Central Michigan University Athletics
Sunday, February 26
Edinburg, Texas
Noon
Central Michigan University
4-4
1
at
8
UTRGV
6-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
6
0
UT Rio Grande Valley
0
0
0
0
5
0
1
2
X
8
12
0
Baseball Finishes .500 on Season-Opening Trip to Texas
2/26/2023 4:06:00 PM | Baseball
EDINBURG, Texas – The Central Michigan baseball team closed its season-opening trip to Texas on Sunday with an 8-1 loss to Texas Rio Grande Valley at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
The Vaqueros (6-2) took three of the five games in the series. CMU (4-4) opened last weekend by taking two of three at Baylor.
"You learn a lot on a trip like this," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "At times during the week excelled in every area. That's why we saw wins and saw some success.
"But at times, each area had its struggles. We had a day Friday where we really struggled to defend; we had a couple days where we struggled to throw strikes and pitch and then we had a day like (Sunday) where we just couldn't generate much offense."
The Chippewas return to Mount Pleasant, briefly, and then head to California where they will play five games in Moraga with Saint Mary's and then four with Sacramento State. They open their five-game set at Saint Mary's on Friday, March 3 (5 p.m.).
From a numbers standpoint, it was a mixed bag – somewhat like finishing .500 -- for the Chippewas in their first two series.
The base on balls have been a key to the Chippewas' success in Bischel's first four seasons in charge of the program. His CMU hitters have been extremely good at drawing walks and his pitchers have consistently done a solid job of limiting them.
"Offensively we're going to have some ups and downs, we lost some really consistent guys – we've always had that at the top of the order – and now we've got some younger guys," Bischel said, "some guys with a little more swing-and-miss, and so you've got to work through that.
"We've got to get that strikeout-to-walk ratio a little lower and have a little bit better at-bats. Hopefully we'll learn from that."
CMU pitching issued an average of five walks per game in Texas. The Chippewa staff averaged 3.5 base on balls per nine innings last season. CMU made nine errors in its first eight games for a .969 fielding percentage, which is good and likely will improve as the season progresses.
"Most of our free passes were young guys getting their feet wet with their first couple of outings," Bischel said. "Our more experienced pitchers are doing a really good job of getting after the strike zone.
"Historically when we've had success, everybody talks about our offense, but it's the pitching and defense where we really build from and I think that's in a pretty good position.
"It's just continuing to build consistency in every area. We showed enough this week to know that each area can be successful if we stick to what we're doing."
UTRGV erupted for five runs on four hits in the fifth inning on Sunday to seize a 5-1 lead. The Vaqueros tacked on a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
CMU starter Ben Vitas (0-1) allowed six runs on two hits over 4 1/3 innings in taking the loss. He struck out one and walked one.
Ryan Palmblad, Ryan Insco and Nate Ross pitched in relief for the Chippewas. The four CMU pitchers combined to allow 12 hits, strike out four and walk three.
UTRGV starter Colton Davis (1-0) went six innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out seven.
The Chippewas got their run on a Christian Mitchelle two-out RBI single in the fourth for a 1-0 lead. CMU finished with six hits, all singles.
The Vaqueros (6-2) took three of the five games in the series. CMU (4-4) opened last weekend by taking two of three at Baylor.
"You learn a lot on a trip like this," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "At times during the week excelled in every area. That's why we saw wins and saw some success.
"But at times, each area had its struggles. We had a day Friday where we really struggled to defend; we had a couple days where we struggled to throw strikes and pitch and then we had a day like (Sunday) where we just couldn't generate much offense."
The Chippewas return to Mount Pleasant, briefly, and then head to California where they will play five games in Moraga with Saint Mary's and then four with Sacramento State. They open their five-game set at Saint Mary's on Friday, March 3 (5 p.m.).
From a numbers standpoint, it was a mixed bag – somewhat like finishing .500 -- for the Chippewas in their first two series.
The base on balls have been a key to the Chippewas' success in Bischel's first four seasons in charge of the program. His CMU hitters have been extremely good at drawing walks and his pitchers have consistently done a solid job of limiting them.
"Offensively we're going to have some ups and downs, we lost some really consistent guys – we've always had that at the top of the order – and now we've got some younger guys," Bischel said, "some guys with a little more swing-and-miss, and so you've got to work through that.
"We've got to get that strikeout-to-walk ratio a little lower and have a little bit better at-bats. Hopefully we'll learn from that."
CMU pitching issued an average of five walks per game in Texas. The Chippewa staff averaged 3.5 base on balls per nine innings last season. CMU made nine errors in its first eight games for a .969 fielding percentage, which is good and likely will improve as the season progresses.
"Most of our free passes were young guys getting their feet wet with their first couple of outings," Bischel said. "Our more experienced pitchers are doing a really good job of getting after the strike zone.
"Historically when we've had success, everybody talks about our offense, but it's the pitching and defense where we really build from and I think that's in a pretty good position.
"It's just continuing to build consistency in every area. We showed enough this week to know that each area can be successful if we stick to what we're doing."
UTRGV erupted for five runs on four hits in the fifth inning on Sunday to seize a 5-1 lead. The Vaqueros tacked on a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
CMU starter Ben Vitas (0-1) allowed six runs on two hits over 4 1/3 innings in taking the loss. He struck out one and walked one.
Ryan Palmblad, Ryan Insco and Nate Ross pitched in relief for the Chippewas. The four CMU pitchers combined to allow 12 hits, strike out four and walk three.
UTRGV starter Colton Davis (1-0) went six innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out seven.
The Chippewas got their run on a Christian Mitchelle two-out RBI single in the fourth for a 1-0 lead. CMU finished with six hits, all singles.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Davis, Colten (1-0)
L: Vitas, Ben (0-1)
S: Rodriguez, Nico (1)
Batting:
RBI: Mitchelle, Christian 1
SH: Sefcik, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wuestenfeld, Danny 1
SB: Mitchelle, Christian 1
Batting:
2B: Saenz, Zerek 2 ; Lopez, Isaac 1 ; Cain, Montclair 1 ; York, Kade 1
3B: Cain, Montclair 1
RBI: Saenz, Zerek 1 ; Lopez, Isaac 1 ; Cain, Montclair 2 ; Pimentel, Brandon 1 ; York, Kade 3
SH: Serven, Spencer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Saenz, Zerek 2 ; Lopez, Isaac 1 ; Cain, Montclair 1 ; Ochoa, RJ 1 ; Lancia, Steven 1 ; Gonzalez, Roberto 1 ; York, Kade 1
CS: Saenz, Zerek 1 ; York, Kade 1
HBP: Pimentel, Brandon 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
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