Wednesday, May 24
Kent, Ohio
6 p.m.
Central Michigan University
vs
Ball State
Jordan Bischel has led CMU to a 176-78 record in his five seasons in charge of the program. His team begins its quest for a fifth MAC championship on Wednesday at Kent State.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Begins MAC Tournament Title Defense on Wednesday Night
5/23/2023 12:32:00 PM | Baseball
KENT, Ohio – No, the final 10 days of the regular season didn't go as the Central Michigan baseball team might have hoped.
But if the Chippewas have proven anything since Jordan Bischel took over the program five years ago, it's that they're gamers and they know how to win when it most counts.
Bischel and his Chippewas go into the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing 19-11 in league play. They open on Wednesday (6 p.m.) at Kent State's Schoonover Stadium against third-seeded Ball State.
The top-seeded Golden Flashes play No. 4 Western Michigan at noon on Wednesday. The double-elimination tournament continues through Saturday, May 28, with the champion earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The defending-champion Chippewas dropped six of their final eight regular season games, but closed with a 12-1 win at Western Michigan to secure the No. 2 seed.
"A 14-week season, you're going to have some real ups and downs," said Bischel, who has led the Chippewas to two MAC Tournament crowns, and three NCAA berths, in his tenure. "We've had some years where there were not many downs.
"We had this stretch; if it happens in March, you maybe don't think much of it, but when it happens late in the season, maybe it's magnified a little bit more.
"We knew coming into the season we had a ton of new faces, we had a ton of challenges, and I think our players believe we could have played better at times, but you take that all into account and out of the 11 teams in our league, we're going to be the second seed in the tournament. That's the positive to me. Almost everybody would trade places with us right now except for one team and we're happy about that and we're excited to have a chance to keep playing."
The Chippewas have won the last two MAC Tournament titles, capturing the crown in Bischel's first season, 2019, and last year, coming out of the elimination bracket to twice knock off top-seeded Ball State on the Cardinals' home field. There was no MAC Tournament in 2020 or in 2021.
The Chippewas won the MAC regular season crown in 2021, earning the conference's automatic NCAA Tourney berth. CMU has won at least one game in the three NCAA Tourneys it has been to under Bischel.
"We've played well in postseasons the last several years," Bischel said. "Whether that means we will this year or not, who knows. But there is a real belief we can play well and that's important and we've played pretty well, for the most part, against the teams that we're going to see (in the MAC Tournament).
"Certainly I think our guys are going to be confident, but there's going to be three other teams that are very capable too and we've just got to go out and compete and see where it leaves us."
The Chippewas (33-21) went 6-3 this season against the other three teams in the field. They swept Ball State, took two of three from Kent State, and won one of three from the Broncos.
Kent State (40-14) enters the tournament having won 14 of its last 16 games and swept Ball State (33-21) in its final regular season series. Western Michigan (21-29) won five straight games before falling to CMU in the regular season finale on Saturday.
The key, as it almost always is in baseball at any level, is pitching, specifically starting pitching.
The Chippewas have leaned on the trio of Adam Mrakitsch, Keegan Batka and Garrett Navarra.
Mrakitsch, a sophomore left-hander, is the Friday starter and, at 8-4 with a 3.40, has established himself as one of the MAC's top hurlers. On Tuesday, he was named to the All-MAC First Team.
Batka, a junior right-hander in his first year at CMU since transferring from Kellogg CC, is 7-3 with a 3.84 ERA and earned second-team all-conference honors.
Navarra, a graduate student southpaw, is 3-4 with a 3.95 and last season earned the Most Valuable Player Award at the MAC Tournament.
"If you're going to win one of these tournaments it's a heck of a lot easier if your starting pitching gives you a good chance to win," Bischel said. "And we've got three guys who have consistently done that the entire year. I don't know how many teams enter a postseason feeling like, hey we've had three guys that virtually every start have given us an opportunity.
"Hopefully they can throw well. You've still got to score, you've still got to pitch good in relief, but it makes the process a lot easier if those guys give you a chance and we feel good about them."
But if the Chippewas have proven anything since Jordan Bischel took over the program five years ago, it's that they're gamers and they know how to win when it most counts.
Bischel and his Chippewas go into the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing 19-11 in league play. They open on Wednesday (6 p.m.) at Kent State's Schoonover Stadium against third-seeded Ball State.
The top-seeded Golden Flashes play No. 4 Western Michigan at noon on Wednesday. The double-elimination tournament continues through Saturday, May 28, with the champion earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The defending-champion Chippewas dropped six of their final eight regular season games, but closed with a 12-1 win at Western Michigan to secure the No. 2 seed.
"A 14-week season, you're going to have some real ups and downs," said Bischel, who has led the Chippewas to two MAC Tournament crowns, and three NCAA berths, in his tenure. "We've had some years where there were not many downs.
"We had this stretch; if it happens in March, you maybe don't think much of it, but when it happens late in the season, maybe it's magnified a little bit more.
"We knew coming into the season we had a ton of new faces, we had a ton of challenges, and I think our players believe we could have played better at times, but you take that all into account and out of the 11 teams in our league, we're going to be the second seed in the tournament. That's the positive to me. Almost everybody would trade places with us right now except for one team and we're happy about that and we're excited to have a chance to keep playing."
The Chippewas have won the last two MAC Tournament titles, capturing the crown in Bischel's first season, 2019, and last year, coming out of the elimination bracket to twice knock off top-seeded Ball State on the Cardinals' home field. There was no MAC Tournament in 2020 or in 2021.
The Chippewas won the MAC regular season crown in 2021, earning the conference's automatic NCAA Tourney berth. CMU has won at least one game in the three NCAA Tourneys it has been to under Bischel.
"We've played well in postseasons the last several years," Bischel said. "Whether that means we will this year or not, who knows. But there is a real belief we can play well and that's important and we've played pretty well, for the most part, against the teams that we're going to see (in the MAC Tournament).
"Certainly I think our guys are going to be confident, but there's going to be three other teams that are very capable too and we've just got to go out and compete and see where it leaves us."
The Chippewas (33-21) went 6-3 this season against the other three teams in the field. They swept Ball State, took two of three from Kent State, and won one of three from the Broncos.
Kent State (40-14) enters the tournament having won 14 of its last 16 games and swept Ball State (33-21) in its final regular season series. Western Michigan (21-29) won five straight games before falling to CMU in the regular season finale on Saturday.
The key, as it almost always is in baseball at any level, is pitching, specifically starting pitching.
The Chippewas have leaned on the trio of Adam Mrakitsch, Keegan Batka and Garrett Navarra.
Mrakitsch, a sophomore left-hander, is the Friday starter and, at 8-4 with a 3.40, has established himself as one of the MAC's top hurlers. On Tuesday, he was named to the All-MAC First Team.
Batka, a junior right-hander in his first year at CMU since transferring from Kellogg CC, is 7-3 with a 3.84 ERA and earned second-team all-conference honors.
Navarra, a graduate student southpaw, is 3-4 with a 3.95 and last season earned the Most Valuable Player Award at the MAC Tournament.
"If you're going to win one of these tournaments it's a heck of a lot easier if your starting pitching gives you a good chance to win," Bischel said. "And we've got three guys who have consistently done that the entire year. I don't know how many teams enter a postseason feeling like, hey we've had three guys that virtually every start have given us an opportunity.
"Hopefully they can throw well. You've still got to score, you've still got to pitch good in relief, but it makes the process a lot easier if those guys give you a chance and we feel good about them."
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