Sunday, May 9
Mount Pleasant, MI
1 P.M.
Central Michigan University
30-13, 22-6
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Ball State
30-14, 21-7
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Ball State
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Central Michigan
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Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Chippewas Drop Series Finale, Remain In First Place
5/9/2021 7:22:00 PM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Right back to where they started on Friday.
Ball State rallied for three runs in the ninth inning on Sunday in defeating Central Michigan, 8-7, to earn a split of a four-game Mid-American Conference baseball series at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The first-place Chippewas are 22-6 in the MAC, one game ahead of the Cardinals (21-7). Each has three league series – 12 games total – remaining.
"It was two really good teams battling and it feels, walking away, lousy, but at the end of the day two really good teams split four games," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "That's not really a shocker. Obviously, it's disappointing when you almost had that third (win) in hand, but as we've said, the sun will come up tomorrow.
"Our season won't be defined by today; it'll be defined by how we respond to today. What they do with it tomorrow and this week is really what matters."
CMU is scheduled to play Northwood in a nonconference game at Theunissen Stadium on Tuesday (3 p.m.) and next weekend is slated to play a four-game league series at Western Michigan. The Broncos are third in the MAC, 5 ½ games back at 16-11.
Sunday's series finale was a back-and-forth affair that saw the lead change hands four times after Ball State scored first in the top of the second. CMU led 3-1 after two innings, but the Cardinals held a 5-3 advantage after a three-run fourth.
CMU scored three runs in the sixth inning to seize a 7-5 lead. Ball State got a base hit and a Chippewa error to open the ninth, then Nick Powell's two-run double tied it, 7-7. With runners at first and third, Aaron Simpson hit a sacrifice fly to score Powell with the go-ahead run.
The Chippewas went down in order in the bottom of the ninth against John Baker, who started and took the loss in Friday's opener. Baker, one of the MAC's premier pitchers, picked up his fourth save.
"I would imagine from a fan's perspective that was an awfully entertaining game to watch," Bischel said. "Both teams just really battled, and there were some really clutch performances on both sides. Really proud of how we competed. We were down twice and came back, had some huge hits. They just got one more big hit than we did."
Grant Frazer (2-4), the third CMU pitcher, took the loss. Garrett Navarra started and went three innings; Ian Leatherman went four innings in relief. The trio combined to strike out nine, walk two and surrender 13 hits.
Jakob Marsee, Chase Rollin and Aidan Shepardson had two hits apiece for the Chippewas. Rollin's two-out, two-run single in the sixth put CMU up 7-5. Shepardson had a two-run double in the second.
Rollin also made an outstanding highlight-reel catch in left field on Ball State's ninth-inning sacrifice fly which plated the eventual winning run. Shepardson, who batted eighth in the Chippewa lineup on Sunday, had four hits in the series.
"A guy like (Shepardson), the first half of the season he was basically a defensive replacement and several times this weekend had big hits," Bischel said. "(Rollin), at the beginning of the year he was not starting a lot of games and he's stepped up and made some huge plays for us. His catch in the ninth inning, that was an all-time great catch.
"That's what I think Chippewa baseball is all about, not relying on one guy, not making it bigger than it has to be. I think that's something that extends beyond this weekend. We take pride in our depth and our whole team pulling together and I'm proud of that."
Ball State rallied for three runs in the ninth inning on Sunday in defeating Central Michigan, 8-7, to earn a split of a four-game Mid-American Conference baseball series at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium.
The first-place Chippewas are 22-6 in the MAC, one game ahead of the Cardinals (21-7). Each has three league series – 12 games total – remaining.
"It was two really good teams battling and it feels, walking away, lousy, but at the end of the day two really good teams split four games," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "That's not really a shocker. Obviously, it's disappointing when you almost had that third (win) in hand, but as we've said, the sun will come up tomorrow.
"Our season won't be defined by today; it'll be defined by how we respond to today. What they do with it tomorrow and this week is really what matters."
CMU is scheduled to play Northwood in a nonconference game at Theunissen Stadium on Tuesday (3 p.m.) and next weekend is slated to play a four-game league series at Western Michigan. The Broncos are third in the MAC, 5 ½ games back at 16-11.
Sunday's series finale was a back-and-forth affair that saw the lead change hands four times after Ball State scored first in the top of the second. CMU led 3-1 after two innings, but the Cardinals held a 5-3 advantage after a three-run fourth.
CMU scored three runs in the sixth inning to seize a 7-5 lead. Ball State got a base hit and a Chippewa error to open the ninth, then Nick Powell's two-run double tied it, 7-7. With runners at first and third, Aaron Simpson hit a sacrifice fly to score Powell with the go-ahead run.
The Chippewas went down in order in the bottom of the ninth against John Baker, who started and took the loss in Friday's opener. Baker, one of the MAC's premier pitchers, picked up his fourth save.
"I would imagine from a fan's perspective that was an awfully entertaining game to watch," Bischel said. "Both teams just really battled, and there were some really clutch performances on both sides. Really proud of how we competed. We were down twice and came back, had some huge hits. They just got one more big hit than we did."
Grant Frazer (2-4), the third CMU pitcher, took the loss. Garrett Navarra started and went three innings; Ian Leatherman went four innings in relief. The trio combined to strike out nine, walk two and surrender 13 hits.
Jakob Marsee, Chase Rollin and Aidan Shepardson had two hits apiece for the Chippewas. Rollin's two-out, two-run single in the sixth put CMU up 7-5. Shepardson had a two-run double in the second.
Rollin also made an outstanding highlight-reel catch in left field on Ball State's ninth-inning sacrifice fly which plated the eventual winning run. Shepardson, who batted eighth in the Chippewa lineup on Sunday, had four hits in the series.
"A guy like (Shepardson), the first half of the season he was basically a defensive replacement and several times this weekend had big hits," Bischel said. "(Rollin), at the beginning of the year he was not starting a lot of games and he's stepped up and made some huge plays for us. His catch in the ninth inning, that was an all-time great catch.
"That's what I think Chippewa baseball is all about, not relying on one guy, not making it bigger than it has to be. I think that's something that extends beyond this weekend. We take pride in our depth and our whole team pulling together and I'm proud of that."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: A. ORSELLI (3-0)
L: Frazer, Grant (2-4)
S: J. BAKER (4)
Batting:
2B: Nick POWELL 2 ; A. SIMPSON 1
3B: N. NAVARRO 1
RBI: A. TELLIER 2 ; R. MESSINA 1 ; Nick POWELL 2 ; A. SIMPSON 2 ; C. SEBBY 1
SH: J. CONANT 1
SF: A. SIMPSON 1
Base Running:
RUNS: N. NAVARRO 2 ; R. MESSINA 1 ; Nick POWELL 1 ; QUARTERMAINE 2 ; A. SIMPSON 1 ; C. SEBBY 1
SB: A. SIMPSON 1
Batting:
2B: Gilles, Zach 1 ; Shepardson, Aidan 1
RBI: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Rollin, Chase 2 ; Shepardson, Aidan 2
SF: Camilletti, Mario 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Gilles, Zach 1 ; Lockwood-Powell, Griffin 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Shepardson, Aidan 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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