Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, February 25
Edinburg, Texas
Noon
Central Michigan University
4-3
9
at
5
UTRGV
5-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
0
0
3
0
4
0
2
9
8
1
UT Rio Grande Valley
2
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
5
11
5
Solid relief pitching from the likes of Michael Conte helped CMU to a 9-5 win on Saturday at UTRGV.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Patience, Pitching Pay Off as Baseball Bounces Back to Even Series with UTRGV
2/25/2023 6:45:00 PM | Baseball
Simpson's clutch two-run single in the seventh inning put the Chippewas in front for good in 9-5 victory
EDINBURG, Texas – No, it wasn't a do-or-die situation. Those don't come in the second week of the season.
Still, Central Michigan's 9-5 nonconference baseball victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday sure felt good and was affirming for Chippewa coach Jordan Bischel, who watched his team commit a combined seven errors in dropping a doubleheader to the Vaqueros on Friday.
"Obviously it's early in the season and it's not like a must-win game," Bischel said, "but we'd been banged around for a couple of days and the guys did a good job of trusting who they are, staying the course, and some good things happened as the day went on."
The Chippewas (4-3) and UTRGV (5-2) play the rubber match of their five-game series on Sunday (noon ET) as CMU wraps up its season-opening trip to Texas. They opened last weekend by taking two of three games from Baylor.
On Saturday, the Chippewas used a four-run seventh inning to seize a 7-4 lead and then relievers Michael Conte and Nate Ross tightened the screws the rest of the way.
With two out and none on in the seventh, CMU's Jacob Donahue reached on an infield hit and took third on a Marquis Jackson single.
Jackson stole second and then Justin Simpson delivered a clutch one-ball, two-strike single to left field, scoring Donahue and Jackson and putting the Chippewas in front, 5-4.
"He's pretty unheralded," Bischel said of Simpson, a senior shortstop and career .300 hitter who came into the game hitting .118. "He maybe doesn't do the sexy things, hit a bunch of balls in the gap or hit the ball out of the park, but boy he's a good player and he came up big in that situation when we could use a big hit."
Robby Morgan was safe on an error – one of five committed by the Vaqueros in the game – to bring Simpson home and make it 6-4. Then Danny Wuestenfield drove in Morgan with a single.
The Chippewas tacked on a pair in the ninth on Wuestenfeld's two-out, two-run single.
CMU starter Adam Mrakitsch surrendered four runs on seven hits over five innings, settling in after UTRGV scored two runs on four hits, a wild pitch, and a Chippewa error in the first.
Conte (1-0) set the Vaqueros down in order in the sixth and then pitched out of a two-on, none-out jam in the sixth, getting a pair of flyball outs and a popup to strand the two runners and keep the Chippewa deficit at 4-3.
It was Conte's third, and best, relief appearance of the season.
"He's probably one of our most-improved pitchers this past year," Bischel said. "In his first two outings I really didn't think he pitched to his ability level and today he took that challenge and ran with it and did a great job."
Ross came on with two out and a man on and the Chippewas leading, 7-5, in the eighth. He induced an inning-ending lineout and then set down UTRGV in order in the ninth for his second save.
"We're never going to have that true closer," Bischel said. "We're going to play the matchups and look at who's fresh and who's healthy and those kinds of things.
"But at the same time, there's obviously a reason we're using (Ross) at the end of these types of games. We really think he can shut some teams down and he did a great job with it today."
The three Chippewa pitchers combined to allow 11 hits, strike out six, and walk just one against a UTRGV lineup that in Friday's doubleheader hit three home runs and totaled 16 hits.
"They are a tough offense," Bischel said. "They don't give away at-bats, they battle you, they play to their ballpark well, they've got a little bit of power.
"I thought (Mrakitsch) pitched really well and (Conte) and (Ross) were really outstanding out of the bullpen. That was one of our best-pitched games this season."
Still, Central Michigan's 9-5 nonconference baseball victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday sure felt good and was affirming for Chippewa coach Jordan Bischel, who watched his team commit a combined seven errors in dropping a doubleheader to the Vaqueros on Friday.
