Tuesday, March 8
Greensboro, N.C.
3 p.m.
Central Michigan University
4-7
9
at
3
North Carolina A&T
6-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
5
0
0
0
1
0
3
0
9
8
0
North Carolina A&T
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
3
7
3
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Baseball Downs North Carolina A&T, Looks To MAC Opening Weekend
3/8/2022 8:33:00 PM | Baseball
HIGH POINT, N.C. – As Mid-American Conference play looms, the margin for error gets smaller.
Central Michigan got solid pitching and took advantage of North Carolina A&T miscues on Tuesday in posting a 9-3 nonconference victory at Truist Point Park.
CMU (4-7) will open MAC play with a four-game weekend series at Kent State starting on Friday, March 11 (3 p.m.). The Golden Flashes are 4-5 after sweeping Austin Peay last weekend. The Chippewas and Golden Flashes are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday and then close the series with a single game on Sunday.
"It's a really early start to conference play," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team is beginning its quest for a third consecutive MAC title. "I don't think we've really totally found our rhythm, but everybody's in the same boat; other teams are starting early too.
"Kent State, historically, is a really, really good program. We'll be tested, we'll see where we're at, and either way we'll be working to get better, because it's a long season ahead."
The Chippewas turned in a solid performance on the mound against A&T (6-7), which entered Tuesday's game on a three-game win streak.
Chippewa starter Logan Buczkowski struck out two and walked one over two innings. Five more hurlers took a turn on the mound for CMU. They combined to allow seven hits, strike out six, and walk three.
"Our pitchers did a really good job today," Bischel said. "We had talked (after Sunday's loss to UMass Lowell) about doing a better job of keeping the ball down, keeping the ball in the park, and I thought they did that.
"Logan Buczkowski was excellent for those first couple of innings. He kind of set the tone and then several guys pitched well after him, and I thought Adam Mrakitsch was really good for us."
Mrakitsch (1-0), the fifth Chippewa pitcher, picked up his first collegiate win, striking out three, walking one and allowing two hits in 1 2/3 innings. Ben Vitas, Ryan Palmblad, Michael Conte and Clayton Brock also pitched for CMU.
The Chippewas took advantage of two A&T errors, two hit batters, and a passed ball in scoring five runs in the second inning. Colton Coca reached on one of those errors to drive in two runs and the Chippewas also got an RBI single from Garrett Navarra.
"It was big to score a few runs early," Bischel said. "We've been behind quite a bit lately and to get out to a nice lead was valuable. We had a few really nice base-running plays that created a few extra runs for us."
Coca didn't have a hit but drove in four runs, while Jakob Marsee, Navarra and Aidan Shepardson collected two hits apiece.
A&T committed three errors and its pitching issued six walks. Just four of CMU's nine runs were earned.
Central Michigan got solid pitching and took advantage of North Carolina A&T miscues on Tuesday in posting a 9-3 nonconference victory at Truist Point Park.
CMU (4-7) will open MAC play with a four-game weekend series at Kent State starting on Friday, March 11 (3 p.m.). The Golden Flashes are 4-5 after sweeping Austin Peay last weekend. The Chippewas and Golden Flashes are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday and then close the series with a single game on Sunday.
"It's a really early start to conference play," said CMU coach Jordan Bischel, whose team is beginning its quest for a third consecutive MAC title. "I don't think we've really totally found our rhythm, but everybody's in the same boat; other teams are starting early too.
"Kent State, historically, is a really, really good program. We'll be tested, we'll see where we're at, and either way we'll be working to get better, because it's a long season ahead."
The Chippewas turned in a solid performance on the mound against A&T (6-7), which entered Tuesday's game on a three-game win streak.
Chippewa starter Logan Buczkowski struck out two and walked one over two innings. Five more hurlers took a turn on the mound for CMU. They combined to allow seven hits, strike out six, and walk three.
"Our pitchers did a really good job today," Bischel said. "We had talked (after Sunday's loss to UMass Lowell) about doing a better job of keeping the ball down, keeping the ball in the park, and I thought they did that.
"Logan Buczkowski was excellent for those first couple of innings. He kind of set the tone and then several guys pitched well after him, and I thought Adam Mrakitsch was really good for us."
Mrakitsch (1-0), the fifth Chippewa pitcher, picked up his first collegiate win, striking out three, walking one and allowing two hits in 1 2/3 innings. Ben Vitas, Ryan Palmblad, Michael Conte and Clayton Brock also pitched for CMU.
The Chippewas took advantage of two A&T errors, two hit batters, and a passed ball in scoring five runs in the second inning. Colton Coca reached on one of those errors to drive in two runs and the Chippewas also got an RBI single from Garrett Navarra.
"It was big to score a few runs early," Bischel said. "We've been behind quite a bit lately and to get out to a nice lead was valuable. We had a few really nice base-running plays that created a few extra runs for us."
Coca didn't have a hit but drove in four runs, while Jakob Marsee, Navarra and Aidan Shepardson collected two hits apiece.
A&T committed three errors and its pitching issued six walks. Just four of CMU's nine runs were earned.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mrakitsch, Adam (1-0)
L: BROWN, Jaheim (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Marsee, Jakob 1
RBI: Camilletti, Mario 1 ; Coca, Colton 4 ; Navarra, Garrett 1
SF: Coca, Colton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Camilletti, Mario 3 ; Marsee, Jakob 1 ; Coca, Colton 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Proctor, Adam 1
SB: Coca, Colton 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1
HBP: Lechnir, Drew 1 ; Proctor, Adam 2
Batting:
2B: DALTON, Shemar 1 ; REYNA, Alex 1
RBI: REYNA, Alex 2 ; MERSMAN, Bret 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BUSSEY, Xavier 1 ; HENNINGS, Anthony 1 ; DALTON, Shemar 1
SB: BUSSEY, Xavier 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballLHP/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
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