Friday, May 26
Kent, Ohio
12:30 p.m.
Central Michigan University
34-23
2
at
10
Kent State
42-15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
8
2
Kent State
0
1
0
3
0
0
1
5
X
10
12
0
CMU's Ely Stuart (5) and Garrett Navarra embrace in the dugout following CMU's 10-2 MAC Tournament loss on Friday at Kent State.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Baseball Falls in MAC Tournament Semifinal, Ends 34-23 Season
5/26/2023 5:27:00 PM | Baseball
KENT, Ohio – The inability to deliver the clutch hit caught up with the Central Michigan baseball team.
The Chippewas stranded 13 baserunners on Friday in falling to host Kent State, 10-2, in a semifinal game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Schoonover Stadium.
The loss ended the CMU's season and its reign atop the league.
"For whatever reason this team was just a little up and down in those situations," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "Obviously it wasn't from a lack of trying or a lack of preparation, but we just didn't consistently hit balls hard in those spots which we had bit us at other times this year."
The two-time defending tourney champion Chippewas finished 34-23. Kent State, the regular season league champion, will play Ball State on Saturday in the tournament final and the MAC's NCAA Tournament bid.
The loss ended the Chippewas' streak of three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids. CMU won four MAC crowns – two regular season, two tournament – since Bischel took over the program in 2019.
"It's been five years since we weren't in an NCAA Tournament," Bischel said. "That's pretty crazy for a one-bid league.
"It is nice to know that 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now these guys will be tight knit and that's because of what they've accomplished together and what they've worked at together."
Bischel has guided CMU to 177 wins against 80 losses – a .688 win percentage -- in his five seasons in charge of the program. Few programs in the nation can match that success rate.
"I think if you ask them, to a man they'd say this season was a disappointment," said Bischel, who led the Chippewas to a second-place finish in the MAC this season. "34-and-23, second in the league in a year that most people thought the league was pretty good and pretty deep.
"We feel disappointed right now, and I love that our guys strive for more than that, but it's a credit to these kids that they have set expectations and standards for themselves that are high enough that they want to accomplish more than this. I think it says something about these kids.
"We did a lot of good things this year and we don't want to lose sight of that."
The Chippewas seized a 2-1 lead against the Golden Flashes on Friday on Ely Stuart's fourth-inning sacrifice fly. But Kent State answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
The Chippewas stranded at least one baserunner in all but one inning and they left two in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Kent State added a run in the seventh to increase its lead to 5-2, and then put the game away with a five-run eighth.
Freshman left-hander Evan Waters (4-2) went 3 1/3 innings in taking the loss.
"Kent State's an awfully dynamic offense," Bischel said, "a really good team and a couple of times we gave them extra outs on defense, and you just can't do that against a team that's that good especially when you're in game three (of the tournament) with your pitching.
"You tip the cap to Kent State. They're an outstanding team. Yeah, we left a few things out there."
Garrett Navarra, one of several Chippewas playing his final collegiate game, had two hits including a double to lead CMU at the plate.
The Chippewas stranded 13 baserunners on Friday in falling to host Kent State, 10-2, in a semifinal game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Schoonover Stadium.
The loss ended the CMU's season and its reign atop the league.
"For whatever reason this team was just a little up and down in those situations," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "Obviously it wasn't from a lack of trying or a lack of preparation, but we just didn't consistently hit balls hard in those spots which we had bit us at other times this year."
The two-time defending tourney champion Chippewas finished 34-23. Kent State, the regular season league champion, will play Ball State on Saturday in the tournament final and the MAC's NCAA Tournament bid.
The loss ended the Chippewas' streak of three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids. CMU won four MAC crowns – two regular season, two tournament – since Bischel took over the program in 2019.
"It's been five years since we weren't in an NCAA Tournament," Bischel said. "That's pretty crazy for a one-bid league.
"It is nice to know that 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now these guys will be tight knit and that's because of what they've accomplished together and what they've worked at together."
Bischel has guided CMU to 177 wins against 80 losses – a .688 win percentage -- in his five seasons in charge of the program. Few programs in the nation can match that success rate.
"I think if you ask them, to a man they'd say this season was a disappointment," said Bischel, who led the Chippewas to a second-place finish in the MAC this season. "34-and-23, second in the league in a year that most people thought the league was pretty good and pretty deep.
"We feel disappointed right now, and I love that our guys strive for more than that, but it's a credit to these kids that they have set expectations and standards for themselves that are high enough that they want to accomplish more than this. I think it says something about these kids.
"We did a lot of good things this year and we don't want to lose sight of that."
The Chippewas seized a 2-1 lead against the Golden Flashes on Friday on Ely Stuart's fourth-inning sacrifice fly. But Kent State answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
The Chippewas stranded at least one baserunner in all but one inning and they left two in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Kent State added a run in the seventh to increase its lead to 5-2, and then put the game away with a five-run eighth.
Freshman left-hander Evan Waters (4-2) went 3 1/3 innings in taking the loss.
"Kent State's an awfully dynamic offense," Bischel said, "a really good team and a couple of times we gave them extra outs on defense, and you just can't do that against a team that's that good especially when you're in game three (of the tournament) with your pitching.
"You tip the cap to Kent State. They're an outstanding team. Yeah, we left a few things out there."
Garrett Navarra, one of several Chippewas playing his final collegiate game, had two hits including a double to lead CMU at the plate.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: R. Dell (3-4)
L: Waters, Evan (4-2)
S: M. Scott (15)
Batting:
2B: Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Wuestenfeld, Danny 1 ; Stengren, Drew 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1
RBI: Navarra, Garrett 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1
SF: Stuart, Ely 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brill, Jake 1 ; Stuart, Ely 1
SB: Mitchelle, Christian 1 ; Brill, Jake 2 ; Jackson, Marquis 1
Batting:
2B: A. Longwell 1 ; K. Jackson 1 ; J. Johnson 1
HR: M. McNamara 1
RBI: C. Mathews 1 ; J. Miknis 1 ; M. McNamara 3 ; J. Johnson 1 ; B. Williams 1 ; J. Mrozek 1
SH: J. Mrozek 1
SF: B. Williams 1
Base Running:
RUNS: C. Mathews 1 ; A. Longwell 2 ; M. McNamara 2 ; K. Jackson 1 ; J. Johnson 1 ; J. Casey 1 ; K. Schaller 1 ; C. Ashby 1
SB: C. Mathews 1 ; K. Jackson 1
CS: J. Johnson 1
HBP: K. Schaller 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
dh/rf
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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