Baseball Ups Win Streak To 3 With Twinbill Sweep

Saturday, February 26

Bowling Green, Ky.

1 p.m.

Central Michigan University

Western Kentucky

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

2/26/2022 10:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Katherine Schultz, CMUChippewas.com

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Quality pitching and timely hitting. A good combination that is the perfect formula for success.

The Central Michigan baseball got both on Saturday in sweeping Western Kentucky, 7-4 and 3-0, in a nonconference doubleheader at the Hilltoppers' Nick Denes Field. Both games were seven innings.

The Chippewas (3-3) will look to complete the four-game weekend series sweep on Sunday (2 p.m.).

"The biggest thing was how many people contributed," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "As a whole, the depth of our team showed up today and I thought that was great to see."

Andrew Taylor (1-0) pitched six innings for the win in the opener, striking out six. The sophomore right-hander allowed seven hits and walked one. Jake Jones struck out two in setting down the Hilltoppers in order in the seventh for his first save.

The Chippewas broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run sixth inning. They used a single, an error and a walk to load the bases, then Mario Camilletti and Justin Simpson delivered RBI groundouts to put CMU up, 5-3.

After another walk, Colton Coca smacked a two-run double to increase the lead to 7-3.

Coca led CMU's 10-hit attack with three hits and three RBI, while Danny Wuestenfeld and Camilletti added two hits apiece.

Logan Buczkowski, Ryan Palmblad and Garrett Navarra combined for a three-hit shutout in the nightcap.

Buczkowski, a hard-throwing senior right-hander started and went three innings. He struck out six, walked three and surrendered one hit.

"(Buczkowski) did a great job," Bischel said. "Logan's a guy who last year probably should've pitched a bit more and we didn't get him enough opportunities. He's really earned a chance to have a big role for us and it was great to see him go out and get us three scoreless innings to start."

Palmblad (1-0) worked the fourth and fifth innings, striking out one and allowing one hit for the win. Navarra walked one, struck out one and allowed one hit over the final two frames.

The Chippewas collected nine hits, two each by Danny Wuestenfeld, Jakob Marsee and Drew Lechnir. Wuestenfeld delivered a run-scoring double in the first inning and then hit a solo homer, the first of his career, in the seventh inning.

The Chippewas got their other run in the sixth on a Justin Simpson sacrifice bunt.

CMU made nine hits to the Hilltoppers three in the second game. Jakob Marsee, Drew Lechnir and Wuestenfeld each collected two. Wuestenfeld drove in two runs, including a solo home run, in the seventh inning. Simpson picked up a sixth inning RBI for a day's total of three.

"In a weekend like this, where you win the first three games, generally the team that has lost a few is awfully hungry," Bischel said. "Obviously, nobody likes to get beat and it's only natural to relax a little bit. It's very difficult to sweep series and win a bunch of games in a row because the other team's going to come out strong and ready to go, so we've got to have great energy and intent and play hard (on Sunday)."