exaggerating there," Bischel said. "He's tough to beat and we hung in there. Marsee had the big hit to tie it, and we kept grinding away in the seventh."
Ball State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, ending Patty's scoreless inning streak at a school-record 41 1/3 innings. The previous mark (40) was set in 1974 by Chris Knapp.
"Ball State's an awfully good offensive team and (Patty), I think he would tell you, wasn't real sharp and they jumped on mistakes," Bischel said. "He really gutted it out in the fifth, sixth and seventh (innings) when we were down a couple (runs) and gave us a chance to come back. He just competed."
Leatherman allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two over the final two frames to bring it home.
But it was far from easy. He surrendered back-to-back hits to open the eighth and then retired three in a row, the last on a strikeout. Two walks and a Chippewa error loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Leatherman got a strikeout and a fly ball to end it.
"Ian, it was kind of the same story (as Patty)," Bischel said. "There was a lot of traffic on the bases and in terms of pitch execution he was struggling. He just competed through it. We played enough defense and made it work."
The next three rounds promise to be every bit as hard fought on the field and as entertaining from the stands.
Pitchers Jordan Patty and Ian Leatherman combined to hold down the fort, and the Chippewas used a four-run seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie and defeat Ball State, 7-3, on Friday in the opener of a four-game series between the Mid-American Conference's top two baseball teams.
The win gave first-place CMU, which is 21-4 in league action, a two-game lead over the second-place Cardinals (19-6). They are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium and are slated to close the series on Sunday (1 p.m.).
"It was far from perfect, but they just hung together, they battled, competed well and just trusted themselves throughout the game," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said.
It marked the fourth consecutive weekend that CMU has won a MAC series opener. But unlike the previous three, where Patty, the starter, was nearly untouchable and the Chippewas won in blowouts, CMU had to muster every bit of grit to grind out a win against the Cardinals.
"We fell behind and we made a couple mistakes and didn't capitalize on an (early) opportunity against a really good team," Bischel said. "We just kept competing, which shows our growth over the past couple of months."
The Chippewas broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run seventh inning. Mario Camilletti drew a one-out walk, and then Zach Gilles singled with two out. Garrett Navarra singled to plate Camilletti with the go-ahead run, and then a Ball State error – one of three committed by the Cardinals on the day – allowed Gilles to score to make it 5-3.
Chase Rollin then delivered a huge two-run single to make it 7-3.
The Chippewas trailed 3-1 when Jakob Marsee tied it with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. It was his team-leading fourth homer of the season.
The game featured a battle of two of the MAC's premier starters in Patty and Ball State's John Baker.
Patty (7-1), who a week ago threw the first perfect game in CMU history, allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, walked one and struck out three over seven innings for the win. Baker (5-3) went 6 2/3 in taking the loss. He surrendered six runs (three earned) on seven hits, struck out seven and walked three.
"Baker is one of the better pitchers, probably, that the league has seen, I don't think I'm exaggerating there," Bischel said. "He's tough to beat and we hung in there. Marsee had the big hit to tie it, and we kept grinding away in the seventh."
Ball State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, ending Patty's scoreless inning streak at a school-record 41 1/3 innings. The previous mark (40) was set in 1974 by Chris Knapp.
"Ball State's an awfully good offensive team and (Patty), I think he would tell you, wasn't real sharp and they jumped on mistakes," Bischel said. "He really gutted it out in the fifth, sixth and seventh (innings) when we were down a couple (runs) and gave us a chance to come back. He just competed."
Leatherman allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two over the final two frames to bring it home.
But it was far from easy. He surrendered back-to-back hits to open the eighth and then retired three in a row, the last on a strikeout. Two walks and a Chippewa error loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Leatherman got a strikeout and a fly ball to end it.
"Ian, it was kind of the same story (as Patty)," Bischel said. "There was a lot of traffic on the bases and in terms of pitch execution he was struggling. He just competed through it. We played enough defense and made it work."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Patty, Jordan (7-1)
L: BAKER, John (5-3)
Batting:
2B: SEBBY, Chase 1
RBI: NAVARRO, Noah 1 ; SIMPSON, Aaron 1 ; SEBBY, Chase 1
SF: SIMPSON, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TELLIER, Adam 1 ; PELTIER, Ryan 1 ; QUARTERMAINE, T. 1
SB: TELLIER, Adam 1 ; NAVARRO, Noah 1
Batting:
2B: Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1
HR: Marsee, Jakob 1
RBI: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Marsee, Jakob 3 ; Rollin, Chase 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Gilles, Zach 1 ; Navarra, Garrett 2 ; Marsee, Jakob 2 ; Lockwood-Powell, Griffin 1
SB: Navarra, Garrett 1
HBP: Camilletti, Mario 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
/ BaseballOF/INF
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