"Obviously it's early in the season and it's not like a must-win game," Bischel said, "but we'd been banged around for a couple of days and the guys did a good job of trusting who they are, staying the course, and some good things happened as the day went on."
The Chippewas (4-3) and UTRGV (5-2) play the rubber match of their five-game series on Sunday (noon ET) as CMU wraps up its season-opening trip to Texas. They opened last weekend by taking two of three games from Baylor.
On Saturday, the Chippewas used a four-run seventh inning to seize a 7-4 lead and then relievers Michael Conte and Nate Ross tightened the screws the rest of the way.
With two out and none on in the seventh, CMU's Jacob Donahue reached on an infield hit and took third on a Marquis Jackson single.
Jackson stole second and then Justin Simpson delivered a clutch one-ball, two-strike single to left field, scoring Donahue and Jackson and putting the Chippewas in front, 5-4.
"He's pretty unheralded," Bischel said of Simpson, a senior shortstop and career .300 hitter who came into the game hitting .118. "He maybe doesn't do the sexy things, hit a bunch of balls in the gap or hit the ball out of the park, but boy he's a good player and he came up big in that situation when we could use a big hit."
Robby Morgan was safe on an error – one of five committed by the Vaqueros in the game – to bring Simpson home and make it 6-4. Then Danny Wuestenfield drove in Morgan with a single.
The Chippewas tacked on a pair in the ninth on Wuestenfeld's two-out, two-run single.
CMU starter Adam Mrakitsch surrendered four runs on seven hits over five innings, settling in after UTRGV scored two runs on four hits, a wild pitch, and a Chippewa error in the first.
Conte (1-0) set the Vaqueros down in order in the sixth and then pitched out of a two-on, none-out jam in the sixth, getting a pair of flyball outs and a popup to strand the two runners and keep the Chippewa deficit at 4-3.
It was Conte's third, and best, relief appearance of the season.
"He's probably one of our most-improved pitchers this past year," Bischel said. "In his first two outings I really didn't think he pitched to his ability level and today he took that challenge and ran with it and did a great job."
Ross came on with two out and a man on and the Chippewas leading, 7-5, in the eighth. He induced an inning-ending lineout and then set down UTRGV in order in the ninth for his second save.
"We're never going to have that true closer," Bischel said. "We're going to play the matchups and look at who's fresh and who's healthy and those kinds of things.
"But at the same time, there's obviously a reason we're using (Ross) at the end of these types of games. We really think he can shut some teams down and he did a great job with it today."
The three Chippewa pitchers combined to allow 11 hits, strike out six, and walk just one against a UTRGV lineup that in Friday's doubleheader hit three home runs and totaled 16 hits.
"They are a tough offense," Bischel said. "They don't give away at-bats, they battle you, they play to their ballpark well, they've got a little bit of power.
"I thought (Mrakitsch) pitched really well and (Conte) and (Ross) were really outstanding out of the bullpen. That was one of our best-pitched games this season."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Conte, Michael (1-0)
L: Mejia, Sebastian (0-1)
S: Ross, Nate (2)
Batting:
RBI: Simpson, Justin 2 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 3 ; Donahue, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackson, Marquis 1 ; Brill, Jake 1 ; Simpson, Justin 2 ; Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Mitchelle, Christian 1 ; Dardas, Nick 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1
SB: Jackson, Marquis 1
CS: Morgan IV, Robby 1 ; Mitchelle, Christian 1 ; Donahue, Jacob 1
HBP: Jackson, Marquis 1
Batting:
2B: Lopez, Isaac 1 ; Ochoa, RJ 1
HR: Lopez, Isaac 1
RBI: Lopez, Isaac 1 ; Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; Martinez, Erick 1 ; Lancia, Steven 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lopez, Isaac 2 ; Pimentel, Brandon 1 ; Rodriguez, Damian 1 ; Gonzalez, Roberto 1
CS: Ochoa, RJ 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
cf/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
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